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“Justice Will Be Served” for Nail Salon Workers as Opportunity Knocks

New Orleans    A week long jury trial in federal court gave five nail salon worker employed by a Korean-owned chain in Long Island almost $250,000 in back pay and overtime for Fair Labor Standard Act violations for underpayment below minimum wages.  The case for these marginal, often ignored service workers was brought forward by a [...]

Singing the Songs of Hard Jobs at Low Pay

New Orleans Just like the next guy, I am a huge fan of anyone who agrees with me and sings verses of my songs, especially if by some total, blooming miracle it turns out to be on the op-ed page of the New York Times, but that is by god where Charles Blow rolls [...]

Informal Worker Organizing in Kenya

Discussion with AFL-CIO Solidarity Center in Nairobi

Nairobi Our annual check-in with the AFL-CIO’s Nairobi based Solidarity Center working in various eastern African countries like Uganda and Tanzania in addition to Kenya underscored my belief that the future of organizing has to be among the growing numbers [...]

Wages of Work and Welfare

New Orleans Newspapers over the weekend from London to Washington and New York are full of stories about the increasing wages of the top dogs in the financial industries on Wall Street and the City of London.  The estimates range from 10% to 25% hikes.  Meanwhile we continue to struggle to figure out the most [...]