David Bacon

As Obama and McCain dodge the pressing issue of immigrants’ rights, here’s an immigration agenda for the next U.S. president.

In early September 2002, the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras (CJM) put out a call to border activists, urging them to act quickly to salvage one of the few remaining complaints filed under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC)—the case of mistreated workers at Customtrim/Autotrim.

Europe’s war between unions trying to protect the remnants of the welfare state, and governments bent on shredding them further, brought a million people into the streets on Sunday.

Iraqi workers quickly discovered that the occupation authorities had little respect for labor rights.

Despite facing a hostile occupation with a vested interest in their suppression, and an armed insurgency targeting unions and civil society, a higher percentage of factories in Iraq have worker-based organizing committees and fledgling unions than do U.S. factories.