Mike Elk is a labor journalist and staff writer for In These Times. Follow him on twitter @mikeelk.
3,600 Lockheed Martin Workers Go on Strike in Texas
The following article first appeared at Working In These Times, the labor blog of In These Times magazine. For more news and analysis like this, sign up to receive In These Times' weekly updates.Strikes involving thousands of workers in the "right-to-work" state of Texas are extraordinarily rare. Yet on Monday, ...
Why Does OSHA Move at a Glacial Pace? Democrat Calls on Obama Admin to Speed Up Safety Measures
The following article first appeared at Working In These Times, the labor blog of In These Times magazine. For more news and analysis like this, sign up to receive In These Times' weekly updates. WASHINGTON, D.C.—Republicans typically accuse Democats of not doing enough to streamline regulations. But at a hearing ...
GOP NLRB Member Passed Sensitive Information to Romney Campaign
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blog Earlier this month, Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, complained that House GOP members were blocking the release of a National Labor Board Relations Inspector General’s report. The report, which Miller’s office was eventually able to ...
What Politico’s ‘Wisconsin 1848’ Union Screw-Up Reveals
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blog The scene of the journalistic mishap, in Masterlock's Milwaukee plant. Yesterday was a red letter day for labor journalism, as Politico inadvertently revealed a fundamental truth in one of the most embarrassing screw-ups in recent news. Covering President Obama’s visit to ...
Labor Reporting in the Face of Danger
Crossposted from In These TimesThe use of scab workers is a sore on the labor movement. And, as I recently discovered, scabs can also pose a danger to labor reporters. That doesn't stop me or In These Times from getting the real story. But in order to continue to reveal ...
Canada’s Labor Movement Digs in for ‘PATCO Equivalent,’ as Lockouts Drag On
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blog It's usually difficult to get more than a few hundred union activists to show up to a rally in support of a small workforce facing steep concessions. But on January 21, more than 15,000 people showed up to a rally in support of 420 ...
Wonk Bloggers and the Vanishing Voices of Workers
This article originally appeared at In These Times Magazine, where Mike Elk is a staff writer Earlier this week, I got into a little Twitter battle with Matthew Yglesias after the prominent blogger tweeted out “"EXCLUSIVE: The activities of individual business executives have no relationship to the level of ...
Solidarity Inaction: Railroad Workers and the Occupy Movement
Last week , after Occupy protesters attempted (with some success) to blockade West Coast ports without the consent of the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union (ILWU), some Occupy activists claimed that the lack of union support for the shutdown was evidence that labor leaders are sout of touch with the ...
Massey Mine Explosion Settlement Doesn’t Address Basic Problem: Company’s Anti-Unionism
Crossposted from In These Times' Working blog Yesterday, Alpha Natural Resources, the owner of subsidiary company Massey Energy, agreed to pay $209 million in civil and criminal penalties and in restitution for its role in the mine explosion that killed 29 men in Upper Big Branch, West Va., in April ...
Penn State Riots About White Men Not Liking to Be Held Accountable
If, like me, you scanned the crowds rioting at Penn State last night after the announcement of the firing of Joe Paterno, you may have noticed that nearly all the people there were white men. The riots were about white men not liking to be held accountable. As a native ...
Herman Cain, the Other NRA and the Stagnant Minimum Wage
Crossposted from In These Times Working Blog Over the weekend, Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather Pizza and former CEO of the National Restaurant Association, shocked many political observers when he won the Florida GOP Presidential Straw Poll. While it is unclear what effect Cain’s showing in straw poll ...
Troy Davis Executed, While CEO Responsible for Deaths of 29 Miners Sails Free
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blogLast night at 11:08, Troy Anthony Davis was executed in the State of Georgia for the 1989 murder of a police officer. Much doubt existed in the case as seven of the nine witnesses recanted their testimony (one even claimed that an eighth ...
Remembering Steve Jobs’ Record on Workers’ Rights
Crossposted from In These Times' Working blogYesterday, Twitter was abuzz with reactions to Steve Jobs' resignation as CEO of Apple, among reports that his health is in bad condition. Progressives and conservatives alike praised Jobs as someone who had revolutionized industry with Apple’s innovative computer designs. “Thanks Steve for pushing ...
Why Won’t Obama Join the Verizon Picket Line?
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blogCiting Obama's healthcare reform legislation, the company wants concessions. Union members want a show of solidarity Last Saturday, about 100 Verizon workers and their supporters from the Washington D.C. area —some of the 45,000 company employees who went on strike last week around ...
Will Workplace Safety Become a Casualty of the Debt Deal?
WASHINGTON D.C.—This week, Congress passed a debt-ceiling deal that is expected to reduce the deficit by at least $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years. The debt deal sets up a “supercommitee,” which will identify $1.5 trillion in additional cuts by Thanksgiving. Congress will then vote on the recommendations in ...
The Labor Movement Needs an Anti-Concession Movement
In the wake of the historic pushback to Gov. Scott Walker's antiunion agenda in Wisconsin, there has been a lot of talk about what is needed to revive the labor movement. Some claim that what is needed is a change in the overall political environment and labor’s public image to ...
Increased Solidarity with Unions at Netroots Nation, But at the Cost of Net Neutrality?
Crossposted from In These TimesThis Netroots Nation in Minneapolis marked a turning point for the conference's relationship with organized labor. In the past, many have complained that the netroots and bloggers have failed to pay proper attention to labor struggles. This year there were many panels focusing on organized labor ...
NLRB Issues Rule to Prevent Union Busting and Speed Up Elections
Crossposted from In These TimesToday, the National Labor Relations Board proposed a rule that would dramatically speed up and reduce frivolous challenges to union elections. Companies seeking to stop union drives often delay union elections by months in order to allow more time for extended anti-union intimidation sessions and campaigns, ...
Did Boeing’s Meet the Press Sponsorship Allow Gingrich to Lie About Company’s NLRB Case?
This post first appeared on the In These Times 'Working' blogSpeaking Sunday on Meet the Press, Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said that "the Obama system of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is basically breaking the law to try to punish Boeing ...
Obama Has Power to Stop Unionbusting With a Stroke of His Pen
This post first appeared on the In These Times 'Working' blog A proposed executive order and 'high road' federal contracting would go a long way WASHINGTON, D.C.—Two weeks ago I ran into John Podesta, the former White House Chief of Staff (under Bill Clinton) who is now the head of ...
Massachusetts Dems Pass Bill to 'Eliminate Collective Bargaining as We Know It'
Originally posted on In These Times' 'Working' blogLast night, the Massachusetts House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill (111-42) to strip public-sector workers of their ability to bargain collectively for healthcare. The rhetoric surrounding the bill, proposed by Democratic State House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, is in many ways similar ...
NLRB Finds Boeing Broke Law—and Upsets Anti-Union Southerners
Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Boeing broke the law by moving production from a union facility in Pudget Sound, Wash., to a nonunion facility in North Charleston, S.C. It's yet another move that shows that General Counsel Lafe Solomon is dedicated to vigorously enforcing labor law in ...
Why I am NOT Suing the Huffington Post...by a "fired" HuffPost blogger
It might come as surprise to many, but as a labor journalist I feel that both Jonathan Tasini & Arianna Huffington are wrong in their current squabble over labor relations that has broken out as a result of Tasini’s lawsuit for $115 million against the Huffington Post. Over the last ...
Strange Bedfellows: Wis. AFL-CIO Holds Rally With Planned Parenthood
Is abortion no longer taboo in the labor movement? Over the weekend, the Wisconsin AFL CIO held a rally with Planned Parenthood. The two organizations stood in solidarity, opposing Gov. Scott Walker's right-wing budget and unionbusting. It might seem unusual that a labor federation which traditionally has shied away ...
The "Pack" of Young DC Labor Journalists - The Sh*tkickers
A recent New York Times profile of several young male trend setting DC journalists known as the "Brat Pack" inspired Good Magazine Executive Editor Ann Friedman to write a piece on the "DC Lady Journo Mafia." Friedman recounted a meeting composed of several female journalists to discuss barriers that women ...
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April 25th, 2012
3,600 Lockheed Martin Workers Go on Strike in Texas
The following article first appeared at Working In These Times, the labor blog of In These Times magazine. For more news and analysis like this, ...
April 24th, 2012
Why Does OSHA Move at a Glacial Pace? Democrat Calls on Obama Admin to Speed Up Safety Measures
The following article first appeared at Working In These Times, the labor blog of In These Times magazine. For more news and analysis like this, ...
March 26th, 2012
GOP NLRB Member Passed Sensitive Information to Romney Campaign
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blog Earlier this month, Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, complained ...
February 17th, 2012
What Politico’s ‘Wisconsin 1848’ Union Screw-Up Reveals
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blog The scene of the journalistic mishap, in Masterlock's Milwaukee plant. Yesterday was a red letter day ...
February 15th, 2012
Labor Reporting in the Face of Danger
Crossposted from In These TimesThe use of scab workers is a sore on the labor movement. And, as I recently discovered, scabs can also pose ...
January 30th, 2012
Canada’s Labor Movement Digs in for ‘PATCO Equivalent,’ as Lockouts Drag On
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blog It's usually difficult to get more than a few hundred union activists to show up to a ...
January 17th, 2012
Wonk Bloggers and the Vanishing Voices of Workers
This article originally appeared at In These Times Magazine, where Mike Elk is a staff writer Earlier this week, I got into a little ...
November 10th, 2011
Penn State Riots About White Men Not Liking to Be Held Accountable
If, like me, you scanned the crowds rioting at Penn State last night after the announcement of the firing of Joe Paterno, you may have ...
April 28th, 2011
Massachusetts Dems Pass Bill to 'Eliminate Collective Bargaining as We Know It'
Originally posted on In These Times' 'Working' blogLast night, the Massachusetts House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill (111-42) to strip public-sector workers of their ...
September 22nd, 2011
Troy Davis Executed, While CEO Responsible for Deaths of 29 Miners Sails Free
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blogLast night at 11:08, Troy Anthony Davis was executed in the State of Georgia for the 1989 murder ...
August 17th, 2011
Why Won’t Obama Join the Verizon Picket Line?
Crossposted from the In These Times Working blogCiting Obama's healthcare reform legislation, the company wants concessions. Union members want a show of solidarity Last Saturday, ...
August 26th, 2011
Remembering Steve Jobs’ Record on Workers’ Rights
Crossposted from In These Times' Working blogYesterday, Twitter was abuzz with reactions to Steve Jobs' resignation as CEO of Apple, among reports that his health ...
February 16th, 2011
Irrational Exuberance: The Trouble With Hysteria Over Public Pension Shortfalls
WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Monday, the U.S. House of Representative’s Judiciary Committee held a hearing on public pension funds and states' shortfalls in funding them. Republicans have ...
February 22nd, 2011
Madison Area AFL CIO Votes to Prepare For General Strike
This evening in a press release from IBEW Local 2304 President Dave Pokilinski, I received word that the 45,000 member Southern Central Federation of Labor, ...
'The Rich & the Rest of Us' by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West and 'Drift' by Rachel Maddow
Mike, was the triple overtime Outback Bowl come-from-behind win the greatest Spartans game ever?
Yes -- or at least it will be until their appearance in next year's Rose Bowl, a game which... Continue Reading
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Michael Moore on the Rachel Maddow Show, 2/27/12
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Michael Moore on Conan, 12/8/11
