Tag Archives: Labor

Home, Labor Studies

What does the Harris v. Quinn decision mean for home care workers?

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Harris v. Quinn last month, some have questioned the future of home care worker organizing. The ruling stated that unions cannot require home care workers who choose not to be represented by the union to pay fees. According to a recent article in Portside by Dave Jamieson, however, the SEIU is showing no signs of slowing down in its efforts to organize:

Jamieson writes:

After being dealt a major setback by the Supreme Court just two weeks ago, the Service Employees International Union is plowing ahead in its efforts to organize home care workers, filing a petition Tuesday for what could be one of the largest union elections in Minnesota history.

According to SEIU, the election would cover an estimated 26,000 Medicaid-funded home care workers in the state who assist the elderly and people with disabilities. Under a hotly debated law passed last year, unions in Minnesota are allowed to organize day care and home care workers who work in clients’ homes and are paid in part through the federal health care program.

For the full article, visit Portside.

Photo by Jeff Kubina via flickr (CC-BY-SA).

Home, Labor Studies

Fall Labor Studies Classes at Murphy

The Fall 2014 classes for the MA in Labor Studies are up! Check them out below.

Collective Bargaining Theory and Practice (LABR604) 3c
Instructor: Josh Bienstock
Monday Evening

This course will provide students with a theoretical understanding of the collective bargaining process in the U.S. In addition to studying union and management theories of bargaining, students will analyze contemporary and historically significant bargaining scenarios in the private and public sectors and will develop advanced knowledge of labor relations in a variety of workplace environments. Students will examine the legal framework of collective bargaining and will study the evolution of public policy governing labor relations. In addition to studying the bargaining process and methods of contract enforcement, students will discuss alternative models of worker representation in a global economy. They will gain practical understanding by designing and participating in mock bargaining sessions.

Journalism, Media, and Labor (LABR669) 3c
Instructor: Ari Paul
Tuesday Evening

In this course will explore all aspects of labor and how it intersects with the press: How it is covered by the mainstream, how unions present their own message and how activists use new media formats in organizing campaigns. Students will be expected study, examine, and evaluate how news outlets ranging from the tabloids to business journals to public radio cover contemporary labor issues. From there we can examine how unions succeed and fail at messaging with the mainstream media. And over the course of the semester, students will be expected to follow one local labor story and cover it as if they were working journalist, rather than a union organizer.

Crises in the Public Sector (LABR669) 3c
Instructor: Ed Ott
Wednesday Evening

This course examines the contemporary issues and challenges facing the public sector workers and their organizations. In particular, the course will look at the recent state level attacks on public sector collective bargaining, privatization efforts in particular industries and the role back of the social safety net. Additionally, the course will examine the history and traditions of public employee unionism since the 1960s, review the present state of the public sector unions in the New York area, and consider possible organizational and political responses to today’s challenges.

Photo by ewe neon via flickr (CC-BY).

Arts and Culture, Home, Labor Studies

Getting To Know Elizabeth Hawes, 1903-1971

By Kitty Weiss Krupat

A brief profile of the American fashion designer, Elizabeth Hawes, appeared in T: The New York Times Style Magazine on Sunday, June 15. The essay, by Alice Gregory, is titled  The Most Brilliant Fashion Designer, and it starts this way:

Introducing Elizabeth Hawes: genius writer, wry cultural commentator, perverse humorist, gifted artist and truly modern thinker. You’ve never heard of her.

 Well, I, for one, have heard of her. She is the subject of my unfinished dissertation, and I agree.  She was all those things. More people should know about her, and not just because she was a pioneering fashion designer or a “premature” second-wave feminist. Elizabeth Hawes was a life-long socialist, an ardent anti-fascist, a labor advocate, and an intellectual who was always interested in issues of class. In her work, she combined aesthetic principles with political economy to produce a unique vision of fashion design.

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Home, Labor Studies

Why We Celebrate May Day as a Workers’ Holiday

By Steve Brier

One of the great ironies is that workers all over the world celebrate Labor Day on May 1st, not the first Monday in September, the way we do in the U.S. Most people assume the choice of May 1st has something to do with the former Soviet Union. They don’t realize that the idea to celebrate May Day, International Workers’ Day, in fact traces its roots all the way back to Chicago in 1886. This was a period of enormous U.S. economic growth, with millions of immigrant workers from Europe, Mexico, and China pouring into the cities and countryside to work in the mills, factories, fields, and mines. Working conditions and wages were deplorable; workers sometimes toiled 12, 14 or even 16 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week for meager wages.

Continue reading Why We Celebrate May Day as a Workers’ Holiday →