In These Times

Sick and Tired, But Still Standing: Ground Zero Workers Weigh a Settlement

By Michelle Chen For months, they toiled in a hellish wasteland of dust and rubble, where a towering… more

Injustice by the Pound: Farm Activists Work to ‘Bust Up Big Ag’

By Michelle Chen Something is astir in America's heartland. A grassroots coalition of independent farmers, consumer groups, and… more

When the Truth Hurts: Intelligence Agencies vs. Whistleblower Protections

By Michelle Chen For over a decade, Bassem Youssef had distinguished himself as one of the FBI's top… more

Young People Wait Out the Recession…and Their Youth

By Michelle Chen Young workers may not know it, but the jobs crisis threatens to turn what should… more

Is Unemployment Killing Us? Workers in Critical Condition

By Michelle Chen The recession has left millions of Americans sick and tired of being sick and tired...… more

Midwifery: The Labor of Labor Seeks Rebirth

By Michelle Chen Mention “childbirth” to the average American woman and you'll likely evoke a reaction somewhere between… more

U.N. Report Presents a Richer View of Poverty

By Michelle Chen What does it mean to be poor in 2010? In monetary terms, the number of… more

Lawsuit Sheds Light on Guestworkers in Hostile Terrain

"We felt like we were imprisoned, held captive. What else did he need, a whip?"  —Vincente Vera Martínez,… more

Bipartisanship on Jobs Bill: Agreeing to Fail

By Michelle Chen A snowstorm plunged the nation's capital into a deep freeze this week, but Congress has… more

At the Margins of the Economy, the Downturn Never Ends

By Michelle Chen Unemployment fell below 10 percent in January, and it appears the job market may be… more

Obama’s Double Talk on Exports and Jobs

By Michelle Chen Of all the promises studding Obama's State of the Union Address, two claims stuck out:… more

Will Obama’s Budget Keep an Eye on Your Kids?

By Michelle Chen President Obama's budget pitches plenty of elaborate strategies to boost economic recovery, from targeted business… more

Same Work, More Play

As states look to save money, some are shortening public employees' workweek to four days. more

vol. 34, iss. 02    economy, labor

Crime Pays: How NYC Bosses Rob the Working Poor

By Michelle Chen If you're one of about 317,000 unlucky New Yorkers, there's a good chance your boss… more

The State of the Union, Through Green-Tinted Glasses

By Michelle Chen Maybe it's chilly weather, or political fatigue from Copenhagen debacle, or the fact that a… more

Labor of Love in Haiti: Aid Workers Face Crisis

By Michelle Chen The images of catastrophic suffering streaming out of Haiti look horrific even when viewed through… more

Changes at Labor College Offer Lesson in Corporatized Education

By Michelle Chen The economic crisis has hit the country's colleges and universities with staff cuts, tuition spikes,… more

Pummeled by Quake, Haiti Cries Out for a Movement (updated)

By Michelle Chen It may have been impossible to predict exactly how devastating the earthquake in Haiti would… more

Sustainable Recovery: Can Labor Get Green Off the Ground?

By Michelle Chen In the wake of another gloomy jobs report, and the grand failure at Copenhagen, lawmakers… more

New Year Brings Changes for China Inside and Out

By Michelle Chen The next decade will belong to China. Despite a fierce financial crisis and political unrest,… more

Microfinance: Homegrown Jobs or Charitable Exploitation?

By Michelle Chen The season of giving has inspired some to look for flickers of hope in the… more

Unions Promote Terrorism: Just Ask Sen. DeMint

By Michelle Chen If we let the workers unionize, then the terrorists will win. That was the gist… more

What If the Daily Grind Were Just Four Days A Week?

By Michelle Chen After weathering a year of economic catastrophe, we could all use a day off... permanently.… more

In Bungled Reform Battle, Building Blocks for Progressive Healthcare Workforce

By Michelle Chen As Congress puts the finishing touches on its bruised and battered ,… more

Relief for Asbestos Mining Town Buried in Health Care Bill

By Michelle Chen The people of the mining community of Libby, Montana have been struggling to breathe for… more

Urban Communities Seek Lift Through Living Wage

By Michelle Chen Economic indicators may be bouncing back this holiday season, but the working poor aren't so… more

Labor Seeing Green After Copenhagen Climate Talks

By Michelle Chen The Copenhagen conference is raising tensions and hopes for labor's environmental future. While some unions… more

Guns and Butter: Labor Takes on Afghanistan

By Michelle Chen With epidemic joblessness and endless warfare dragging on alongside each other, the political tensionssurrounding… more

Reevaluating Immigration Reform: What’s it Worth?

By Michelle Chen The immigration debate these days looks more like a balance sheet than a political conversation.… more

Trading Tomorrow for Today: Why Saving is So Hard for Poor Families

By Michelle Chen As the recession bottoms out, we're slowly coming to understand how we got here: a… more

Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ Could Pose Hurdles for Teachers

By Michelle Chen The Obama administration is enlisting the nation's schools in a "Race to the Top," but… more

After Release, Former Prisoners Robbed of Opportunity

By Michelle Chen Millions of Americans know how tough it is to break out of unemployment. Few can… more

Not Just ‘Tools That Breathe’: Labor Activism Steps Forward in China

By Michelle Chen As Obama embarks on a tense diplomatic visit to Asia, the political buzz surrounding China… more

Cornered by Recession, Unmarried Women Go It Alone

By Michelle Chen Browsing the news headlines, you might get the impression that women aren't doing as badly… more

Searching for Work and Stability, Vets Fight New Battles at Home

By Michelle Chen The tragedy at Fort Hood may strike Americans as a singular, incomprehensible horror. But the… more

Protesters Tell It On the Mountain in Coal Country

By Michelle Chen Coal River Mountain in West Virginia is rumbling. Last week's … more

Where Credit is Due: Tax Breaks to Spur Hiring?

By Michelle Chen After doling out stimulus dollars, shoring up state agencies and setting up construction jobs, Washington… more

Legal Dissonance: Immigration Policies Clash with Worker Protections

By Michelle Chen A… more

Risks and Returns: Exploiting the Immigrant Detention Industry

By Michelle Chen Last winter, a remote Texas prison convulsed in a cry of outrage, voicing the desperation… more

Women and the Global Labor Movement: In Search of ‘Decent Work, Decent Life’

By Michelle Chen The recession has been hard on the working man, but often, the least visible and… more

Homelessness and the Recession: An Unimaginable Crisis

For millions of American households, the recession has turned the once unthinkable into inescapable reality: suddenly finding themselves… more

Puerto Rico Engulfed in Massive Labor Unrest

To many Americans, Puerto Rico may be best known as a distant tropical idyll. But this vestige of… more

Flu Vaccine Controversy Gives Health Workers a Dose of Resistance

By Michelle Chen When a disease outbreak hits, the last thing you'd want is anything standing in the… more

Filipino Teachers Recruited to ‘Virtual Servitude’ in Louisiana

By Michelle Chen They came on a mission to teach American children, but ended up getting a tough… more

Robbed of Savings, Older Workers Hit with New Problems

By Michelle Chen To young financial analysts on Wall Street, the markets may be brightening, but to their… more

From Beantown to Chi-town, Hotel Workers Rising Up

By Michelle Chen The recession has driven massive layoffs around the country, so when the Hyatt decided to… more

Recession Brings Uneven Pain, Threatens Uneven Recovery

By Michelle Chen While the recession has left no community untouched, we're not all feeling the same pain.… more

Navajo Nation Pushes for Green Jobs on Mother Earth

The resignation of former White House green jobs advisor Van Jones, a longtime racial and environmental justice activist,… more

Service Workers in Limbo, as Organizing Strategies Divide Unions

A standoff between factions of a major service worker union reveals simmering tensions over how to build union… more

Furloughs Balance State Budgets—on Backs of Critical Workers

As state lawmakers struggle to make "tough choices" to close budget gaps, tens of thousands of public employees… more

Troubled ‘E-Verify’ Program Highlights Dysfunctional Immigration System

Even before they became the paper tiger in the healthcare reform circus, undocumented immigrants were Washington's favorite boogeyman… more

Nurses’ Orders: New ‘Super-Union’ Pushes for Healthcare Reform

The progressive talking points for universal healthcare are often framed around the interests of patients. But one sector… more

Workers’ Sick Struggle: Getting Well vs. Getting Paid

When families are hit with both health problems and financial hardship, they often can't afford to deal with… more

Four Years After Katrina, Workers Still Exploited in the Big Easy

"I never earned anything for my work... When finally the bosses paid something, all of the money went… more

The End of Retirement as We Knew It

While millions of Americans worry about making ends meet from day to day, many probably don't even want… more

Labor Movement for the Oldest Profession? Sex Workers Organize

Sex workers exist in every corner of the world, but they're typically relegated to the outer edge of… more

Across an Ocean: Can U.S., Chinese Unions Find Common Ground?

This summer, steel has been melting down on both sides of the globe. protests… more

Digesting Whole Foods’ Unsavory Politics

The left has always had its share of hypocrisy, but mega-green grocer Whole Foods has dished out a… more

Globalization and Labor: Taking Stock of Free Trade

With North American leaders tiptoeing around NAFTA in Guadalajara and more free trade pacts wending through Congress, now… more

Freedom of Movement: Migrant Rights in the Global Economy

What if lawmakers had the guts to create comprehensive labor legislation for immigrants, enshrining their rights in accordance… more

On the Waterfront: The Struggle for Sustainable Port Trucking

America’s teeming harbors are the lifeblood of global commerce. But for the truck drivers who keep the shipping… more

Protecting Washington’s Troublemakers

For all the politicking about waste, fraud and abuse on Capitol Hill, you’d think the federal government would… more

Will Teachers be Left Behind by the Stimulus Gold Rush?

To teachers across the country, the carrot that Washington is dangling before schools could soon start to feel… more

Perverse Incentives

The House may soon vote on legislation that could help level out the economic hierarchy. The “Say on… more

Falling Through the Climate Gap

Poor Americans will suffer most from global warming. more

vol. 33, iss. 08   

Overqualified and Unemployed

The latest unemployment figures show that the recession hasn’t even spared the nation’s best and brightest. But what… more

Shaking up the Big House

The explosive growth of the nation’s prison system has catalyzed activism in various sectors – drug policy, public… more

Congress Unveils Healthcare Reform Plans

The House and Senate have rolled out two parallel plans to overhaul the country’s health system. But the… more

Between Bosses and Labor, Immigration Reform Hangs in Balance

Though the debates over healthcare and the economy are dominating Capitol Hill, immigrant rights activists are fighting to… more

Unequal Education

No Child Left Behind demands equal test scores from neighborhoods with unequal incomes and resources. more

vol. 33, iss. 02    education, race, social justice

Live Chat—Resistance Now!

Palestinian struggle goes viral more

vol. 33, iss. 01   

Poison Pill Slipped Into Indian Health Bill

Pro-life amendment used to derail legislation more

vol. 32, iss. 08    abortion, gender, medical & health, politics, race

Rap the Casbah

For more than a generation, hip-hop has drawn kids from neighborhoods around the world into the musical intersection of… more

vol. 32, iss. 05   

Kenya’s Indy Media

While news reports across the world have displayed images of chaos shaking Kenya, an alternative media system driven by… more

vol. 32, iss. 04    africa, media, television

Challenging Indian Land Trusts

Across Indian country, two things are never in short supply: rich natural resources and endemic poverty. That paradox is… more

vol. 32, iss. 03   

Air Polluters Sail the High Seas

The environmental law firm EarthJustice, Friends of the Earth and other advocacy groups are taking action to compel the EPA to set comprehensive restrictions on the air pollution that clouds U.S. harbors more

vol. 31, iss. 12    environment, regulation

Lobbying for Cancer

Corporations are co-opting the federal Data Quality Act to paralyze scientists with frivolous allegations of inaccuracy, driving a stealth assault on public-health research more

vol. 31, iss. 11    environment, medical & health, regulation

The Promise of Low Power FM

The voices aired on low-power stations include evangelists, social critics, tomato pickers and indie rockers--all linked by the credo that radio should reflect the heterogeneity of the communities it serves more

vol. 31, iss. 09    media