LaborTalk - February 2, 2012 Walmart Has Stores in 15 Countries; It Can Be Unionized by Global Effort
Walmart Has Stores in 15 Countries; It Can Be Unionized by Global Effort
For years, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) tried to organize Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, but despite spending millions and the time of its organizers, it was able to unionize only two of the company’s 8,970 stores in the United States and Canada. Read this story in LaborTalk
# # # World of Labor – January 28, 2012
World of Labor – January 28, 2012
70 Billionaires at World Forum Talk about Income Inequality Union Membership Rate in the United States Fell Again in 2011 Belgium’s Public Workers Strike over Pensions Bigger Role for Feminists in Latin America’s Banana Industry Canadian Rio Tinto Lockout Nears One Month Indonesian Industries Yield to Labor Power Thailand’s Floods Force 100,000 Burma Immigrants to Return Home January 28, 2012 — Read Column
# # #
For 30 years, in torrid summers and freezing winters, in hurricanes, snowstorms, and sub-zero weather, this indominateable woman lives in a small patch in front of Lafayette Park on the sidewalk across from the White House. Her day-and-night anti-nuclear peace vigil is perhaps the longest continual civic-political protest in U.S. history.
Tools for Union Organizing and Political Action
An Interview: Harry Kelber on the Failure of the AFL, the Decline of Unions and How to Turn It Around In June 2011, Corporate Crime Reporter (CCR)/b> interviewed Labor Educator Harry Kelber. Here is a link to CCR's website and the beginning of the interview. We will post the entire interview soon. "At one time, Harry Kelber – who just turned 97 last week – was a conservative. "But that was in high school." Read the full interview The site of Corporate Crime Reporter, edited by Russell Mokhiber
In June 2011, Corporate Crime Reporter (CCR)/b> interviewed Labor Educator Harry Kelber. Here is a link to CCR's website and the beginning of the interview. We will post the entire interview soon.
"At one time, Harry Kelber – who just turned 97 last week – was a conservative.
"But that was in high school."
Read the full interview The site of Corporate Crime Reporter, edited by Russell Mokhiber
Revitalizing the AFL-CIO
By Ralph Nader May 23, 2011, Commondreams
When Harry Kelber, the 96 year old relentless labor advocate and editor of The Labor Educator speaks, the leadership of the AFL-CIO should listen. A vigorous champion for the rights of rank-and-file workers vis-ŕ-vis their corporate employers and their labor union leaders, Kelber has recently completed a series of five articles titled “Reasons Why the AFL-CIO Is Broken; Let Us Start a Debate on How to Fix It.” Read the article
Video, "AFL-CIO Tops Rig 2009 Election Rules To Stop Candidate Harry Kelber From Running"
Click here or above to watch video.
'My Seventy Years in the Labor Movement'
10 Highlights of Harry Kelber's Unique Career
1. During the Great Depression, Harry led a four-month strike at a major food market in Brooklyn, N.Y, that ended with a good union contract.
2. At age 25, Harry was editor of two independent weekly labor newspapers that covered CIO organizing campaigns, as well as the activities of teamster and construction unions.
3. At age 50, Harry earned a B.A. from Brooklyn College and an M.A. and PhD. from New York University - all within 5-1/2 years.
4. In the 1962-63 printers' strike that shut down New York City's daily newspapers for 114 days, Harry was editor of the Daily Strike Bulletin.
5. As the legislative director of the Physicians Forum, Harry played a key role in winning social security for the nation's doctors.
6. In 1968, Harry created and became the first director of Cornell University's Two-Year Labor/Liberal Arts Program.
7. In recognition of his distinguished teaching career, Empire State College created the Dr. Harry Kelber Endowment in Labor Studies.
8. At age 70, Harry became the Educational and Cultural Director of Electrical Workers Local 3, I.B.E.W., a position he held for nearly six years.
9. In 1992, Harry led a week-long seminar in Moscow for 145 labor leaders of the former Soviet Union on the theme, "Democratic Unions in a Market Economy."
10. In 1995, at age 81, Harry ran for a vice president seat on the AFL-CIO Executive Council to force the first election ever, in which a rank-and-filer challenged incumbent officers.
You will be fascinated by the stories surrounding each of Kelber's accomplishments $25 per copy (includes mailing) 370 pages - 8 pages of photographs Click here to purchase 'My Seventy Years in the Labor Movement.
Click here to purchase 'My Seventy Years in the Labor Movement.
Daily News, "Spotlight on Great People: His [Harry Kelber] 70-year battle for the rights of workers," by Clem Richardson, October 10, 2008 Read the article on Harry Kelber
Harry Kelber's poetic commentary on "CEO Lust," delivered at Labor Notes conference May 2006. You can see and hear Harry reciting his poem by clicking below.You can read Harry's poem by clicking here.