Power At Work

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn is one of the most important and dynamic champions of worker power in U.S. history. For nearly six decades, from 1906 to 1964, she devoted herself to what she called “the working-class movement.” Inspired by the Irish freedom struggle and appalled by the exploitation and grinding poverty

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Andres Grajales, AFGE’s Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, and Julie Wilson, NTEU’s General Counsel, to discuss the numerous lawsuits that their unions are having against the Trump administration’s assault on federal employees. Watch now to

The first 100 days of Trump’s second term have been chaotic. Trump along with Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have engaged in a near-daily onslaught of actions to dismantle the federal government and eliminate services and benefits that working families rely upon. Some of Trump’s actions

Labor density, or the share of workers who are members of a labor union, is almost the same in 2025 as before Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) ninety years ago. The NLRA guarantees the right of most private-sector employees in the United States to organize unions, engage

President Donald Trump and his defenders claim that his recent tariffs will usher in “a new Golden Age of American industrialization and prosperity.” As the president put it, “tariffs are not just about protecting American jobs. They’re about protecting the soul of our country.” But there are two major flaws

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by former chair of the NLRB, Lauren McFerran, to discuss the current dire state of the NLRB. Watch now to hear McFerran discuss the implications of Gwynne Wilcox’s firing, the efforts by the Trump administration to

We opened up voting for the 2025 Labor Oscars earlier this week – but time is running out. 

Voting for the 2025 Labor Oscars will close at midnight next Monday, February 17. Go vote RIGHT NOW to ensure your favorite labor films will win the coveted Workers. 

Only

In the fifth blogcast of Power At Work’s series “What Could Happen Under Trump?”, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by all four co-chairs of the Congressional Labor Caucus: Representative Debbie Dingell of Michigan 6th DistrictRepresentative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin 2nd District, Representative Donald Norcross

This article was originally published by New Labor Forum

When Boston University graduate students went on strike in April, Stan Sclaroff, the university’s dean of arts and sciences, sent faculty an email with suggestions for keeping their classes on track. As Inside Higher Ed reported, the dean’s “creative” solutions

In the fourth blogcast of Power At Work’s series “What Could Happen Under Trump?”, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Steven Schwartz, LIUNA Organizing Director, Emily Stewart, SEIU Deputy Organizing Director, and David Cann, AFGE Organizing Director to discuss the future of organizing. Watch

In the fourth blogcast of Power At Work’s series ‘What Could Happen Under Trump?”, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Steven Schwartz, LIUNA Organizing Director, Emily Stewart, SEIU Deputy Organizing Director, and David Cann, AFGE Organizing Director to discuss the future of organizing. Watch

Cover Image: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=456245

In Power at Work’s 2025 Labor Grammys nominations the song “Joe Hill” is entered in the “Traditional Song” category. The song shares some storied company: Woody Guthrie’s “Better World a-Comin;” Florence Reece’s “Which Side Are You On” as performed by the Almanac Singers (of

In this special blogcast, Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by music and labor experts to reveal the results of Power At Work’s #LaborGrammys2025. This awards ceremony features Elise Bryant, the founder-director of the DC Labor Chorus and co-host of the Labor Heritage Power Hour podcast; Chris Garlock,

In this live blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris will review the 2024 Union Member Survey results with Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist and senior researcher at the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Watch now to hear Harris and Sojourner interpret what these results

As the Academy Awards ceremony approaches, Power At Work is excited to announce our second Labor Oscars!

#2025LaborOscars is dedicated to spotlighting films that feature worker power, unions, labor leaders, front-line union members, and workers’ collective action. This year we have added 13 more labor films to our original