From the editorial team
Post-AFL-CIO Convention Analysis
By Jonathan Tasini
Taking stock of the outcome of the AFL-CIO convention this year.
It Takes a Community: Rethinking Trade Unionism
Wal-Mart Surrounded: Community Alliances and Labor Politics in Chicago
By Dorian Warren
How to take on Wal-Mart from the outside.
Community Unionism: A Strategy for Organizing in the New Economy
By Simon J. Black
New urban labor markets demand a new kind of social solidarity.
Trouble in Paradise: Organizing Condominium Workers in the Sunshine State
By Bruce Nissen
A breakthrough in Florida might crack the solid South.
Is God a Conservative: The Politics of Religion
Warriors for Christ: The Electoral Politics of the Religious Right
By Tanya Erzen
Part private welfare states, part party machines, churches evangelize for right-wing Republicans.
Should the Left Get Religion?
By Peter Laarman and Alexia Salvatierra
Five theses on how movements for social justice can recapture the spiritual mainstream.
Iraq and the Labor Movement: The Remarkable Story of USLAW
By Michael Zweig
Why, unlike during the Vietnam era, unions are mobilizing against the war in Iraq, and the Bush administration’s foreign policy.
Retirement? Don’t Bank On It
Social Insecurity: Wall Street Eyes Your Golden Years
By Joel Solomon
Privatizing social security promises a windfall for brokers and bankers.
Social Security Privatized: The Case of Chile
By Ruth Needleman
Who gained and who lost when government pensions got privatized.
Where Have All the Benefits Gone? The Crisis in Union Pension and Health Care Plans
By Christian Weller and Jeffrey Wenger
What happens when high finance collides with working-class demographics?
Working-Class Voices of Contemporary America
The Price of Love
By Amber Hollibaugh
Debate: The AFL-CIO’s Role in Venezuela
Revolution and Counter-revolution in Venezuela: Assessing the Role of the AFL-CIO
By Lee Sustar
A Rejoinder to “Revolution and Counter-revolution”
By Stan Gacek
Lee Sustar Responds to Stan Gacek
Caught in the Web
By Kim Phillips-Fein
Labor news, views, and resources online.
Books and the Arts:
This Sporting Life
Million Dollar Baby and Friday Night Lights
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Reviewed by Kitty Krupat
Of Human Bondage
Born into Brothels
Directed by Ross Kaufman and Zana Briski
Stolen Childhoods
Directed by Len Morris and Robin Romano
Reviewed by Malini Cadambi
The Triumph of Conservatism
The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America
By John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
Reviewed by Peter Goldberger
Corporate Triage in the Operating Room
Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care
By Suzanne Gordon
Reviewed by Marilyn Harris
Poetry
About Our Contributors