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Making its way through parliament at present is the Trade Union Bill 2016, which at the time of writing is at the report stage of the House of Lords. The Bill has been the subject of much debate, both in parliament and the press. This article will consider the likely impact of its main strike provisions, should they come into force.

The post The Trade Union Bill 2016 and its likely effect on strike action appeared first on OUPblog.

When I ask college students what they know about the origins of Labor Day, the answer is usually straightforward: not much. But if the labor movement’s story is not on the tip of their tongues, it says less about them than it does about our era.

The post The origins of Labor Day: Marches and civil unrest in 1880s Chicago appeared first on OUPblog.

I am a Cybils second round judge. I am currently reading the all the nominated books in a fun "armchair readalong" way with the first round judges. My reviews and opinions are strictly my own and do not reflect the work of the committee.

Strike!: The Farm Workers' Fight for Their Rights Larry Brimmer

When I was growing up, my parents had a Boycott Grapes sign in our basement. I knew Cesar Chavez was a labor leader, but when I hear his name, my mind always goes to this:



Strike changed all that, really bringing to life the issues of migrant workers and how and why they unionized.

What Brimmer does really well is bring a lot of meat to the story--the divides between Filipino and Chicano workers, the politics involved in *which* union you joined (not all unions are created equal, which is a side of labor history we don’t see a lot, especially in children’s books.) I also like that Brimmer takes a hard warts-and-all look at Chavez and where he mis-stepped and where he succeeded and everything he accomplished.

To top it off, the design is just breathtakingly gorgeous. I would have gone for a smaller trim size, to make it more appealing to an older audience, but if you’re going to make it large, this is the way to do it. (Except a few of the pictures are too large, making them pixelated) There are several pull quotes which is great, and they’re presented in Spanish and English. On one hand, I like that they’re in both languages when this makes sense. But, why are non-Hispanic whites and Filipinos translated into Spanish instead of left in English or translated into Tagalog, respectively? This is especially troubling with quotations from the Filipino workers, because one of tensions was that many meetings were held in Spanish instead of English, leaving Filipino attendees in the dark and out of the loop.

Overall though, a fascinating and great book--one I’m really glad I read. I learned a ton about something I knew a little bit about. A great example of what nonfiction for teens can look like.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Via resourceshelf, this account of the Memorandum of Agreement that was the result of arbitration between the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238 and the EPA. Please see the linked documents for information from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility on why the EPAs compliance — which they termed “grudging” — was not acceptable to EPA library workers.

“Even as many collections remain in crates, EPA has decided to micromanage what is left,” [PEER Director Carol] Goldberg added, noting that the agency has still not accounted for many of the library holdings it had removed. “Professional librarians should be making these management decisions, not political appointees.”