https://znetwork.org/author/davidbacon/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Fri, 05 Dec 2025 19:53:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/author/davidbacon/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/todays-labor-movement-needs-a-bigger-vision/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/todays-labor-movement-needs-a-bigger-vision/#respond Fri, 05 Dec 2025 18:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292022 [This article is part of a Labor Notes roundtable series: How Can Unions Defend Worker Power Against Trump 2.0? We will be publishing more contributions here and in our magazine in the months ahead. Click here to read the rest of the series.—Editors] During the Cold War, many of the people with a radical vision [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/todays-labor-movement-needs-a-bigger-vision/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-is-the-world-bank-attacking-land-reform-in-the-philippines/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-is-the-world-bank-attacking-land-reform-in-the-philippines/#respond Sun, 06 Apr 2025 15:40:47 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282086 When the Peoples’ Power movement brought down Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, land reform was one of its most important demands.  But even after Corazon Aquino had been elected President in the midst of great hopes for change, land reform was still only won at the cost of bloody struggle.  Frustrated at waiting for [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-is-the-world-bank-attacking-land-reform-in-the-philippines/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-evolving-strategy-for-defending-immigrant-workers/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-evolving-strategy-for-defending-immigrant-workers/#respond Thu, 30 Jan 2025 16:58:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1279062 The current fight within the Republican Party highlights, once again, that ensuring a steady labor supply for corporations remains Trump’s primary focus. I say “once again” because this mirrors what happened in 2017, when he met with corporate growers to assure them that his immigration enforcement would not deprive them of workers in the fields. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-evolving-strategy-for-defending-immigrant-workers/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-working-class-history-of-fighting-deportations/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-working-class-history-of-fighting-deportations/#respond Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:44:28 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277151 The history of working-class organizing in the United States is full of examples of immigrant resistance to mass deportation, sweeps, and other tactics. Time and again, immigrant worker activity has changed the course of society. It has produced unions of workers ranging from copper miners to janitors. It turned the politics of Los Angeles head. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-working-class-history-of-fighting-deportations/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/treating-migrants-as-the-enemy-provides-no-vision-for-the-future/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/treating-migrants-as-the-enemy-provides-no-vision-for-the-future/#respond Mon, 19 Aug 2024 16:12:15 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1271032 On August 17, a group of committed migrant activists set forth on a three-day march from Silicon Valley to San Francisco, highlighting the choices for progressive candidates in the coming November election. Should their campaigns amplify the hysteria about an immigration “crisis,” or should they speak the truth to the American people about the border [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/treating-migrants-as-the-enemy-provides-no-vision-for-the-future/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-new-life-for-mexicos-oldest-union/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-new-life-for-mexicos-oldest-union/#respond Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:44:49 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1263341 Humberto Montes de Oca is the Secretary for Internal Relations of the Mexican Union of Electrical Workers (SME). He was originally a working-class art student who became active in the left-wing political movements of the period of Mexico’s Dirty War (1970s to early 1980s). He joined the SME as a political act to become part [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-new-life-for-mexicos-oldest-union/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/forced-migration-and-detention-are-the-real-immigration-crisis/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/forced-migration-and-detention-are-the-real-immigration-crisis/#respond Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:45:52 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1262069 Review of Humanizing Immigration: How to Transform Our Racist and Unjust System by Bill Ong Hing (Beacon Press, 2023) A photograph by Brandon Bell, distributed by CNN, shows fifteen beefy men in military caps and fatigues, standing in front of a chain-link fence on a concrete boat ramp. It is evening in Shelby Park, the city park of Eagle [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/forced-migration-and-detention-are-the-real-immigration-crisis/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/only-a-social-movement-can-win-real-immigration-reform/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/only-a-social-movement-can-win-real-immigration-reform/#respond Sun, 03 Sep 2023 15:15:31 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1253052 At the beginning of the 1990s, Sahuayo, a small city of factories and craftspeople near Michoacan’s Lake Chapala, could not provide enough work to support its growing population. People had been leaving Michoacan for years, seeking jobs in the maquiladoras on the border, or in the fields of California’s San Joaquin Valley. But as the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/only-a-social-movement-can-win-real-immigration-reform/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-it-take-to-win-a-strike/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-it-take-to-win-a-strike/#respond Tue, 18 Jul 2023 16:47:42 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1249607 Half a century ago, long before the Internet, I got a job in a huge semiconductor plant. In Silicon Valley’s factories, we tried to organize a union, arguing that this industry sat at the heart of the US economy. If the workers in it had a strong union, we believed, we could use our power [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-it-take-to-win-a-strike/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/should-leftists-call-for-ending-nato/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/should-leftists-call-for-ending-nato/#respond Fri, 07 Apr 2023 13:52:25 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1243050 Prolonging the war in Ukraine, however, is US policy. That makes it important for people on the left to understand the sources of this policy, and particularly the purpose and role of NATO, as the debate highlighted in Michael Kazin’s article “Reject the Left Right Alliance Against Ukraine” demonstrates.  Kazin repeats ideas about NATO and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/should-leftists-call-for-ending-nato/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/eviction-of-300-person-encampment-in-california-shows-scorn-for-right-to-housing/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/eviction-of-300-person-encampment-in-california-shows-scorn-for-right-to-housing/#respond Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:29:28 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1240886 The words “housing is a human right” used to appear in bright colors on a painted placard at the gateway to Wood Street Commons, which until recently was the largest unhoused encampment in northern California. But this February, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) demonstrated how vehemently it disagrees with the placard’s assertion. Caltrans, which [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/eviction-of-300-person-encampment-in-california-shows-scorn-for-right-to-housing/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-rural-california-farmworkers-fend-for-themselves-for-health-care/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-rural-california-farmworkers-fend-for-themselves-for-health-care/#respond Sat, 10 Dec 2022 15:44:51 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1234250 Carmen Hernandez lives in a small home on Chateau Fresno Avenue, one of the three streets that make up Lanare, a tiny unincorporated settlement in the San Joaquin Valley. The street’s name sounds more appropriate to an upscale housing development. In reality it is a potholed tarmac lane leading into the countryside from the highway. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-rural-california-farmworkers-fend-for-themselves-for-health-care/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-it-will-take-to-build-a-broad-based-movement-for-a-just-transition/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-it-will-take-to-build-a-broad-based-movement-for-a-just-transition/#respond Fri, 09 Sep 2022 11:16:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1219494 In 2020, Washington State passed the Climate Commitment Act, and when it went into effect on January 1, 2022, Rosalinda Guillen was appointed to its Environmental Justice Council. The appointment recognized her role as one of Washington’s leading advocates for farmworkers and rural communities. Guillen directs Community2Community Development, a women-led group encouraging farmworker cooperatives and defending labor [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-it-will-take-to-build-a-broad-based-movement-for-a-just-transition/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trouble-in-the-tulips/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trouble-in-the-tulips/#respond Wed, 06 Apr 2022 11:01:36 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1056887 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trouble-in-the-tulips/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/at-the-end-of-this-hated-war-we-need-truth/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/at-the-end-of-this-hated-war-we-need-truth/#respond Wed, 01 Sep 2021 09:04:46 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1049773 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/at-the-end-of-this-hated-war-we-need-truth/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-the-abandonment-of-guest-worker-covid-protections-a-taste-of-things-to-come/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-the-abandonment-of-guest-worker-covid-protections-a-taste-of-things-to-come/#respond Mon, 03 May 2021 09:03:14 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1046275 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-the-abandonment-of-guest-worker-covid-protections-a-taste-of-things-to-come/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/farmworkers-need-families-not-deportation-and-exploitation/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/farmworkers-need-families-not-deportation-and-exploitation/#respond Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:03:00 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1045644 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/farmworkers-need-families-not-deportation-and-exploitation/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/cancel-the-rent-a-rising-national-rent-strike-movement-gains-momentum/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/cancel-the-rent-a-rising-national-rent-strike-movement-gains-momentum/#respond Sat, 19 Dec 2020 09:02:09 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1041339 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/cancel-the-rent-a-rising-national-rent-strike-movement-gains-momentum/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-the-supreme-court-overrule-farmworker-union-rights/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-the-supreme-court-overrule-farmworker-union-rights/#respond Sat, 05 Dec 2020 09:01:01 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1040936 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-the-supreme-court-overrule-farmworker-union-rights/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/building-a-cross-border-culture-of-solidarity/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/building-a-cross-border-culture-of-solidarity/#respond Fri, 30 Oct 2020 09:03:44 +0000 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/building-a-cross-border-culture-of-solidarity/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-the-new-nafta-make-the-pandemic-worse-for-mexicans/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-the-new-nafta-make-the-pandemic-worse-for-mexicans/#respond Fri, 10 Jul 2020 09:02:27 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1036140 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-the-new-nafta-make-the-pandemic-worse-for-mexicans/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washington-farmworkers-become-covid-19-guinea-pigs/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washington-farmworkers-become-covid-19-guinea-pigs/#respond Sat, 23 May 2020 09:02:23 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1034070 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/washington-farmworkers-become-covid-19-guinea-pigs/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/covid-related-strikes-hit-washingtons-apple-sheds/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/covid-related-strikes-hit-washingtons-apple-sheds/#respond Mon, 18 May 2020 09:02:32 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1033832 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/covid-related-strikes-hit-washingtons-apple-sheds/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/americas-farmworkers-now-essential-but-denied-the-just-enacted-benefits/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/americas-farmworkers-now-essential-but-denied-the-just-enacted-benefits/#respond Fri, 03 Apr 2020 09:03:40 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1031459 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/americas-farmworkers-now-essential-but-denied-the-just-enacted-benefits/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-to-support-every-workers-struggle/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-to-support-every-workers-struggle/#respond Wed, 18 Dec 2019 09:02:26 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1026722 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-to-support-every-workers-struggle/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/h-2a-guest-workers/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/h-2a-guest-workers/#respond Wed, 17 Jul 2019 09:02:31 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1021885 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/h-2a-guest-workers/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/who-made-san-pedro-sula-murder-capital-of-the-world/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/who-made-san-pedro-sula-murder-capital-of-the-world/#comments Tue, 02 Jul 2019 09:03:00 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1021554 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/who-made-san-pedro-sula-murder-capital-of-the-world/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/organizing-washingtons-migrant-farmworkers/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/organizing-washingtons-migrant-farmworkers/#respond Sat, 27 Apr 2019 09:02:45 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1019448 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/organizing-washingtons-migrant-farmworkers/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-growers-demands-for-wage-cuts-get-help-from-the-u-s-government/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-growers-demands-for-wage-cuts-get-help-from-the-u-s-government/#respond Tue, 29 Jan 2019 09:03:32 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1017054 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-growers-demands-for-wage-cuts-get-help-from-the-u-s-government/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/marriott-workers-celebrate-victory-on-the-picket-line/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/marriott-workers-celebrate-victory-on-the-picket-line/#respond Mon, 21 Jan 2019 09:02:19 +0000 https://zcomm.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1016869 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/marriott-workers-celebrate-victory-on-the-picket-line/feed/ 0