Tacoma Labor School

Community steps in as investigation of sick-out at Tacoma school continues

ICE Tried To Make an Example out of Labor Leader David Huerta. Now Is the Time for Unions To Speak Up on Behalf of Immigrant Workers. David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)–United Service Workers West (USWW), was detained earlier this month for doing what every labor leader should be doing right now: showing up.

Details of the federal budget were revealed this week. If passed, it would represent the largest transfer of wealth in history and deal a devastating blow to working families and to the public services that WFSE members provide.

Learn more and take action: https://wfse.org/news/federal-cuts-three-ways-you-can-fight-back

Coca-Cola products could be harder to find in Western Washington if strike begins Hundreds of Swire Coca-Cola employees have authorized a strike if their unions fail to reach a deal on their contracts with the company.

Let’s turn out!

We're excited to welcome Gene Bruskin back to Tacoma thanks to the UW Labor Solidarity Project!

Union Time tells the story of the UFCW’s 16-year-long fight to organize Smithfield Foods’ pork processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina. The victory at the world’s largest slaughterhouse brought justice and fair working conditions to 5,000 workers and is one of the most significant wins for organized labor in the 21st century.

Recently retired as the Director and founder of the Strategic Campaigns Department at the American Federation of Teachers, Gene worked for 35 years in the labor movement as an activist, local union officer, union organizer, and national campaign coordinator for local and national unions. He also served as Jessie Jackson’s Labor Director at the National Rainbow Coalition. Campaign Director for the Justice for Smithfield Campaign organizing 5,000 NC packing house workers for the UFCW. He is the Founder of the national organization US Labor Against the War and has been active in many international Labor Solidarity campaigns.

From L4B To TAT: Challenging Labor Organization Political Endorsements Takes Rank-&-File Action Social Policy is the leading journal of labor and community organizing. For over 30 years, Social Policy has served as key site for intellectual exchange among progressive academics and activists from across the United States and beyond.

There have been many moments of labor upsurge in America, including the influx of members into the Knights of Labor in 1886, the dramatic growth of unions during and in the immediate aftermath of World War I, and the great public sector unionism surge of the 1960s and 70s, but none matches the scale of the 1930s, when millions of workers were unionized under the aegis of the great labor federation, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO. If we’re looking to get millions of private-sector workers into the labor movement, there’s really one time to look to, and that is the ascendant period of the CIO.

In "Organize the Unorganized," Fong dives into the rise, importance, and legacy of the CIO through the voices of prominent labor historians and activists.

"Organize the Unorganized: Rise of the CIO" | Center for Work and Democracy "Organize the Unorganized: Rise of the CIO" A podcast from Dr. Benjamin Fong, with support from Jacobin Return to Breakroom Organize the Unorganized: The Rise of the CIO · Trailer Trailer: "Organize the Unorganized: The Rise of the CIO" There have been many moments of labor upsurge in America, incl...

Three Ways to Support Detained Farmworker Organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Longtime farmworker organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this week in what many believe to be retaliation for his organizing. Juarez was pulled over while driving his wife to work. ICE agents shattered Juarez’s window and dragged him out of...

Let’s do this Tacoma!