Mike Elk

Pittsburgh, Rio de Janeiro

Yinzer Labor Reporter at Payday Report

Yinzer labor reporter @PaydayReport often in 🇧🇷 . Emmy Nominee. Alum: @Guardian. @UEunion fam. Autistic⚾️ Jew. Falo Português [email protected]

Articles

AFL-CIO Didn’t Grant UAW’s Request to Remove Mock from Executive Council

1 week ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

Earlier this week, the UAW federal monitor’s report presented shocking details on how UAW President Shawn Fain had purged dissidents in his ranks. (See our story “UAW Prez Threatened to “Slit the Throats” of Critics as He Pushed No-Bid Contracts with DC Firms”)The report paints a troubling picture about how UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock was demoted from her responsibilities overseeing 11 departments within the UAW.
UAW Prez Threatened to “Slit the Throats” of Critics as He Pushed No-Bid Contracts with DC Firms

1 week ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

In late 2023, in a meeting with over 300 UAW staffers present, UAW President Shawn Fain asked his half-dozen top staffers, including UAW Chief of Staff Chris Brooks and UAW Communications Director Jonah Furman, to go to the front of the room. He then pointed to them and declared, “If anyone ever messes with them, I will slit their fucking throats.” The shocking revelation came out as part of a 94-page status report provided by the federal monitor of the UAW, Neil Barofsky.
ICE bail funds in Pa. help undocumented immigrants fight deportations

4 weeks ago | newsfromthestates.com | Mike Elk

In his six years helping run the Casa San José Bail Fund, Guillermo Perez says lately, he has been attending more ICE bail hearings and helping getting more undocumented immigrants out of detention than ever. “People are scared right now, immigrants are being attacked like never before,” said Perez, an immigration activist and retired Steelworkers union organizer. In late April, in Beaver County, 1942 Tequilas and Tacos.
ICE bail funds in Pa. help undocumented immigrants fight deportations

4 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Mike Elk

Activists protest the agenda of President Donald Trump during a rally near the water tower on the Magnificent Mile on Jan. 25, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)In his six years helping run the Casa San José Bail Fund, Guillermo Perez says lately, he has been attending more ICE bail hearings and helping getting more undocumented immigrants out of detention than ever.
The 1945 GI World Series in Hitler’s Nuremberg Stadium: Baseball’s ‘Double Victory’ Against Segregation at Home and Abroad

1 month ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

The following research was first presented at the National Baseball Hall of Fame by Emmy-nominated labor reporter Mike Elk as part of the 36th annual Symposium on Baseball and American Culture. It is the result of more than two years of work.
Help Melk Travel to Speak at Baseball Hall of Fame

1 month ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

Patreon Venmo Next Tuesday, I am speaking at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s 36th annual conference on “Baseball & American Culture.” I will be speaking about how Black and white baseball players used World War Two to push for integration of the game. (We have a huge 4,000 word story two years in the making coming out on Memorial Day)However, the trip will be quite expensive.
UAW Top Communications Staffer Denounces Union’s Chief of Staff

1 month ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

When UAW President Shawn Fain took office in 2023, he promised to make the union more democratic and responsive. However, evidence has increasingly mounted that Fain has instituted another top-down regime to run the union. Last year, Fain demoted Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock, who ran with him on a union democracy slate, from many of her duties after she dissented over spending within the union.
Help Expose Race Baiting & Union Busting in Pittsburgh's Mayor's Race

1 month ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

Patreon Venmo The 1st Black Mayor of Pittsburgh, Ed Gainey, a progressive, who has angered developers by insisting on affordable housing in every new apartment unit, is facing an ugly alliance of developers and building trades unions in Pittsburgh. The primary race is next Tuesday, May 20th, and Gainey is being out fundraised by a margin of 3-to-1. It's been an ugly race-baiting affair. A building trades-backed super PAC claims that crime has gone up under Gainey when crime has gone down.
UAW to Release Exec Board Minutes Following Payday Expose

1 month ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

In July of 2023, four months into UAW President Shawn Fain's first term, the UAW's Public Review Board ruled on an appeal by retired UAW member Frank Goeddeke that the UAW must release all minutes of its International Executive Board (IEB) meetings. Under the UAW's constitution, the union is required to release the meeting minutes after they have been reviewed by the UAW President's office, the legal office, and the Secretary-Treasurer's office.
UAW Prez Won't Release Executive Board Meeting Minutes for Past Two Years

2 months ago | paydayreport.com | Mike Elk

In the past week, many in the labor movement have been baffled by the UAW's support for Trump tariffs. Both the Machinists and Steelworkers opposed the tariffs, and Canadian union leaders denounced UAW President Shawn Fain for selling out international solidarity. The Trump Administration has repeatedly cited the UAW's support for the tariffs in justifying them, but UAW members are already beginning to suffer adversely from the tariffs.