by Jake Olzen
On Monday, President Obama renewed his commitment to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where there are currently over 130 men on hunger strike to protest their conditions and indefinite detention.
Democracy Now!
by Jake Olzen
On Monday, President Obama renewed his commitment to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where there are currently over 130 men on hunger strike to protest their conditions and indefinite detention.
by Jake Olzen. “Workers of the world unite!” says the traditional slogan of the Industrial Workers of the World. The Wobblies, since their founding in 1905, have envisioned a global union capable of waging a worldwide general strike. By its height in the 1920s, the union was capable of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of workers.
by Jake Olzen. One might think this would be over by now. Four years ago, President Obama signed an executive order to close the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, yet it remains open. More than half of the men imprisoned have been cleared for release by the Obama administration’s Guantánamo Review Task Force but
by Jake Olzen. Matthew McLoughlin Hundreds of workers and supporters gathered in Chicago’s Cityfront Plaza on Thursday to speak out against the ways that major retail and fast food corporations are weakening the city’s economy with poverty-level wages. Marching along the Magnificent Mile and its throngs of holiday shoppers, the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago
by Jake Olzen. On December 6, two historic new laws in Washington State take effect. A majority of voters chose last month to legalize marijuana and pass measures for marriage equality, thanks to community organizing efforts and social change movements concretely focused on policy issues. Referendum 74, which would allow same-sex couples to marry, passed
by Jake Olzen. “We are standing up to live better,” say Walmart’s retail workers, playfully twisting Walmart’s slogan of “live better” into a rallying cry for better conditions and treatment. In a taste of what the nation’s largest retailer can expect on Black Friday, frustrated Walmart workers have again started walking off their jobs to
by Jake Olzen. The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy has raised the question once again of whether post-disaster relief can help build organizations and networks that will create more resilient communities for the future. In trying to do so, East Coast activists and grassroots organizations — including the Occupy movement’s Occupy Sandy campaign — have been
by Jake Olzen. In the countdown to Election Day, the Romney presidential campaign is working hard to dispel what many Americans perceive as its candidate’s hypocrisy about saving American jobs. Workers from the “Bainport” camp in Freeport, Illinois — named after Bain Capital, the company Mitt Romney co-founded in 1984 — are revealing an important
by Jake Olzen. The nation’s largest retailer — Walmart — is in the throes of a bold movement for worker justice. The company has faced a number of separate strikes in less than a month and, rather than its typical retaliatory response of firing workers, Walmart is backing down and conceding to some demands. Workers
by Jake Olzen. The world’s leading agricultural and food policy experts are headed to Des Moines, Iowa, this week to celebrate the World Food Prize. The annual event heralds the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. But not everyone finds such
