Andrew Elrod is a writer and historian of inflation and price controls in the United States. He is a senior editor at Phenomenal World.
Automakers have long used the threat of relocating to discipline workers, which has led the UAW to embrace Trump’s tariffs. But tariffs won't solve the problem of competition from nonunion firms or eliminate management’s ability to exploit nonunion labor.
The best parts of the Biden administration’s response to the cost-of-living crisis are already being forgotten.
Inflation in the US continues to fall from its peak last summer. But the Fed hasn’t been responsible for lower inflation — and understanding why is crucial to advancing progressive policy goals like maintaining high employment and expanding public investment.
Congress was able to break the rail strike last week because of a century-old law designed to weaken the disruptive power of unions. It’s time to cast aside this law and every other government-mandated strike prohibition that ties the hands of workers.
To address the cost-of-living crisis, we need to expand production and rein in corporate profits. Only Congress and the White House have the tools for the job — but they won’t use them unless labor organizes to force their hands.
The industries where employers are complaining the loudest about recruiting and retaining labor are those where workers have lost the most independence and autonomy over their work. The best way to build and strengthen that independence is through unions.
The postwar order that emerged from the Great Depression was as fragile as it was prosperous.
New York State United Teachers members have an opportunity to create a broad educational justice movement — if they can move their union away from politics as usual.