Stories by Josh Eidelson

Josh Eidelson (josheidelson.com) is a Nation contributor and was a union organizer for five years. He covers labor as a contributing writer at Salon and In These Times. Check out his blog or follow him on Twitter.

“Dizzy and Sick”: McDonald’s Workers Strike After Enduring 110-Degree Heat

Posted on: Jul 20, 2013, Source: Salon

Workers in NYC and Chicago protest unsafe conditions in latest fast food walkout.

Rank-and-File Movement Challenges Newark Teachers' Union Establishment

Posted on: Jul 1, 2013, Source: The Nation

Newark teachers' union chief, who embraced Facebook-backed merit pay, wins re-election by only 9 votes.

5 Activists Arrested in Protest of WalMart's Alleged Retaliatory Firings

Posted on: Jun 26, 2013, Source: The Nation

5 activists were arrested at Yahoo! headquarters in protest of the firing of 11 striking Walmart employees. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer joined Walmart’s board last year.

Chicago's Fast Food and Other Low Wage Workers Stage One-Day Walk Out

Posted on: Apr 24, 2013, Source: Salon

The "Fight for 15" (dollars per hour, a.k.a., a living wage) hits the windy city.

'Guest Workers' Spring Surprise Strike on McDonald's

Posted on: Mar 6, 2013, Source: The Nation

McDonald’s, like other big corporations, have hijacked the U.S. guest worker program to get cheap, exploitable labor, workers' advocates say.

Will Obama Cave on Social Security?

Posted on: Jan 12, 2013, Source: Salon

With chained CPI a likely part of any debt ceiling deal, outraged progressives are organizing in advance.

“I’m Excited, I’m Nervous, I’m Scared…” Walmart Workers Walk Off Jobs

Posted on: Oct 4, 2012, Source: Salon

Dozens of workers at Southern California stores launched a one-day work stoppage in protest of alleged retaliation against their attempts to organize.

Big Money Knocks Paid Sick Leave Off Florida Ballot

Posted on: Sep 26, 2012, Source: In These Times

Business groups won a victory over working people when, despite 50,000 signatures on a petition backing paid sick leave, a judge prevented the bill from becoming a ballot initiative.

Walmart, Right-Wing Media Company Hold Star-Studded Benefit Promoting Film About ALEC-Backed Education "Reform"

Posted on: Aug 19, 2012, Source: In These Times

The new film "Won't Back Down" glorifies an ALEC-backed proposal that would allow parents to bust teachers' unions--and Walmart and right-wingers are doing their best to promote it.

A 50 Cent Raise over 5 Years? How Houston Janitors are Still Getting Screwed by JP Morgan and Other Rich Companies

Posted on: Aug 7, 2012, Source: In These Times

The janitors' three-week strike has led to arrests, confrontations with executives like Jamie Dimon, and lousy offers from management, but no contract for the workers.

Too “Sinful” to Fry Chicken? How Chick-fil-A Pushes Conservative Christianity On Its Workers

Posted on: Aug 5, 2012, Source: Salon

Meet the men and women who filed suit against the notorious fast-food company for trying to push them into "Biblical principles."

How Banks and Politicians Let One Company Come Back from the Dead to Keep Abusing Workers

Posted on: Jul 15, 2012, Source: AlterNet

One sweatshop steel company endangered workers, stiffed creditors, got government contracts--and when caught, simply wiped its slate clean with bankruptcy.

Hunger Strikers Charge Congress with Starving Postal Service

Posted on: Jun 28, 2012, Source: In These Times

Since Monday, ten postal workers and consumers have been hunger striking on behalf of the embattled U.S. Postal Service.

Teamsters Punish Lockout With Rolling Sympathy Strikes

Posted on: Jun 18, 2012, Source: In These Times

The rare tactic of the sympathy strike represents a major escalation in the Teamsters' struggle with Republic Services, and it's poised to intensify this week.

Waste Company Locks Out Teamsters in Bid to Eliminate Pensions

Posted on: May 15, 2012, Source: In These Times

Teamsters Local 215 says it offered to extend the current contract into the future, but Republic insisted on eliminating pensions and replacing them with a 401(k).

Why GOP Politicians Are Fleeing Scott Walker-Style Union-Busting

Posted on: May 13, 2012, Source: Salon

State Republicans are terrified of pushing anti-union legislation -- and becoming targets like Wisconsin's governor.

Sotheby’s Art Handlers' Lockout Enters Tenth Month As Auction House Makes Record Sales

Posted on: May 9, 2012, Source: In These Times

“Sotheby’s is selling The Scream–an artful interpretation of human anguish and suffering–while they continue to create anguish and suffering among their own workforce."

New Equal Employment Rulings Help Transgender, Ex-Offender Workers Get & Keep Jobs

Posted on: May 3, 2012, Source: In These Times

This week, the EEOC ruled that transgender workers are protected under the Civil Rights Act and laid out guidelines restricting criminal background checks.

Teamsters Score 3-to-1 Election Victory in Nearly Union-Free Industry

Posted on: Apr 15, 2012, Source: In These Times

The 46-to-15 vote is a major step forward in the Teamsters' campaign to transform the overwhelmingly nonunion port trucking industry.

Millionaire's Tax On the Way in California? Backers Make Deal With Governor Brown

Posted on: Apr 10, 2012, Source: In These Times

As progressive groups and unions make a deal to push for a tax increase on the rich coupled with a small sales tax hike, some wonder if they've compromised too much.

Influential Union Split on Wisconsin Recall Candidates: Should They Compromise to Avoid "Walker-Lite"?

Posted on: Apr 8, 2012, Source: Salon

The union that kicked off Wisconsin's capitol occupation is conflicted over endorsing a recall candidate who may not roll back all of Walker's cuts.

Rare Rolling Sympathy Strike Beats Garbage Company That Tries to Trash Its Promise

Posted on: Mar 29, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Teamsters in Alabama went on strike against a giant garbage company--and in Seattle, New York and Ohio, workers joined them in solidarity, in a move that's usually illegal.

Will New York City Mayoral Front-Runner Kill Paid Sick Leave Again?

Posted on: Mar 20, 2012, Source: In These Times

With a changed economy, targeted concessions and an approaching primary, progressives mount a renewed push for a citywide law.

How Darrell Issa and the Right Are Planning to Kill the U.S. Post Office

Posted on: Mar 18, 2012, Source: Salon

The Postal Service faces a threat greater than email or economics: Politics.

American Airlines Plans to Slash Jobs, Cut Pensions in Bankruptcy Filing

Posted on: Mar 5, 2012, Source: In These Times

Any unions that don’t reach deals with the airline in the next two weeks may have their new contract terms, and the number of layoffs, set directly by a bankruptcy judge.

Labor Association Monitoring Apple's Manufacturing Has a History of Letting Corporations Off Easy

Posted on: Feb 27, 2012, Source: In These Times

Apple's chosen a labor monitor to keep an eye on its FoxConn factory that has long been criticized by anti-sweatshop activists.

How Working Outside the Law Helped Labor Win on the West Coast

Posted on: Feb 26, 2012, Source: Salon

Occupy movement support and defiance of labor law yield a union victory in Washington state.

Why Should Anti-Choice and Anti-Gay Groups Have More Right to Boycott and Picket Than Working People?

Posted on: Feb 22, 2012, Source: In These Times

The Komen controversy showed the brilliance of 'secondary boycotts'—and the injustice of punishing unions for using the same tactics.

Power at the Ports: Truckers Force Showdowns in Seattle, Los Angeles

Posted on: Feb 16, 2012, Source: AlterNet

A group of port workers in Los Angeles has filed for a rare union election, and another just ended a two-week strike that brought the Port of Seattle to a near standstill.

Victory: Trader Joe's Signs Fair Food Agreement, Promising Better Conditions for Workers

Posted on: Feb 14, 2012, Source: In These Times

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers's agreement with Trader Joe's is a significant step forward its efforts to bring fairness and accountability to the food industry.

Supreme Court Says Religious School Can Fire Teacher for Illness

Posted on: Feb 12, 2012, Source: In These Times

In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld for the first time a “ministerial exception” limiting the rights of employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Obama's Union-Busting New Chief of Staff? Jacob Lew Helped Destroy Grad Students' Union at NYU

Posted on: Jan 29, 2012, Source: In These Times

When Obama's new Chief of Staff was NYU executive vice president, school ceased recognizing the grad students' union.

Mitch Daniels' State of the Union Response Shows GOP Priority: Beating Up on Workers

Posted on: Jan 25, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Daniels’ response was the first to be delivered from a building surrounded by dozens of police cars and chanting activists, protesting his latest anti-union move.

South Carolina: Ground Zero for the GOP Candidates' Assault on Working Americans' Rights

Posted on: Jan 19, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The little-noticed National Labor Relations Board has somehow become red meat for Republican crowds in South Carolina.

Starbucks' Crackpot Solution to Jobs Crisis

Posted on: Nov 22, 2011, Source: In These Times

The program will no doubt boost Starbucks' image--and the density of red, white, and blue wristbands across America. But jobs? Not so much.

'Tax Timmy's Friends': Nurses Follow Obama to France Demanding He Tax Geithner's Wall Street Cronies

Posted on: Nov 2, 2011, Source: AlterNet

The nurses' union takes the movement for a financial transaction tax to the G-20 in Cannes.

Labor and Progressive Groups Join Occupy Wall Street in Solidarity March

Posted on: Oct 5, 2011, Source: AlterNet

This evening, labor support for the Occupy Wall Street movement will be on full display, as union members march from New York City Hall to Liberty Plaza.

3 Big Lies At the Heart of Republican Attacks On the Post Office

Posted on: Sep 22, 2011, Source: AlterNet

House Republicans are aiming to dismantle the postal service, but their plans hinge on a few tall tales they've sold the American public.

How Strikes at Boeing Became the Center of a Major Political Fight Over Jobs, Unions

Posted on: Aug 31, 2011, Source: Dollars and Sense

When Boeing tried to move production to South Carolina from Washington to avoid union workers, the NLRB stepped in and called it union-busting--and the GOP got mad.

Longshore Workers Solidarity Strike Settlement Raises Questions For Future Union Actions

Posted on: Aug 17, 2011, Source: AlterNet

A Bay Area union with a long history of progressive action settles a lawsuit over its Wisconsin solidarity action this April, but some of the workers question the agreement.

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