Tag Archives: labor
‘Almost Akin to a Political Coup’: Houston Teachers Fight Back Against State Takeover of HISD
In a last-ditch effort to stop a state takeover of Texas’ largest school district, the Houston teachers union is suing the state for disenfranchising voters of color.
The fight over the future of Houston’s public school system escalated this week when the local teachers union joined a federal voting rights lawsuit against t...Read More
Short Story Contest Finalist: ‘The Prize’
In this dreamlike tale, a struggling poet sabotages the contest he’s judging.
Fernando A. Flores, guest judge for our 2019 short story contest, says his favorite stories are those that “take some kind of risk, strive for something great...Read More
What the UAW Strike Looks Like, From Deep in the Heart of Anti-Union Texas
GM autoworkers from the Arlington plant, one of the company’s most profitable, are part of the largest strike against a U.S. business since 2007.
The sprawling General Motors Assembly Plant in Arlington, Texas, is a long way from Detroit and the Rust Belt, where both the modern American auto industry and ...Read More
Remembering Sister Christine Stephens, the Organizers’ Organizer
Stephens began her career as a community organizer in San Antonio, Houston, the Valley, and Dallas and later supervised IAF organizing across Texas and the Southwest.
On the evening of July 25, about 400 people packed a large chapel at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio for the wake for Sister Christine Stephens. ...Read More
Texas Workers Are Dying on the Job at Alarming Rates
“Literally, we’re not holding employers liable for the lives of their workers.”
In 2017, a worker in Texas died on the job every 16 hours. They died from electrocution, asphyxiation, falls from roofs, exposure to toxins, equipment malfuncti...Read More
Forgotten in the Fields
Labor trafficking hides in plain sight across Texas, disproportionately affecting the thousands of farmworkers who visit the state on H-2A guest worker visas.
Labor trafficking hides in plain sight across Texas, disproportionately affecting the thousands of farmworkers who visit the state on H-2A guest worker visas. &...Read More
The GOP Failed to Ban Paid Sick Leave and the Business Lobby is Livid
Texas businesses are growing increasingly disgruntled that Dan Patrick appears unable to stop poisoning their political agenda with right-wing social warfare.
One of the the biggest priorities for Texas Republicans this session appears to be on the verge of legislative death. A series of bills that would broadly prohi...Read More
‘The Penal System Today is Slavery’: Lawmakers Finally Start to Talk About Unpaid Labor in Texas Prisons
The 13th Amendment left a loophole for prisoners to be forced to work without pay. Texas remains one of five states that exploits the carveout for state profit.
Inmates in Texas make license plates, grow crops, tend to cattle, make soap and clothing, refurbish buses and computers, build furniture and more. They’re req...Read More
Texas Republicans’ War on Workers Roars Back to Life in the House
One of the GOP’s top priorities — banning local labor protections like mandatory paid sick leave — stalled for much of the session. Now, Republicans are putting their foot on the gas.
The Texas GOP has finally returned its attention to its perpetual war on workers. After unexpected delays and with less than a month left in session, Republican...Read More
