Ever wonder how workers move mountains of dirt or lift tons of steel to the tops of buildings? This week on the Heartland Labor Forum, we’ll talk to Aaron Brown, Business Manager of Operating Engineers local 101 in our labor leader series. Then, Fishing for Freedom day brings several hundred...
In a landslide victory, faculty and academic staff at the University of Kansas voted to unionize with the American Federation of Teachers. This week on the Heartland Labor Forum, we'll talk to organizers about the issues staff are facing and their efforts to negotiate a first contract. Then, we all...
If we could grade them, this year’s Missouri and Kansas legislatures both flunked. Missouri gets an F minus with less than 30 non-appropriation bills passed, but Kansas bombed out on taxes and, of course, Medicaid Expansion, so the Governor is sending them to summer school. What about union and worker...
Ken Grossinger, author of Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together believes activism needs art to imbue social struggles with purpose and solidarity. We’ll hear examples from Ken and ask him how to use art strategically in struggles for justice. Then Ken will talk with...
The Labor Notes Conference last month was chock full of almost 8,000 union troublemakers. A highlight was UAW President Shawn Fain and dozens of members who are rebuilding a more militant auto union capable of organizing the South. Is the UAW returning to its militant roots? Where did it go...
Ron Carey was the first Teamster President elected directly by the members. A new book gives us the inside scoop on the enormous challenges this union reformer faced. Author Ken Reiman will be on the Heartland Labor Forum. Then, it’s an election year, and corporate dollars are raining on candidates....
Across the country proponents of school vouchers promise choice, freedom and upward mobility. Nicole Abshire of Mothers for Democracy Institute says vouchers are a scam on students, teachers, unions and communities. She’ll be on the Heartland Labor Forum this week. Then, a new study by UMKC economist Michael Kelsay says...
When it’s freezing out or super-hot, and you walk into a building and sigh with relief, you probably don’t thank the workers who insulated those buildings for your comfort. For over a hundred years, the Insulators Local 27 members have been insulating in our schools, hospitals, work places and public...
