Power At Work

On Tuesday, August 27, President Liz Shuler delivered her second State of the Unions address to a packed house of enthusiastic trade unionists and friends at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was obvious to us that this was a speech Power At Work’s audience would want to hear. We

It may come as little surprise to most Power At Work readers that, over the last two and a half years, workers have petitioned for and secured more union representation elections administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) than they did during 2020 and 2021 – years in which

This story was originally published by Truthout and Workday Magazine. Power At Work has republished it with permission.

Read a Spanish-language version of this interview here.

Dina Velasquez Escalante is a poultry worker in southwest Minnesota. She spends her workdays inspecting the chicken millions of Americans eat every day. She looks for

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Claudia Navarro, the Co-Executive Director of WeCount!, and Rebecca Reindel, the Safety and Health Director at the AFL-CIO. Watch now to learn about the current state of working in the heat in both Florida and

The stereotype is that Americans live to work. One description written for foreign visitors explains that Americans are “known as ‘workaholics,’ or people who are addicted to their work, who think constantly about their jobs and who are frustrated if they are kept away from them, even during their evening hours

This piece was originally published on Labor Notes. Power At Work has republished it with permission.

Towering cranes pierce the sky, contrasting with the rural surroundings. It’s an early morning in June, the air already gauzy and thick, and construction is humming at the Toyota Battery mega-site in Liberty, North

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Andrew Spar, the President of the Florida Education Association (FEA), the union of Florida’s teachers, and Emilio Azoy, the President of AFSCME Local 121, which represents over 1,800 Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department workers.

Part 1 of our analysis of the results of Power At Work’s Quarterly Labor Issues Survey (Q3 2024) analyzed labor insiders’ and knowledgeable outsiders’ predictions of how union members would vote in the 2024 elections and the outcomes of those elections. In Part 2, this post will discuss our respondents’

History is often viewed as linear – “A” happens and “B” follows, on to its conclusion. The human story is never a straight line, with doubts, diversions and breakthroughs radically altering people’s efforts. This is especially true of labor history; there are many false starts, failures and sometimes triumphs as workers seek

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Susan Valentine, the National Political Director of UNITE HERE!, Russ Breckenridge, the Director of Legislative and Political Affairs at the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA), and Katrina Mendiola, the National Political Director of

This piece was originally published on Cornell Policy Review. Power At Work has republished it with permission.

On July 27th, 2022, Vail Kohnert-Young stood up at the 38th United Auto Workers (UAW) Convention and nominated Shawn Fain for President of the UAW. Vail hadn’t planned to be the nominator, but

Power At Work asked labor insiders and knowledgeable outsiders to predict how union members would vote in the 2024 elections and the outcomes of those elections. They told us, and some of their answers delivered real surprises. Our respondents showed a shocking level of enthusiasm for Vice President Kamala Harris’s

In this blogcast, Burnes Center for Social Change Senior Fellow Seth Harris is joined by Jaz Brisack, one of the original Starbucks union organizers, and the co-founder of the Inside Organizer School. Listen now to hear an inside perspective on union organizing, Jaz’s origins in organizing, the successes in unionizing

This piece was originally published in Truthout. Power At Work has republished it with permission. Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, support us with a donation of any size.

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ended

This piece was originally published on the Center for American Progress. Power At Work has republished it with permission.

Unions are a critical force in American society, ensuring that everyday Americans can earn decent pay and benefits and have a voice in our democracy. Study after study has shown that