Michelle Chen
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Protesters Tell It On the Mountain in Coal Country
By Michelle Chen Coal River Mountain in West Virginia is rumbling. Last week's … more
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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
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Legal Dissonance: Immigration Policies Clash with Worker Protections
By Michelle Chen A… more
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Protecting Washington’s Troublemakers
For all the politicking about waste, fraud and abuse on Capitol Hill, you’d think the federal government would… more
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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
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Perverse Incentives
The House may soon vote on legislation that could help level out the economic hierarchy. The “Say on… more
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Falling Through the Climate Gap
Poor Americans will suffer most from global warming. more
vol. 33, iss. 08
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Overqualified and Unemployed
The latest unemployment figures show that the recession hasn’t even spared the nation’s best and brightest. But what… more
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Shaking up the Big House
The explosive growth of the nation’s prison system has catalyzed activism in various sectors – drug policy, public… more
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Kenyas 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
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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
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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
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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
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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