Author Archive

David Bacon

Hundreds of Fruit Packing Workers Are On Strike

This article was originally published at Labor Notes. Since this article was written, apple packinghouse workers at two more companies have joined the strike: at Hansen Fruit and Columbia Reach. Six worksites in... MORE

Working · May 19, 2020
Don’t Punish the Dreamers—Punish the Corporations Driving Forced Migration

The "dreamers," young recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—are the true children of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). More than anyone, they have paid the... MORE

Working · September 11, 2017
40,000 AT&T Workers Begin 3-Day Strike

This story has been updated with the start of the strike. Around 40,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) at AT&T walked off their jobs Friday, for a three-day... MORE

Working · May 19, 2017
Punishing Employers Who Hire Undocumented Immigrants Isn’t the Answer—Solidarity Is

The following was written in response to a previous post. It is clear in the article that its author, Buzz Malone, feels he is defending the interests of workers against employers. The... MORE

Working · November 30, 2016
Revolt of the ‘Chapulines’: After Strike, Indigenous Mexican Farmworkers Vote To Unionize

Sometimes they call themselves chapulines. It's a Oaxacan inside joke. Chapulines are small insects, like grasshoppers. When they're toasted with lime and garlic, they're a delicacy that's as much... MORE

Working · May 25, 2016
Undocumented Youth Are Here Through No Fault of Their Own. But It’s Not Their Parents’ Fault, Either

Using the phrase "no fault of their own" in discussing undocumented young people does not encourage us to look at the roots of the poverty and violence their families experience. MORE

Features · November 5, 2015
The Long, Strange Tale of a California Farm’s Attempts To Break Its Workers’ Union

The strategy by one of the nation's largest growers to shed its obligation to sign a contract with the United Farm Workers was dealt a key setback last week. An administrative law... MORE

Working · September 24, 2015
California Court Ruling Could Make It Nearly Impossible for Farmworkers To Win Union Contracts

On May 18 in Fresno, California, the state's Court of Appeals for the 5th District ruled that a key provision of the state's unique labor law for field workers is unconstitutional. Should... MORE

Working · June 17, 2015
Panama’s Dockworkers Fight Poverty Wages—With Support From American Unionists

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA—You see a lot of parked taxis in the parking lot at the Panama Ports terminal here. But they're not waiting to give rides to longshore workers&mdash... MORE

Working · April 2, 2015
An Oil Worker & a Union Staffer Explain Why 1,000s of Oil Workers Across the Country Are On Strike

Oil workers in multiple states around the country, as In These Times has reported over the last two weeks, are on strike for the first time in a... MORE

Working · February 12, 2015
Immigrant Recycling Workers Win Strike, Union Drive in East Bay

SAN LEANDRO, CA—Within days of each other last week, two groups of Northern California recycling workers declared they'd had enough of what they see as regimes of indignity and discrimination.... MORE

Working · October 31, 2014
Debunking 8 Myths About Why Central American Children Are Migrating

'Lax enforcement' is not the culprit—U.S. trade and immigration policies are. MORE

Features · July 8, 2014
What Cesar Chavez Missed

The new film doesn't capture the diversity of the farmworkers' movement. MORE

Act Locally · May 15, 2014
Giving Up on Congress, Immigrant Workers Stage Wave of Protests

For the last five months, community and labor activists, most of them young, have sat down in front of buses carrying people to detention centers for deportation. In Tucson, they obstructed and chained... MORE

Working · March 6, 2014
All Over the World, Migrants Demand the Right to Stay at Home

A global consensus is emerging on immigration policy--and the U.S. isn't heeding it. MORE

Features · October 30, 2013
Fighting To Stay Home

Violently evicted by their government and unwelcome in the U.S., Mexican mining unionists have nowhere to go. MORE

Features · September 9, 2013
The Fast Against the Firings

OAKLAND, CALIF.--Even though the full Senate is debating the immigration reform bill S. 744, labor and community activists in northern California charge that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency of the federal... MORE

Uprising · June 19, 2013
For Unionists, Iraq’s Oil War Rages On

The leader of Iraq’s oil union is being threatened with prison--again. MORE

Features · April 2, 2013
RIP Leo Robinson, Soul of the Longshore

Leo Robinson was a leader of the longshore union in San Francisco. He died this week. For many of us, he was an example of what being an internationalist and a working-class activist... MORE

Working · January 19, 2013
The Walmart Black Friday Protests

A photo essay on the ground outside the mega-retailer's store in Richmond, California. MORE

Features · November 26, 2012
Mexico’s Labor Law Reform Sparks Massive Protests

A plan to gut labor protections has spurred unrest in Mexico’s streets. MORE

Features · October 16, 2012
Workers Try to Organize Airport Subway, Get Fired

OAKLAND, CA—This city is supposed to be a union town, but out at the airport, workers say they're getting fired for trying to join one. The airport is administered by... MORE

Working · August 10, 2012
Mexico’s Cananea Strikers: Fighting for the Right to a Union

Jacinto Martinez is the labor secretary of Section 65 of the Mineros, Mexico's union for miners and one of the oldest unions in the country. His union has been on strike for five... MORE

Working · May 16, 2012
Seattle Port Strike Challenges ‘Independent Contractor’ Lie

Truck drivers in the Puget Sound shut down ports for two weeks—and begin to shift the balance of power. MORE

Features · February 21, 2012
Domestic Workers and Their Children March for Rights in Calif.

SACRAMENTO, CALIF.—Early Tuesday morning, buses of domestic workers and their children began arriving at the huge grassy mall in front of California's state capitol building. Dozens of Mexican, Filipina and... MORE

Working · January 27, 2012
Fighting the Firings

After years of 'silent raids' and federal workplace audits, unions and community allies are going on the offensive. MORE

Features · August 23, 2011
Will Public Workers and Immigrants March Together on May Day?

One sign carried in almost every May Day march of the last few years says it all: "We are Workers, not Criminals!" Often it was held in the calloused hands of men and... MORE

Working · April 28, 2011
A Labor Law Bosses Would Love

Backed by industrialists, Mexican politicians are on the verge of erasing most workers' rights. MORE

Features · April 19, 2011
Protesters in San Francisco and Beyond Declare: ‘We Are One’ (SLIDESHOW)

On Monday, April 4—the 43rd anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis while helping public-sector workers to organize—unionists and their allies marched in... MORE

Working · April 7, 2011
Cesar Chavez, and the State of the Farm Workers Movement

The famous union activist would have turned 84 yesterday The U.S. media tends to view social movements as the creation of strong leaders, especially on those rare occasions when it looks at unions.... MORE

Working · April 1, 2011
Foundry Workers Strike to Save Their Healthcare

Berkeley, Calif.—A strike of more than 450 workers in one of the largest foundries on the west coast brought production to a halt Sunday night, at Pacific Steel Castings. The work... MORE

Working · March 23, 2011
Fired for the Crime of Working

Not much has changed for undocumented workers since Obama took office. MORE

Features · March 23, 2011
Utah’s New Immigration Bills: A Blast From the Past

The state laws have been called "the nation's most liberal," but they're not much different from Cold War-era deportation policies. MORE

Act Locally · March 18, 2011
Divide and Deport: On Immigration, Thom Hartmann and Lou Dobbs Have Much in Common

Hartmann says he wants to "put Lou Dobbs out to pasture." But a close look at his new book belies his progressive call to armsRadio host and author Thom Hartmann has a new... MORE

Working · February 28, 2011
SLIDESHOW: In Oakland, Hunger Comprises All Races

All photos taken by David Bacon in Oakland, Calif., between August 21 and 28, 2009. Everyone knows Oakland, Calif., is a diverse community. Probably more people from more races and nationalities live in the city than... MORE

Working · December 10, 2009
An American Garment Worker Asks, ‘Where’s the Freedom?’

Lisa Liu is a garment worker in Oakland, Calif. She recently told her story to Working In These Times contributor David Bacon... * * * * * I’m a seamstress in a factory with twelve... MORE

Working · September 1, 2009
El Valiente Chicano

Bert Corona was a child of the line in the sand between the U.S. and Mexico – the problems of the millions of people crossing the border dominated his life. He was... MORE

Working · August 12, 2009
Can Labor Get Out of This Mess? (Part Two)

[Editor’s note: The first part of this article can be read here.] One of the most important reasons why change is so hard for U.S. unions is the continuing legacy... MORE

Working · August 5, 2009
Can Labor Get Out of This Mess? (Part One)

For anyone who loves the labor movement, it’s not unreasonable today to ask whether we’ve lost our way. California’s huge healthcare local is in trusteeship, its leading... MORE

Working · July 29, 2009
The Story of an Eviction

OAKLAND, CA—At eight in the morning on Monday, ten Alameda County Sheriffs arrived in their patrol cars in front of the tan house on the corner of Tenth and Willow in... MORE

Working · July 22, 2009
Will Unions Defend Undocumented Members?

On May 31, 254 people were fired in the southeast Los Angeles industrial enclave of Vernon. Their crime? According to Overhill Farms, their employer, they had bad Social Security numbers. Behind this accusation is the... MORE

Working · July 14, 2009
The Midwest Union Rollback

Newly elected Republican governors nix public workers' collective bargaining rights MORE

Act Locally · February 24, 2005
Lockout KO’d

San Francisco hotel workers triumph with help from city-by-city support MORE

Act Locally · December 22, 2004
Grocery Workers Go to War Over Healthcare

Los Angeles—Mark Norton is one of 70,000 workers locked out or forced on strike in Southern California. Hundreds MORE

Features · January 27, 2004
Workers Unite

Unions around the world oppose the drive for war MORE

Act Locally · February 28, 2003
No Quiero Taco Bell!

David Bacon interviews Lucas Benitez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. MORE

Features · April 12, 2002
Test Unrest

California teachers are leading a backlash against high-stakes exams. MORE

Features · February 1, 2002
The Charleston Five

South Carolina declares war on unions MORE

Features · October 1, 2001
No Secret

NAFTA's side agreement fails to protect workers MORE

Act Locally · April 16, 2001