All 373 articles by Michelle Chen

• 22 Sep 10

• Working

  Wrestling With Racial Bias, New York Firefighters Resist Reform

  New York City's firefighters have been embroiled in racial and ethnic politics throughout their history, and the Fire... MORE »

• 17 Sep 10

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  By the Numbers, Public Workers Defy Anti-Government Stereotypes

  Want to get a disgruntled worker really mad? Just point to his arch enemy: the civil servant. You... MORE »

• 10 Sep 10

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  Immigrants Drive Campaign to Unionize L.A. Car Washes

  The car wash is the quintessential symbol of American exuberance. Nothing speaks to our freewheeling consumer culture like... MORE »

• 03 Sep 10

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  Hate Crimes Are Just One Threat Facing New York City Cabbies

  When New York cabbie Ahmed Sharif spread his arms before news reporters and displayed the deep wounds running... MORE »

• 27 Aug 10

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  90 Years After Suffrage, Impoverished Mothers Need Another Kind of Equality

  Just in time for Women's Equality Day, a new study has dampened the anniversary of women's suffrage 90 years... MORE »

• 25 Aug 10

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  Working-Class Rage Erupts Over Proposed Islamic Center Near ‘Ground Zero’

  Bruce Springsteen music blared on the streets of Lower Manhattan on Sunday at a rally against a proposed... MORE »

• 20 Aug 10

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  A Deeper Look into Black-White Graduation Gaps

  It appears that despite Washington's attempts to close the racial "achievement gap," the educational colorline still looms over... MORE »

• 18 Aug 10

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  Youth Unemployment Line Circles the Globe

  There's an unemployment line circling the globe that's about 80 million people long, stretching far into the next generation.... MORE »

• 06 Aug 10

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  In Summer of Strife, China’s Proletariat Debuts on World Stage

  Napoleon supposedly said that when China wakes, the whole world will shake. When young Chinese workers rose up... MORE »

• 04 Aug 10

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  Still ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’: Labor and the Americans with Disabilities Act

  A generation ago, a wheelchair or chronic illness could mean a social death sentence for many Americans. The... MORE »

• 21 Jul 10

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  A DREAM is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Immigrant Youth and Economic Crisis

  In the atrium of the Hart Senate Office on Tuesday, a group of immigrant youth held up a... MORE »

• 21 Jul 10

• Act Locally

  Slavery in Our Time

  For the first time, the U.S. government acknowledges modern-day slavery in the United States. MORE »

• 16 Jul 10

• Working

  Tobacco Giant Philip Morris is Hooked on Child Labor (Video)

  Everyone knows smoking is a costly habit, taking a toll on your health and your wallet. What you... MORE »

• 15 Jul 10

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  Newsflash: What’s Good for Immigration is Good for America

  Across the industrialized world, governments have dreamed up various schemes for reinvigorating deflated economies, from blood-sucking austerity budgets... MORE »

• 09 Jul 10

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  Rebuilding Haiti: The Job Everybody and Nobody Wants

  Rebuilding Haiti is a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. For a few days this summer,... MORE »

• 07 Jul 10

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  Sojourners in the Holy Land: Israeli Society Wrestles with Migrant Labor

  Israel's history is rooted in the politics of migration and diaspora, in the relentless struggle of Jewish and... MORE »

• 25 Jun 10

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  Family Leave Politics Move Toward Workplace Fairness and LGBT Equality

  When a child is sick, the last thing a parent should be worried about is her next paycheck.... MORE »

• 23 Jun 10

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  Global Labor Congress Pushes Back Against ‘Austerity’

  Workers of the world are united... in pain. In Europe, the sovereign debt panic has hit labor with... MORE »

• 18 Jun 10

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  Driven by Globalization, Today’s Slave Trade Thrives at Home and Abroad

  "The bosses carried weapons. They scared me. I never knew where I was. We were transported every fifteen... MORE »

• 16 Jun 10

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  Defending Workers From a Bad Rap: Challenging Criminal Background Checks

  What if there were no such thing as a second chance? In a tight job market, where even... MORE »

• 11 Jun 10

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  As Teachers Struggle with Obama’s Reform Agenda, ‘Merit Pay’ Gets a Demerit

  More input = more output. Pay more, get a better product. Unfortunately, the rules of the market economy don't... MORE »

• 09 Jun 10

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  South Africa’s World Cup Brims with Broken Promises

  South Africa is the center of world this week, kicking off the first-ever World Cup Games on the... MORE »

• 04 Jun 10

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  ‘The Help’ Gets Its Due: New York Passes Domestic Workers ‘Bill of Rights’

  New law brings protections most Americans enjoy to historically oppressed, invisible industry In a city where everyone's out... MORE »

• 02 Jun 10

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  Foxconn Deaths Illuminate Deeper Tragedies in China’s Workforce

  The young workers had one thing in common when they took a deadly plunge  at their massive... MORE »

• 28 May 10

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  Living Wage Fight Revitalized in New York City

  In a city starkly divided between the haves and have nots, community activists are demanding an honest day's... MORE »

• 26 May 10

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  Uncritical Thinking: Texas Conservatives Seek to Miseducate Students; Teachers Push Back

  Parents may assume their children spend their days in the classroom enriching their minds. But in Texas, the... MORE »

• 21 May 10

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  Farewell, June Cleaver: ‘Non-Traditional Families’ and Economic Opportunity

  Does marriage make a difference for the economic prospects of future generations? A new study suggests the story... MORE »

• 19 May 10

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  Who Gains From ‘Georgia Work$’?

  With thousands of workers grappling for any kind of job, Georgia is making unemployed residents an offer they... MORE »

• 14 May 10

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  How Weak is the American Power Act?

  While the ocean floor spews viscous goo into the Gulf of Mexico, environmentalists are taking a hard look... MORE »

• 12 May 10

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  Greece on Fire as Debt Crisis Ignites Eurozone

  Greece is unraveling. Massive strikes, clashes with police, and more turmoil are on the horizon as the European... MORE »

• 07 May 10

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  Working Away Their Childhoods: Young Farmworkers Robbed of Rights

  As kids around the country look forward to the start of summer break, it's easy to forget that... MORE »

• 05 May 10

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  Battle over Tenure Pushes Teachers to the Edge

  It's Teacher Appreciation Week, but many educators are feeling pretty underappreciated these days. Within a few months, hundreds... MORE »

• 02 May 10

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  Uprising in Cairo: A New Labor Movement Takes Shape

  May 2 rally calls for living wage President Obama recently carved out a little bright spot in all the... MORE »

• 30 Apr 10

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  With Federal Stamp of Approval, ‘Cape Wind’ Pumps Green Job Prospects

  The massive oil slick spreading over the Gulf of Mexico reminds America once again of the hazards inherent... MORE »

• 23 Apr 10

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  Cochabamba and Labor on the Road to Climate Justice

  There was lots of energy, if few definitive answers, at the climate summit in Bolivia this week. Unlike... MORE »

• 21 Apr 10

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  Foreclosure Signs & Unemployment Lines Reveal Roots of Housing Crisis

  A typical day for a low-income American family begins and ends in uncertainty: getting up in the morning... MORE »

• 16 Apr 10

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  Post-Election, Embattled Iraqi Labor Movement Still Struggles for Rights

  The elections in Iraq in March brought unexpected twists in the country's chaotic political narrative, reflecting growing complexity... MORE »

• 14 Apr 10

• Working

  Minimum Wage, and Controversy, Reaches Distant U.S. Islands

  The 2007 increase in the minimum wage was a modest boost for America's low-wage labor force, but it's making... MORE »

• 09 Apr 10

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  China’s Labor Landscape: Debating Currency, Demanding Change

  Last month, American workers got data confirming their worst fears: An Economic Policy Institute analysis revealed that China... MORE »

• 08 Apr 10

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  ‘Unwarrantable Failure’: Deadly Mines in China and America

  By Michelle Chen At a time when U.S.-China trade relations are as tense as ever, the... MORE »

• 02 Apr 10

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  Amid a Flurry of Contracts, Defending the Role of Government Workers

  As states, cities and counties struggle with fiscal crisis, budget cuts, furloughs and layoffs have threatened many government... MORE »

• 31 Mar 10

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  A Black Agenda That Works for Everyone: Jobs and ‘Targeted Universalism’

  Every year, the National Urban League issues its report on the State of Black America, and it almost... MORE »

• 27 Mar 10

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  Building on Health Reform Momentum, NYC Workers Push for Paid Sick Days

  Now that newly passed healthcare reform legislation in Washington promises to extend coverage to tens of millions nationwide,... MORE »

• 24 Mar 10

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  In Broken Welfare System, ‘Needy Families’ Fund Offers Break for Jobless

  You might say that the people who need jobs most today were the ones who needed them long... MORE »

• 19 Mar 10

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  School Grounds as Battlefield: Political Lessons at an Arabic-themed School

  In 2007, New York City public schools were poised to break new cultural ground. The city established the Khalil... MORE »

• 18 Mar 10

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  Sick and Tired, But Still Standing: Ground Zero Workers Weigh a Settlement

  For months, they toiled in a hellish wasteland of dust and rubble, where a towering symbol of modernity... MORE »

• 12 Mar 10

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  Injustice by the Pound: Farm Activists Work to ‘Bust Up Big Ag’

  Something is astir in America's heartland. A grassroots coalition of independent farmers, consumer groups, and labor advocates is... MORE »

• 10 Mar 10

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  When the Truth Hurts: Intelligence Agencies vs. Whistleblower Protections

  For over a decade, Bassem Youssef had distinguished himself as one of the FBI's top Arabic speaking agents.... MORE »

• 03 Mar 10

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  Young People Wait Out the Recession…and Their Youth

  Young workers may not know it, but the jobs crisis threatens to turn what should be the best... MORE »

• 26 Feb 10

• Working

  Is Unemployment Killing Us? Workers in Critical Condition

  The recession has left millions of Americans sick and tired of being sick and tired... literally. With unemployment... MORE »