Planned Parenthood: Bargaining after DobbsEditor’s Note For this article, New Labor Forum’s “Working-Class Voices” columnist Kressent Pottenger interviewed two workers at Planned Parentho […]

Essential Workers: Bearing the Brunt of Climate Change Caption: Construction workers have to deal with extreme heat, the leading cause of climate-related fatalities. Credit: Mikael Blomkvist, […]

Volume 33, Issue 3, Fall 2024 Contents Labor and the Uncertain Future of Artificial Intelligence Contesting the Idea of Progress: Labor’s AI Challenge  By Jason Re […]

Lessons from a Landmark Campaign: An Interview with Stephen Lerner on Justice for Janitors Caption: Justice for Janitors March, July 10, 2010. Credit: SEIU local 1 Stephen Lerner joined SEIU in the mid-1980s and immediately took […]

Central American Democracy in Crisis Left photo: Nayib Bukele during the 2019 presidential elections in El Salvador, February 3, 2019. Credit: Presidential House, El Salvador Right […]

The United Auto Workers’ Southern Offensive “Organize the South!” has long been a progressive imperative, from the interracial Union Leagues that sought to defend Reconstruction-era rad […]

A New Route for Auto Workers: An Interview with the UAW’s Jonah FurmanThings tend to move slowly in the American labor movement—big ships don’t change course quickly. An exception has been in the United Auto Wor […]

October and December 2024 GC Chapter Meeting NotesWe held two Graduate Center chapter-wide meetings on October 31 and December 6, 2024 In our October meeting, we heard statements from each of our candidates running for 5 open alternate delegate positions. We had an open discussion of member issues. In our December meeting, we held elections for our open alternate delegate positions. The following members ran and were unanimously elected as alternate delegates and have now joined our chapter leadership: Rachel Duff Helena Najm Forrest Pelsue Joe Riccio Hart Zhang Following the election, we had a presentation and discussion on academic freedom led by the PSC Academic Freedom Committee. Members are encouraged to reach out to chair Tony Alessandrini with questions or concerns […] “October and December 2024 GC Chapter Meeting Notes”

How the U.S. Labor Movement Is Confronting AIWhen Boston University graduate students went on strike in April, Stan Sclaroff, the university’s dean of arts and sciences, sent faculty an e […]

September 2024 GC Chapter Meeting MinutesElection We held an election for chapter chair. Sofya Aptekar and Evan Rothman ran unopposed as co-chairs and were elected unanimously. Resolutions Two resolutions were brought to the meeting with urgency. Those assembled voted to review and vote on the resolutions within the September meeting. Both the PSC and NYCERS Israeli Investments Divestment Resolution and the Removal of Starbucks Products from the Graduate Center Resolution were passed by those assembled. Upcoming We have another scheduled chapter meeting in November, and will be looking to fill delegate vacancies before that meeting. Please be in touch with the chapter’s principal officers if you are interested in representing the Graduate Center Chapter in the […] “September 2024 GC Chapter Meeting Minutes”

PSC and NYCERS Israeli Investments Divestment ResolutionThe following resolution was passed at our September 24, 2024 GC PSC chapter meeting. PSC and NYCERS Israeli Investments Divestment Resolution Whereas, for eleven months the Israeli government has engaged in bombing and other warfare in the Gaza Strip killing at least 40,000 people including, by Israel’s own account, 23,000 civilians. Whereas, these attacks have included those on schools and UN shelters, in violation of commonly accepted “rules of war.” Whereas, the international community has strongly condemned Israeli actions, including the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes, the International Court of Justice’s opinion that Israel’s occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful, and its preliminary finding that there is a plausible claim that genocide is occurring in Gaza. Whereas, in the past, such as during the period of apartheid rule in South Africa, American institutions such as colleges and labor unions have used the tool of divestment to show their disapproval of state policies that violate international human rights laws, and also to weaken those states economically. Whereas the investment holdings of the Professional Staff Congress include bond funds such as the Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund and the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, which have holdings of Israeli government bonds. Whereas, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York (TRSNYC) and the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS) have direct investments of $100 million and $115 million, respectively, in Israeli companies and government bonds. Whereas, at a special meeting of AFSCME DC37 Local 3005, which represents public health workers, 92% of attendees voted for a resolution, which calls for the local to post a statement on its website supporting NYCERS divestment, and for the local’s president to send a letter to the NYCERS board expressing the local’s support of this move. Therefore, be it resolved that the Professional Staff Congress should follow in the footsteps of AFSCME Local 3005 by sending an official letter to the TRS board expressing its support for complete disinvestment from Israel, and also post that letter prominently on its website. And, be it further resolved that the Professional Staff Congress shall divest its own funds from any investment vehicle that includes in its portfolio stocks and bonds of Israeli companies and Israeli government bonds no later than the end of January 2025, and shall continue in good faith to try to meet that investment objective. And, be it further resolved that the Professional Staff Congress shall establish a volunteer committee to investigate whether further divestment is appropriate and feasible, which shall report back to the PSC Delegate Assembly n […] “PSC and NYCERS Israeli Investments Divestment Resolution”

The Graduate Center Chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (GC PSC) Demands the Removal of Starbucks Products from the Graduate CenterThe following resolution was passed at our September 25, 2024 GC PSC chapter meeting. The Graduate Center Chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (GC PSC) Demands the Removal of Starbucks Products from the Graduate Center WHEREAS students, faculty, and staff at the Graduate Center, including the DGSC and PSC, organized for food access on campus by reclaiming the dining commons, WHEREAS the Graduate Center signed a contract with Alladin Campus Dining that includes non-unionized labor, unaffordable food, and the sale of Starbucks products at 365 Cafe and Bar located in the lobby of the Graduate Center, WHEREAS Starbucks became the target of an organic boycott campaign by the Palestinian liberation and labor movements following the company’s union-busting lawsuit against Starbucks Workers United over the union’s social media post in solidarity with Palestine, BE IT RESOLVED that the GC PSC demands the removal of Starbucks products from the Graduate Center, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GC PSC calls on the Graduate Center community to honor the boycott of Starbucks products, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GC PSC demands free and affordable dining options on campus at all times the building is open, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GC PSC stands in solidarity with the food service workers in the building and their right to good working conditions, just compensation, and a fair contract, BE IT FURTHER RES […] “The Graduate Center Chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (GC PSC) Demands the Removal of Starbucks Products from the Graduate Center”

Labor Day, EWOC, Bidenomics and more NLF Highlights for Labor Day 2024 This Labor Day, it’s worth asking a simple question: does the labor movement need new methods and o […]

Queer Working-Class Politics and U.S. Labor NLF Highlights for June 2024 In the twenty-first century, many of the most promising American union upsurges, such as the Starbucks Workers […]

Worker-to-Worker Organizing Goes Viral NLF Highlights for May 2024   At a moment of dark news across the globe, the American labor movement has recently been, in a refreshing […]

The Child Care Facilitated Enrollment Project for Working Families NLF Highlights for April 2024 In the long list of expenses crushing American workers, childcare is one of the heaviest. According to the […]

The 2023 UAW Strike: A Turning Point in Labor History? NLF Highlights for February 2024   Observers of the US labor movement have become very accustomed to delivering bad news in recent […]

Can labor transform the South? NLF Highlights for January 2024 The 2022 unionization campaign at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, is one of several high-profile o […]

The Strike is Back! NLF Highlights for November 2023 The strike is back! Just this week, more than 60,000 SAG-AFTRA members ended a nearly four-month strike with […]

The Dark Doldrums: Has Germany’s Energy Transition Reached a Dead End?In recent years, the term dunkelflaute (“dark doldrums”) has entered the political discourse in Germany. It refers to a period of consecutive day […]