title: Sonny Rollins

text: Rollins's contract with RCA Victor lasted through 1964. Each album he recorded differed radically from the previous one. The 1962 disc "What's New?" explored Latin rhythms. On the album "Our Man in Jazz," recorded live at The Village Gate, he explored avant-garde playing with a quartet that featured Cranshaw on bass, Billy Higgins on drums and Don Cherry on cornet. He also played with a tenor saxophone hero, Coleman Hawkins, and free jazz pianist Paul Bley on "Sonny Meets Hawk!", and he re-examined jazz standards and Great American Songbook melodies on "Now's the Time" and "The Standard Sonny Rollins" (which featured pianist Herbie Hancock).


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 2007, recordings from a 1965 residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club were released by the Harkit label as "Live in London"; they offer a very different picture of Rollins's playing from the studio albums of the period. (These are unauthorized releases, and Rollins has responded by "bootlegging" them himself and releasing them on his website.)


title: Sonny Rollins

text: Upon signing with Impulse! Records, he released a soundtrack to the 1966 film "Alfie," as well as "There Will Never Be Another You" and "Sonny Rollins on Impulse!" After "East Broadway Run Down" (1966), which featured trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones, Rollins did not release another studio album for six years.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 1968, he was the subject of a television documentary (in the series Creative Persons), directed by Dick Fontaine, entitled "Who is Sonny Rollins?"


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 1969, Rollins took another two-year sabbatical from public performance. During this hiatus period, he visited Jamaica for the first time and spent several months studying yoga, meditation, and Eastern philosophies at an ashram in Powai, India, a district of Mumbai.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: He returned from his second sabbatical with a performance in Kongsberg, Norway, in 1971. Reviewing a March 1972 performance at New York's Village Vanguard night club, "The New Yorker" critic Whitney Balliett wrote that Rollins "had changed again. He had become a whirlwind. His runs roared, and there were jarring staccato passages and furious double-time spurts. He seemed to be shouting and gesticulating on his horn, as if he were waving his audience into battle." The same year, he released "Next Album" and moved to Germantown, New York. Also in 1972, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in composition.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: During the 1970s and 1980s, he also became drawn to R&B, pop, and funk rhythms. Some of his bands during this period featured electric guitar, electric bass, and usually more pop- or funk-oriented drummers.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 1974, Rollins added jazz bagpiper Rufus Harley to his band; the group was filmed performing live at Ronnie Scott's in London. For most of this period Rollins was recorded by producer Orrin Keepnews for Milestone Records (the compilation "Silver City: A Celebration of 25 Years on Milestone" contains a selection from these years). In 1978 he, McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter, and Al Foster toured together as the Milestone Jazzstars. In June of that year he joined many other major jazz artists in a performance for President Jimmy Carter on the South Lawn of the White House.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: It was also during this period that Rollins's passion for unaccompanied saxophone solos came to the forefront. In 1979 he played unaccompanied on "The Tonight Show" and in 1985 he released "The Solo Album", recorded live at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He also frequently played long, extemporaneous unaccompanied cadenzas during performances with his band; a prime example is his introduction to the tune "Autumn Nocturne" on the 1978 album "Don't Stop the Carnival".


title: Sonny Rollins

text: By the 1980s, Rollins had stopped playing small nightclubs and was appearing mainly in concert halls or outdoor arenas; through the late 1990s he occasionally performed at large New York rock clubs such as Tramps and The Bottom Line. He added (uncredited) sax improvisations to three tracks by the Rolling Stones for their 1981 album "Tattoo You", including the single, "Waiting on a Friend" and the long jam "Slave". That November, he led a saxophone masterclass on French television. In 1983, he was honored as a "Jazz Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 1986, documentary filmmaker Robert Mugge released a film titled "Saxophone Colossus". It featured two Rollins performances: a quintet concert at Opus 40 in upstate New York and a performance with the Yomiuri Shimbun Orchestra in Japan of his "Concerto for Saxophone and Symphony", a work composed in collaboration with the Finnish pianist and composer Heikki Sarmanto.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: New York City Hall proclaimed November 13, 1995, to be "Sonny Rollins Day". Several days later, Rollins gave a performance at New York City's Beacon Theatre that reunited him with musicians with whom he played as a teenager, including McLean, Walter Bishop Jr., Percy Heath, Connie Henry, and Gil Coggins.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 1997, he was voted "Jazz Artist of the Year" in the "Down Beat" magazine critics' poll. The following year, Rollins, a dedicated advocate of environmentalism, released an album entitled "Global Warming".


title: Sonny Rollins

text: Critics such as Gary Giddins and Stanley Crouch have noted the disparity between Rollins the recording artist, and Rollins the concert artist. In a May 2005 "New Yorker" profile, Crouch wrote of Rollins the concert artist:


title: Sonny Rollins

text: Rollins won a 2001 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for "This Is What I Do" (2000). On September 11, 2001, the 71-year-old Rollins, who lived several blocks away, heard the World Trade Center collapse, and was forced to evacuate his Greenwich Street apartment, with only his saxophone in hand. Although he was shaken, he traveled to Boston five days later to play a concert at the Berklee School of Music. The live recording of that performance was released on CD in 2005 as "", which won the 2006 Grammy for Jazz Instrumental Solo for Rollins's performance of "Why Was I Born?"


title: Sonny Rollins

text: Rollins was presented with a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2004; that year also saw the death of his wife, Lucille.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 2006, Rollins went on to complete a Down Beat Readers Poll triple win for: "Jazzman of the Year", "#1 Tenor Sax Player", and "Recording of the Year" for the CD "". The band that year featured his nephew, trombonist Clifton Anderson, and included bassist Cranshaw, pianist Stephen Scott, percussionist Kimati Dinizulu, and drummer Perry Wilson.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: After a successful Japanese tour Rollins returned to the recording studio for the first time in five years to record the Grammy-nominated CD "Sonny, Please" (2006). The CD title is derived from one of his wife's favorite phrases. The album was released on Rollins's own label, Doxy Records, following his departure from Milestone Records after many years and was produced by Anderson. Rollins's band at this time, and on this album, included Cranshaw, guitarist Bobby Broom, drummer Steve Jordan and Dinizulu.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: During these years, Rollins regularly toured worldwide, playing major venues throughout Europe, South America, the Far East, and Australasia; he is estimated to have sometimes earned as much as $100,000 per performance. On September 18, 2007, he performed at Carnegie Hall in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of his first performance there. Appearing with him were Anderson (trombone), Bobby Broom (guitar), Cranshaw (bass), Dinizulu (percussion), Roy Haynes (drums) and Christian McBride (bass).


title: Sonny Rollins

text: Around 2000, Rollins began recording many of his live performances; since then, he has archived recordings of over two hundred and fifty concerts. To date, four albums have been released from these archives on Doxy Records and Okeh Records: "Road Shows, Vol. 1"; "Road Shows, Vol. 2" (with four tracks documenting his 80th birthday concert, which included Rollins's first ever recorded appearance with Ornette Coleman on the twenty-minute "Sonnymoon for Two"); "Road Shows, Vol. 3"; and "Holding the Stage", released in April 2016.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 2010 Rollins was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Edward MacDowell Medal; in the fall of the same year he celebrated his 80th birthday with a concert at New York's Beacon Theatre that included a guest appearance by Ornette Coleman. The following year he was the subject of another documentary by Dick Fontaine, entitled "Beyond the Notes".


title: Sonny Rollins

text: Rollins has not performed in public since 2012, and retired in 2014, due to recurring respiratory issues.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 2013, Rollins moved to Woodstock, New York. That spring, he made a guest television appearance on "The Simpsons" in "Whiskey Business" and received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York City.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In 2014 he was the subject of a Dutch television documentary entitled "Sonny Rollins-Morgen Speel ik Beter". He made a public appearance in June of that year introducing saxophonist Ornette Coleman at an all-star tribute performance to Coleman in Brooklyn, NY. In October 2015, he received the Jazz Foundation of America's lifetime achievement award.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: In the spring of 2017, Rollins donated his personal archive to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, one of the research centers of New York Public Library. Later that year, he endowed the "Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble Fund" at Oberlin College, in "recognition of the institution's long legacy of access and social justice advocacy."


title: Sonny Rollins

text: As a saxophonist he had initially been attracted to the jump and R&B sounds of performers like Louis Jordan, but soon became drawn into the mainstream tenor saxophone tradition. The German critic Joachim-Ernst Berendt described this tradition as sitting between the two poles of the strong sonority of Coleman Hawkins and the light flexible phrasing of Lester Young, which did so much to inspire the fleet improvisation of bebop in the 1950s. Other tenor saxophone influences include Ben Webster and Don Byas. By his mid-teens, Rollins became heavily influenced by alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. During his high school years, he was mentored by the pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, often rehearsing at Monk's apartment.


title: Sonny Rollins

text: Rollins has played, at various times, a Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone and a Buescher Aristocrat. During the 1970s he recorded on soprano saxophone for the album "Easy Living". His preferred mouthpieces are made by Otto Link and Berg Larsen. He uses Frederick Hemke medium reeds.


title: 1982 in film

text: The following is an overview of events in 1982 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.


title: 1982 in film

text: The following table lists known worldwide gross revenue figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1982. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1982.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The Intel-based iMac is a discontinued series of Macintosh all-in-one desktop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. from 2006 to 2022. While sold, it was one of three desktop computers in the Macintosh lineup, serving as an all-in-one alternative to the Mac Mini, and sat below the performance range Mac Pro. It was sold alongside the Xeon-based iMac Pro from 2017 to 2021.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: Pre-2009 iMac models featured either a white polycarbonate enclosure or an aluminum enclosure. The October 2009 iMac model featured a unibody aluminum enclosure, a version of which could had been seen on the latest models before the launch of the Apple silicon colourful iMacs. The iMacs released in October 2012 also featured a much thinner display, with the edge measuring just 5 mm.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The Intel-based iMac was succeeded by the iMac with Apple silicon beginning in 2021 as part of the Mac transition to Apple silicon. On April 20, 2021, Apple discontinued the 21.5-inch Intel iMac with 4K Retina Display following the release of a 24-inch model based on the Apple M1 processor, and discontinued the remaining non-Retina models in October 2021. The 27-inch model was discontinued on March 8, 2022, following the announcement of the Mac Studio and 27-inch Apple Studio Display.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: At the Macworld Conference and Expo on January 10, 2006, Steve Jobs announced that the new iMac would be the first Macintosh to use an Intel CPU, the Core Duo. The introduction of the new iMac along with the Intel-based MacBook Pro was the start of the Mac transition to Intel processors. In the following months, the other Mac products followed, including the introduction of the Intel Core-powered Mac mini on February 28, 2006, the MacBook consumer line of laptop computers on May 16, 2006, the Mac Pro on August 7, 2006, and the Xserve in November 2006, completing the transition.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The features, price, and case design remained unchanged from the iMac G5. The processor speed, however, according to tests run by Apple using SPEC, was declared to be two to three times faster than the iMac G5.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: On June 22, 2020, Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference keynote included the announcement that future Macintosh computers would transition yet again to Apple's own ARM-based system-on-chips; in April 2021, Apple unveiled a redesigned iMac based on its M1 system-on-chip.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: Alongside the MacBook Pro, the iMac Core Duo represents Apple's first computer to feature Intel processors instead of PowerPC processors. It retained the style, design, and features of the preceding iMac G5.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In early February 2006, Apple confirmed reports of video display problems on the new Intel-based iMacs. When playing video on Apple's Front Row media browser, some 20-inch iMacs (those built-to-order with upgraded video cards) showed random horizontal lines, ghosting, video tearing and other problems. The problem was fixed with a software update.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In early September 2006, Apple introduced a new version of the iMac including a Core 2 Duo chip and a lower price. Apple added a new 24-inch model with IPS-display and a resolution of 1920 × 1200 (WUXGA), making it the first iMac to be able to display 1080p content in its full resolution, and a VESA Flat Display Mounting Interface. Except for the 17-inch 1.83 GHz processor model, this version also included an 802.11n draft card.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In August 2007, Apple introduced a complete redesign of the iMac, featuring an aluminum, glass and plastic enclosure. There is only one visible screw on the entire computer, located at the base of the iMac for accessing the memory slots. It has a black, plastic backplate that is not user-removable. The 17-inch model was completely removed from the lineup.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In March 2009, Apple released a minor refresh of the iMac line. Changes included a fourth USB port, replacement of two FireWire 400 ports with one FireWire 800 port, replacement of mini-DVI with Mini DisplayPort, and a slightly redesigned base which is thinner. The exterior design was almost identical to the older Intel-based iMacs. The models were one 20-inch configuration and three 24-inch configurations (instead of two at each screen size as before).


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: Apple doubled the default RAM and hard-disk size on all models, moving the RAM to the DDR3 specification. This revision also introduced a new, smaller, and more compact Apple Keyboard that excluded the numeric keypad and forward delete key in favor of the fn + Delete keyboard shortcut by default. Users could, however, replace this version with a more traditional, full-size model "with" a numeric keypad by requesting Apple to build their machine to order through its online store.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In October 2009, a 16:9 aspect ratio screen was introduced in 21.5" and 27" models, replacing the 20" and 24" 16:10 aspect ratio screens of the previous generation. The back is now a continuation of the aluminum body from the front and sides instead of a separate plastic backplate. Video card options entirely switched to AMD, save for the standard onboard Nvidia card in the base smaller model. The iMac's processor selection saw a significant increase.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: Default RAM has also been increased across the iMac range. With the advent of the larger screens, Apple doubled the number of memory slots from two to four. Consequently, the maximum memory capacity was also doubled (to 16 GB), and for Intel Core i-series (27-inch), quadrupled, to 32 GB.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The 27-inch models of the line became the first to offer Target Display Mode, allowing the iMac to be used as an external display for another Mac computer when connected via Mini DisplayPort, a feature that was extended to the 21.5-inch models onwards with the introduction of Thunderbolt.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The Mid 2010 iMac 27" has AMD Radeon HD5650 and HD5750 graphic cards. Both cards cannot support the low-level Metal API, preventing this model from upgrading to Mojave and Catalina. AMD had developed a firmware upgrade that would allow both graphic cards to support Metal and Mid 2010 iMac to be upgraded to latest macOS, but Apple had refused to certify them.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In October 2012, a new iMac model was introduced that featured a smaller body depth than the previous models, measuring 5 mm at its thinnest point, and without an internal SuperDrive. This was partly achieved by using a process called Full lamination. The display and glass are laminated together, eliminating a 2 mm gap between them. The 21.5-in and 27-in screens remained at their previous resolutions, 1920 × 1080 and 2560 × 1440 respectively.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: As with the 2009 model, memory has been upgraded; the standard specification is now 8 GB, with the 21.5-in model supporting up to 16 GB and the 27-in model supporting up to 32 GB. It was reported that the 21.5 in iMac would have non-replaceable soldered memory similar to the MacBook Air and Retina display MacBook Pro though tear-downs show that it uses removable memory but accessing the modules requires ungluing the screen and removing the motherboard. The 27-in version features an access port to upgrade memory without disassembling the display. Apple also upgraded the computers' processors, using Intel's Ivy Bridge microarchitecture-based Core i5 and Core i7 microprocessors.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: Video cards are now Nvidia as standard. USB 3.0 ports are now included for the first time. The 2012 iMac also features the option of a Fusion Drive which combines an SSD and a conventional HDD to create more efficient and faster storage. Apple also removed the built-in optical drive starting with this iMac generation.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: On March 5, 2013, Apple quietly announced an education-only version of the iMac, with less powerful specs for a cheaper price. It included a 3.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 processor, 4 GB of memory, a 0.5 TB (1 TB = 1000 billion bytes) hard drive and Intel HD Graphics 4000, retailing for US$1,099, $200 cheaper than the base-level consumer iMac.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: On September 24, 2013, the 2012 iMac model was updated with 4th-generation Intel Haswell processors and Nvidia 7xx series GPU, promising up to 1.4× improvements in performance. It also has 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which is capable of reaching speeds up to 1300 Mbit/s and PCIe-based flash storage, offering up to 1.5× the performance of previous-generation (Ivy Bridge) iMacs. This applies to both the Fusion Drive and pure-SSD options. These became the last iMacs to offer Target Display Mode, as the Retina line introduced the following year are incompatible with the feature due to resolution differences.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: At WWDC on June 5, 2017, a refreshed model was added with Kaby Lake processors and Bluetooth 4.2 support. Apple retailed the 21.5-inch model until October 29, 2021. It was sold in a single stock configuration priced at $1,099 with a 2.3 GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor. The machine was heavily criticized (more so towards the end of its production) for its lagging specifications, outdated design, and comparatively high price. The machine, however, was said to be popular among education shoppers. It was the last Mac to have a Fusion Drive (albeit as an option), and after having them for 36 years, the last Mac to have a traditional hard drive, also It was the last Apple Product to have non Retina Display.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: A Retina Display "5K" model with a resolution of 5120 × 2880 was introduced alongside the previous year's models during a keynote on October 16, 2014. This 27-inch model was given faster Haswell processors and its two Thunderbolt ports were updated to Thunderbolt 2. Secondary storage was also upgraded to a 1 TB Fusion drive as standard and video options changed over to AMD Radeon R9 M290X and M295X.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In May 2015, a separate, affordable, budget counterpart of the 5K 27-inch iMac was announced with lower specifications. That same day the Late 2013 iMac lineup was completely discontinued. Later that year, a 21.5-inch "4K" model with a resolution of 4096 × 2304 was released on October 13, 2015 with older Broadwell processors, as the 27-inch counterparts were upgraded that day directly to Skylake ones. The new rechargeable and wireless peripherals were also introduced that day.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: In 2017 both 21.5 and 27-inch iMacs were refreshed with Kaby Lake processors, DDR4 memories and upgraded AMD graphics with doubled or more graphic memories, Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, and Bluetooth 4.2.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The iMacs were refreshed again in 2019 with Coffee Lake processors, including a 8-core one as Built to Order option, slightly faster memory, and upgraded graphics including AMD Vega graphics as top of line Built to Order options.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: On August 4, 2020, the last update for Intel based iMacs, Apple refreshed the 27-inch 5K iMac with Comet Lake processors, AMD RDNA architecture GPUs, the T2 security chip, a 1080p FaceTime camera, Bluetooth 5, improved speakers and microphones, and solid state drives (SSD) standard. 10 Gigabit Ethernet and nano-etched glass, similar to the Pro Display XDR, are available as upgrade options. All models include non-replaceable, soldered SSDs, while models upgraded to 4 TB and 8 TB include an expansion bay for a second SSD,


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The 2019 21.5-inch models remained available but received a minor configuration change with SSDs standard, with higher-capacity Fusion Drives as a free build-to-order option, while hard disk drives were no longer available, though the 21.5" inch model as the last one in the Macintosh lineup, still lacked the Apple T2 security chip. After including them in Macs for 35 years starting with the Macintosh XL in 1985, the 2020 refresh marked the end of hard disk drives in standard configuration Macs, as the 21.5-inch iMac was the only Mac still sold with them. In March 2021, Apple silently removed the 512 GB and 1 TB SSD configurations for the 21.5-inch iMac.


title: IMac (Intel-based)

text: The 21.5 inch iMac with 4K Retina Display was discontinued on April 20, 2021, after the announcement of the first Apple silicon-based iMac. The 27-inch model was discontinued on March 8, 2022, after the announcement of the Mac Studio and 27-inch Apple Studio Display, and marked the end of Intel-based iMac models, and the return of the iMac to a single sized model since the introduction of 17" inch iMac G4 in 2002.


title: Erin Foster

text: Foster was a writer on the NBC sitcom "The New Normal". With her sister Sara Foster, she created the TV series "Barely Famous" on VH1. It is a mockumentary satire of reality TV, and first aired in March 2015.


title: Erin Foster

text: Since 2017, Foster and her sister Sara Foster are creative heads for the dating app Bumble, and collaborated with clothing brand Sub Urban Riot to create a line of T-shirts and sweatpants.


title: Erin Foster

text: Foster is the daughter of record producer David Foster and former model Rebecca Dyer. On December 31, 2019, Foster wed Simon Tikhman in Nashville, Tennessee, with Foster's stepmother Katharine McPhee performing at their wedding. Foster converted to Judaism prior to her marriage to Tikhman.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Labor unions in the United States are organizations that represent workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger trade unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Most unions in the United States are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the AFL–CIO created in 1955, and the Change to Win Federation (current Strategic Organizing Center) (SOC) which split from the AFL–CIO in 2005. Both advocate policies and legislation on behalf of workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics. The AFL–CIO is especially concerned with global trade issues.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The percentage of workers belonging to a union (or total labor union "density") varies by country. In 2021 it was 10.3% in the United States, compared to 20.1% in 1983. There were 14.012 million members in the U.S. in 2021, down from 17.7 million in 1983. Union membership in the private sector has fallen to 6.1%, one fifth that of public sector workers, at 33.9% (2021). Over half of all union members in the U.S. lived in just seven states (California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, New Jersey, Ohio), though these states accounted for only about one-third of the workforce. From a global perspective, in 2016 the US had the fifth lowest trade union density of the 36 OECD member nations.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: In the 21st century, the most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as city employees, government workers, teachers and police. Members of unions are disproportionately older, male, and residents of the Northeast, the Midwest, and California. Union workers average 10-30% higher pay than non-union in the United States after controlling for individual, job, and labor market characteristics.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Although much smaller compared to their peak membership in the 1950s, American unions remain a political factor, both through mobilization of their own memberships and through coalitions with like-minded activist organizations around issues such as immigrant rights, environmental protections, trade policy, health care, and living wage campaigns. Of special concern are efforts by cities and states to reduce the pension obligations owed to unionized workers who retire in the future. Republicans elected with Tea Party support in 2010, most notably former Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, have launched major efforts against public sector unions due in part to state government pension obligations along with the allegation that the unions are too powerful.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The academic literature shows substantial evidence that labor unions reduce economic inequality. Research suggests that rising income inequality in the United States is partially attributable to the decline of the labor movement and union membership.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Unions began forming in the mid-19th century in response to the social and economic impact of the Industrial Revolution. National labor unions began to form in the post-Civil War Era. The Knights of Labor emerged as a major force in the late 1880s, but it collapsed because of poor organization, lack of effective leadership, disagreement over goals, and strong opposition from employers and government forces.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The American Federation of Labor, founded in 1886 and led by Samuel Gompers until his death in 1924, proved much more durable. It arose as a loose coalition of various local unions. It helped coordinate and support strikes and eventually became a major player in national politics, usually on the side of the Democrats.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: American labor unions benefited greatly from the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s. The Wagner Act, in particular, legally protected the right of unions to organize. Unions from this point developed increasingly closer ties to the Democratic Party, and are considered a backbone element of the New Deal Coalition.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Pro-business conservatives gained control of Congress in 1946, and in 1947 passed the Taft–Hartley Act, drafted by Senator Robert A. Taft. President Truman vetoed it but the Conservative coalition overrode the veto. The veto override had considerable Democratic support, including 106 out of 177 Democrats in the House, and 20 out of 42 Democrats in the Senate. The law, which is still in effect, banned union contributions to political candidates, restricted the power of unions to call strikes that "threatened national security," and forced the expulsion of Communist union leaders (the Supreme Court found the anti-communist provision to be unconstitutional, and it is no longer in force). The unions campaigned vigorously for years to repeal the law but failed. During the late 1950s, the Landrum Griffin Act of 1959 passed in the wake of Congressional investigations of corruption and undemocratic internal politics in the Teamsters and other unions.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: In 1955, the two largest labor organizations, the AFL and CIO, merged, ending a division of over 20 years. AFL President George Meany became President of the new AFL–CIO, and AFL Secretary-Treasurer William Schnitzler became AFL–CIO Secretary-Treasurer. The draft constitution was primarily written by AFL Vice President Matthew Woll and CIO General Counsel Arthur Goldberg, while the joint policy statements were written by Woll, CIO Secretary-Treasurer James Carey, CIO vice presidents David McDonald and Joseph Curran, Brotherhood of Railway Clerks President George Harrison, and Illinois AFL–CIO President Reuben Soderstrom.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The percentage of workers belonging to a union (or "density") in the United States peaked in 1954 at almost 35% and the total number of union members peaked in 1979 at an estimated 21.0 million. Membership has declined since, with private sector union membership beginning a steady decline that continues into the 2010s, but the membership of public sector unions grew steadily.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: After 1960 public sector unions grew rapidly and secured good wages and high pensions for their members. While manufacturing and farming steadily declined, state- and local-government employment quadrupled from 4 million workers in 1950 to 12 million in 1976 and 16.6 million in 2009. Adding in the 3.7 million federal civilian employees, in 2010 8.4 million government workers were represented by unions, including 31% of federal workers, 35% of state workers and 46% of local workers.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: By the 1970s, a rapidly increasing flow of imports (such as automobiles, steel and electronics from Germany and Japan, and clothing and shoes from Asia) undercut American producers. By the 1980s there was a large-scale shift in employment with fewer workers in high-wage sectors and more in the low-wage sectors. Many companies closed or moved factories to Southern states (where unions were weak), countered the threat of a strike by threatening to close or move a plant, or moved their factories offshore to low-wage countries. The number of major strikes and lockouts fell by 97% from 381 in 1970 to 187 in 1980 to only 11 in 2010. On the political front, the shrinking unions lost influence in the Democratic Party, and pro-Union liberal Republicans faded away. Union membership among workers in private industry shrank dramatically, though after 1970 there was growth in employees unions of federal, state and local governments. The intellectual mood in the 1970s and 1980s favored deregulation and free competition. Numerous industries were deregulated, including airlines, trucking, railroads and telephones, over the objections of the unions involved. The climax came when President Ronald Reagan—a former union president—broke the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike in 1981, dealing a major blow to unions.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Republicans began to push through legislative blueprints to curb the power of public employee unions as well as eliminate business regulations.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Today most labor unions (or trade unions) in the United States are members of one of two larger umbrella organizations: the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) or the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), which split from the AFL–CIO in 2005–2006. Both organizations advocate policies and legislation favorable to workers in the United States and Canada, and take an active role in politics favoring the Democratic party but not exclusively so. The AFL–CIO is especially concerned with global trade and economic issues.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Private sector unions are regulated by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), passed in 1935 and amended since then. The law is overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent federal agency. Public sector unions are regulated partly by federal and partly by state laws. In general they have shown robust growth rates, because wages and working conditions are set through negotiations with elected local and state officials.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: To join a traditional labor union, workers must either be given voluntary recognition from their employer or have a majority of workers in a bargaining unit vote for union representation. In either case, the government must then certify the newly formed union. Other forms of unionism include minority unionism, solidarity unionism, and the practices of organizations such as the Industrial Workers of the World, which do not always follow traditional organizational models.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Public sector worker unions are governed by labor laws and labor boards in each of the 50 states. Northern states typically model their laws and boards after the NLRA and the NLRB. In other states, public workers have no right to establish a union as a legal entity. (About 40% of public employees in the USA do not have the right to organize a legally established union.)


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A review conducted by the federal government on pay scale shows that employees in a labor union earn up to 33% more income than their nonunion counterparts, as well as having more job security, and safer and higher-quality work conditions. The median weekly income for union workers was $973 in 2014, compared with $763 for nonunion workers.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: New media organizations and later traditional newspapers led a wave of unionization since 2015, spurred by losses during the Great Recession and start-up layoffs. NewsGuild and Writers Guild of America won many of these efforts, including 5,000 journalists across 90 organizations.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Once the union won the support of a majority of the bargaining unit and is certified in a workplace, it has the sole authority to negotiate the conditions of employment. Under the NLRA, employees can also, if there is no majority support, form a minority union which represents the rights of only those members who choose to join. Businesses, however, do not have to recognize the minority union as a collective bargaining agent for its members, and therefore the minority union's power is limited. This minority model was once widely used, but was discarded when unions began to consistently win majority support. Unions are beginning to revisit the members-only model of unionism, because of new changes to labor law, which unions view as curbing workers' ability to organize.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The employer and the union write the terms and conditions of employment in a legally binding contract. When disputes arise over the contract, most contracts call for the parties to resolve their differences through a grievance process to see if the dispute can be mutually resolved. If the union and the employer still cannot settle the matter, either party can choose to send the dispute to arbitration, where the case is argued before a neutral third party.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Right-to-work statutes forbid unions from negotiating union shops and agency shops. Thus, while unions do exist in "right-to-work" states, they are typically weaker.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Members of labor unions enjoy "Weingarten Rights." If management questions the union member on a matter that may lead to discipline or other changes in working conditions, union members can request representation by a union representative. Weingarten Rights are named for the first Supreme Court decision to recognize those rights.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The NLRA goes farther in protecting the right of workers to organize unions. It protects the right of workers to engage in any "concerted activity" for mutual aid or protection. Thus, no union connection is needed. Concerted activity "in its inception involves only a speaker and a listener, for such activity is an indispensable preliminary step to employee self-organization."


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Unions are currently advocating new federal legislation, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), that would allow workers to elect union representation by simply signing a support card (card check). The current process established by federal law requires at least 30% of employees to sign cards for the union, then wait 45 to 90 days for a federal official to conduct a secret ballot election in which a simple majority of the employees must vote for the union in order to obligate the employer to bargain.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Unions report that, under the present system, many employers use the 45- to 90-day period to conduct anti-union campaigns. Some opponents of this legislation fear that removing secret balloting from the process will lead to the intimidation and coercion of workers on behalf of the unions. During the 2008 elections, the Employee Free Choice Act had widespread support of many legislators in the House and Senate, and of the President. Since then, support for the "card check" provisions of the EFCA subsided substantially.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Union membership had been declining in the US since 1954, and since 1967, as union membership rates decreased, middle class incomes shrank correspondingly. In 2007, the labor department reported the first increase in union memberships in 25 years and the largest increase since 1979. Most of the recent gains in union membership have been in the service sector while the number of unionized employees in the manufacturing sector has declined. Most of the gains in the service sector have come in West Coast states like California where union membership is now at 16.7% compared with a national average of about 12.1%. Historically, the rapid growth of public employee unions since the 1960s has served to mask an even more dramatic decline in private-sector union membership.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: At the apex of union density in the 1940s, only about 9.8% of public employees were represented by unions, while 33.9% of private, non-agricultural workers had such representation. In this decade, those proportions have essentially reversed, with 36% of public workers being represented by unions while private sector union density had plummeted to around 7%. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent survey indicates that union membership in the US has risen to 12.4% of all workers, from 12.1% in 2007. For a short period, private sector union membership rebounded, increasing from 7.5% in 2007 to 7.6% in 2008. However, that trend has since reversed. In 2013 there were 14.5 million members in the U.S., compared with 17.7 million in 1983. In 2013, the percentage of workers belonging to a union was 11.3%, compared to 20.1% in 1983. The rate for the private sector was 6.4%, and for the public sector 35.3%.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: In the ten years 2005 through 2014, the National Labor Relations Board recorded 18,577 labor union representation elections; in 11,086 of these elections (60 percent), the majority of workers voted for union representation. Most of the elections (15,517) were triggered by employee petitions for representation, of which unions won 9,933. Less common were elections caused by employee petitions for decertification (2792, of which unions won 1070), and employer-filed petitions for either representation or decertification (268, of which unions won 85).


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: In the US, labor education programs such as the Harvard Trade Union Program created in 1942 by Harvard University professor John Thomas Dunlop sought to educate union members to deal with important contemporary workplace and labor law issues of the day. The Harvard Trade Union Program is currently part of a broader initiative at Harvard Law School called the Labor and Worklife Program that deals with a wide variety of labor and employment issues from union pension investment funds to the effects of nanotechnology on labor markets and the workplace.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Cornell University is known to be one of the leading centers for labor education in the world, establishing the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1945. The school's mission is to prepare leaders, inform national and international employment and labor policy, and improve working lives through undergraduate and graduate education. The school publishes the Industrial and Labor Relations Review and had Frances Perkins on its faculty. The school has six academic departments: Economics, Human Resource Management, International and Comparative Labor, Labor Relations, Organizational Behavior, and Social Statistics. Classes include "Politics of the Global North" and "Economic Analysis of the University."


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Labor unions use the term "jurisdiction" to refer to their claims to represent workers who perform a certain type of work and the right of their members to perform such work. For example, the work of unloading containerized cargo at United States ports, which the International Longshoremen's Association, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have claimed rightfully should be assigned to workers they represent. A jurisdictional strike is a concerted refusal to work undertaken by a union to assert its members' right to such job assignments and to protest the assignment of disputed work to members of another union or to unorganized workers. Jurisdictional strikes occur most frequently in the United States in the construction industry.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Unions also use jurisdiction to refer to the geographical boundaries of their operations, as in those cases in which a national or international union allocates the right to represent workers among different local unions based on the place of those workers' employment, either along geographical lines or by adopting the boundaries between political jurisdictions.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: To help counter their steady decline in power, in the 1980s labor unions began to form coalitions locally, nationally, and globally with religious groups, social movements, politicians, and sometimes employers. There was a general shift away from specific, interest group advocacy and towards large-scale pro-democracy movements.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Coalitions between labor unions and environmental groups are prominent in interest areas of global trade and health. The unification was unique given the two sides' rocky history and notable differences. Unions are very hierarchical and prioritize jobs, with typically working-class members, while environmental groups tend to consist of middle class and white-collar members and focus primarily on issues related to climate and the environment. Tensions arose in the past when environmental groups pushed for environmental protection regulations without considering the effects on jobs or the side effects on worker safety, unintentionally antagonizing unions.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Labor unions would sometimes side with employers even though employers are often seen as antithetical to unionization, since no employers mean no jobs. Labor unions have sometimes worked against environmental groups when environmental activism was seen as limiting to economic growth. This antagonization was further encouraged by employers in a politically motivated strategy referred to as “job blackmail,” and has been effective in pitting the movements against each other.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Labor unions and environmental groups first began to collaborate internationally when the Reagan administration in the 1980s launched attacks on environmental regulations around the same time that they fired thousands of striking air traffic control employees.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Although not as overwhelmingly supportive as it was from the 1930s through the early 1960s, a clear majority of the American public approves of labor unions. The Gallup organization has tracked public opinion of unions since 1936, when it found that 72 percent approved of unions. The overwhelming approval declined in the late 1960s, but – except for one poll in 2009 in which the unions received a favorable rating by only 48 percent of those interviewed, majorities have always supported labor unions. A Gallup Poll released August 2018 showed 62% of respondents approving unions, the highest level in over a decade. Disapproval of unions was expressed by 32%.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: On the question of whether or not unions should have more influence or less influence, Gallup has found the public consistently split since Gallup first posed the question in 2000, with no majority favoring either more influence or less influence. In August 2018, 39 percent wanted unions to have more influence, 29 percent less influence, with 26 percent wanting the influence of labor unions to remain about the same.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A Pew Research Center poll from 2009 to 2010 found a drop in labor union support in the midst of The Great Recession sitting at 41% favorable and 40% unfavorable. In 2018, union support rose to 55% favorable with just 33% unfavorable Despite this union membership had continued to fall.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Although most industrialized countries have seen a drop in unionization rates, the drop in union density (the unionized proportion of the working population) has been more significant in the United States than elsewhere.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveyed the histories of union membership rates in industrialized countries from 1970 to 2003, and found that of 20 advanced economies which had union density statistics going back to 1970, 16 of them had experienced drops in union density from 1970 to 2003. Over the same period during which union density in the US declined from 23.5 percent to 12.4 percent, some countries saw even steeper drops. Australian unionization fell from 50.2 percent in 1970 to 22.9 percent in 2003, in New Zealand it dropped from 55.2 percent to 22.1 percent, and in Austria union participation fell from 62.8 percent down to 35.4 percent. All the English-speaking countries studied saw union membership decline to some degree. In the United Kingdom, union participation fell from 44.8 percent in 1970 to 29.3 percent in 2003. In Ireland the decline was from 53.7 percent down to 35.3 percent. Canada had one of the smallest declines over the period, going from 31.6 percent in 1970 to 28.4 percent in 2003. Most of the countries studied started in 1970 with higher participation rates than the US, but France, which in 1970 had a union participation rate of 21.7 percent, by 2003 had fallen to 8.3 percent. The remaining four countries which had gained in union density were Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Public approval of unions climbed during the 1980s much as it did in other industrialized nations, but declined to below 50% for the first time in 2009 during the Great Recession. It is not clear if this is a long-term trend or a function of a high unemployment rate which historically correlates with lower public approval of labor unions.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: One explanation for loss of public support is simply the lack of union power or critical mass. No longer do a sizable percentage of American workers belong to unions, or have family members who do. Unions no longer carry the "threat effect": the power of unions to raise wages of non-union shops by virtue of the threat of unions to organize those shops.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A "New York Times"/CBS Poll found that 60% of Americans opposed restricting collective bargaining while 33% were for it. The poll also found that 56% of Americans opposed reducing pay of public employees compared to the 37% who approved. The details of the poll also stated that 26% of those surveyed, thought pay and benefits for public employees were too high, 25% thought too low, and 36% thought about right. Mark Tapscott of the "Washington Examiner" criticized the poll, accusing it of over-sampling union and public employee households.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A Gallup poll released on March 9, 2011, showed that Americans were more likely to support limiting the collective bargaining powers of state employee unions to balance a state's budget (49%) than disapprove of such a measure (45%), while 6% had no opinion. 66% of Republicans approved of such a measure as did 51% of independents. Only 31% of Democrats approved.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A Gallup poll released on March 11, 2011, showed that nationwide, Americans were more likely to give unions a negative word or phrase when describing them (38%) than a positive word or phrase (34%). 17% were neutral and 12% didn't know. Republicans were much more likely to say a negative term (58%) than Democrats (19%). Democrats were much more likely to say a positive term (49%) than Republicans (18%).


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A broad range of forces have been identified as potential contributors to the drop in union density across countries. Sano and Williamson outline quantitative studies that assess the relevance of these factors across countries. The first relevant set of factors relate to the receptiveness of unions' institutional environments. For example, the presence of a Ghent system (where unions are responsible for the distribution of unemployment insurance) and of centralized collective bargaining (organized at a national or industry level as opposed to local or firm level) have both been shown to give unions more bargaining power and to correlate positively to higher rates of union density.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Unions have enjoyed higher rates of success in locations where they have greater access to the workplace as an organizing space (as determined both by law and by employer acceptance), and where they benefit from a corporatist relationship to the state and are thus allowed to participate more directly in the official governance structure. Moreover, the fluctuations of business cycles, particularly the rise and fall of unemployment rates and inflation, are also closely linked to changes in union density.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Labor lawyer Thomas Geoghegan attributes the drop to the long-term effects of the 1947 Taft–Hartley Act, which slowed and then halted labor's growth and then, over many decades, enabled management to roll back labor's previous gains.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: First, it ended organizing on the grand, 1930s scale. It outlawed mass picketing, secondary strikes of neutral employers, sit downs: in short, everything [CIO founder John L.] Lewis did in the 1930s.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The second effect of Taft–Hartley was subtler and slower-working. It was to hold up any new organizing at all, even on a quiet, low-key scale. For example, Taft–Hartley ended "card checks." … Taft–Hartley required hearings, campaign periods, secret-ballot elections, and sometimes more hearings, before a union could be officially recognized.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: It also allowed and even encouraged employers to threaten workers who want to organize. Employers could hold "captive meetings," bring workers into the office and chew them out for thinking about the Union.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: And Taft–Hartley led to the "union-busting" that started in the late 1960s and continues today. It started when a new "profession" of labor consultants began to convince employers that they could violate the [pro-labor 1935] Wagner Act, fire workers at will, fire them deliberately for exercising their legal rights, and nothing would happen. The Wagner Act had never had any real sanctions.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: So why hadn't employers been violating the Wagner Act all along? Well, at first, in the 1930s and 1940s, they tried, and they got riots in the streets: mass picketing, secondary strikes, etc. But after Taft–Hartley, unions couldn't retaliate like this, or they would end up with penalty fines and jail sentences.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: In general, scholars debate the influence of politics in determining union strength in the US and other countries. One argument is that political parties play an expected role in determining union strength, with left-wing governments generally promoting greater union density, while others contest this finding by pointing out important counterexamples and explaining the reverse causality inherent in this relationship.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: More recently, as unions have become increasingly concerned with the impacts of market integration on their well-being, scholars have begun to assess whether popular concerns about a global "race to the bottom" are reflected in cross-country comparisons of union strength. These scholars use foreign direct investment (FDI) and the size of a country's international trade as a percentage of its GDP to assess a country's relative degree of market integration. These researchers typically find that globalization does affect union density, but is dependent on other factors, such as unions' access to the workplace and the centralization of bargaining.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Sano and Williamson argue that globalization's impact is conditional upon a country's labor history. In the United States in particular, which has traditionally had relatively low levels of union density, globalization did not appear to significantly affect union density.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Studies focusing more narrowly on the U.S. labor movement corroborate the comparative findings about the importance of structural factors, but tend to emphasize the effects of changing labor markets due to globalization to a greater extent. Bronfenbrenner notes that changes in the economy, such as increased global competition, capital flight, and the transitions from a manufacturing to a service economy and to a greater reliance on transitory and contingent workers, accounts for only a third of the decline in union density.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Bronfenbrenner claims that the federal government in the 1980s was largely responsible for giving employers the perception that they could engage in aggressive strategies to repress the formation of unions. Richard Freeman also points to the role of repressive employer strategies in reducing unionization, and highlights the way in which a state ideology of anti-unionism tacitly accepted these strategies


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Goldfield writes that the overall effects of globalization on unionization in the particular case of the United States may be understated in econometric studies on the subject. He writes that the threat of production shifts reduces unions' bargaining power even if it does not eliminate them, and also claims that most of the effects of globalization on labor's strength are indirect. They are most present in change towards a neoliberal political context that has promoted the deregulation and privatization of some industries and accepted increased employer flexibility in labor markets.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Regardless of the actual impact of market integration on union density or on workers themselves, organized labor has been engaged in a variety of strategies to limit the agenda of globalization and to promote labor regulations in an international context. Labor rights had failed to be included in international trade negotiations in Geneva in 1948 and in Tokyo in 1978. But they eventually were brought up by the US in the Uruguay Round in 1994 and were decidedly left to the jurisdiction of the International Labor Organization. Summers argues that this decision to shift all responsibility of labor rights to the ILO essentially extinguished the possibility of including labor standards in any meaningful way, as the ILO lacks any enforceable mechanism to address instances of rights violations. It was around this time that US labor unions began to step in to advocate for rights in free trade negotiations.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: In 1994, labor unions were one of the many groups protesting The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) being negotiated at the time. Pro-NAFTA advocates launched campaigns which claimed that NAFTA and other free trade deals would contribute to employment in the US. While this may be true, Summers argues that US exports tend to be capital-intensive, while imports tend to be labor-intensive, and thus deals like NAFTA would further contribute to the trend of more jobs being lost than created. In the fight to preserve employment and fight against policies which would contribute to environmental damage, the negotiations became a catalyst for the rise of coalition building across sectors, namely between labor unions and environmentalist groups, as well as across borders, between Mexican, US, and Canadian advocacy groups.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: However, Mayer has written that it was precisely unions' opposition to NAFTA overall that jeopardized organized labor's ability to influence the debate on labor standards in a significant way. During Clinton's presidential campaign, labor unions wanted NAFTA to include a side deal to provide for a kind of international social charter, a set of standards that would be enforceable both in domestic courts and through international institutions. Mickey Kantor, then U.S. trade representative, had strong ties to organized labor and believed that he could get unions to come along with the agreement, particularly if they were given a strong voice in the negotiation process.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: When it became clear that Mexico would not stand for this kind of an agreement, some critics from the labor movement would not settle for any viable alternatives. In response, part of the labor movement wanted to declare their open opposition to the agreement, and to push for NAFTA's rejection in Congress. Ultimately, the ambivalence of labor groups led those within the Administration who supported NAFTA to believe that strengthening NAFTA's labor side agreement, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC), too much would cost more votes among Republicans than it would garner among Democrats, and would make it harder for the United States to elicit support from Mexico.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Graubart writes that, despite unions' open disappointment with the outcome of this labor-side negotiation, labor activists, including the AFL–CIO have used the NAALC's citizen petition, containing a unique cross-border mechanism, to highlight ongoing political campaigns and struggles in their home countries. He claims that despite the relative weakness of the legal provisions themselves, the side-agreement has served a legitimizing functioning, giving certain social struggles a new kind of standing. Kay argues that in the process of fighting NAFTA, activists groups had gained a "power-to"—the power of mobilizing and creating transnational networks, which ultimately helped them to defeat the Multilateral Agreements on Investment in 1998 as well as the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas in 2005.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Unions have recently been engaged in a developing field of transnational labor regulation embodied in corporate codes of conduct. However, O'Brien cautions that unions have been only peripherally involved in this process, and remain ambivalent about its potential effects. They worry that these codes could have legitimizing effects on companies that do not actually live up to good practices, and that companies could use codes to excuse or distract attention from the repression of unions.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Braun and Gearhart note that although unions do participate in the structure of a number of these agreements, their original interest in codes of conduct differed from the interests of human rights and other non-governmental activists. Unions believed that codes of conduct would be important first steps in creating written principles that a company would be compelled to comply with in later organizing contracts, but did not foresee the establishment of monitoring systems such as the Fair Labor Association. These authors point out that such organizations are motivated by power, want to gain insider status politically and are accountable to a constituency that requires them to provide them with direct benefits.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: In contrast, activists from the non-governmental sector are motivated by ideals, are free of accountability and gain legitimacy from being political outsiders. Therefore, the interests of unions are not likely to align well with the interests of those who draft and monitor corporate codes of conduct.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Arguing against the idea that high union wages necessarily make manufacturing uncompetitive in a globalized economy was labor lawyer Thomas Geoghegan.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Busting unions, in the U.S. manner, as the prime way of competing with China and other countries [does not work]. It's no accident that the social democracies, Sweden, France, and Germany, which kept on paying high wages, now have more industry than the U.S. or the UK. … [T]hat's what the U.S. and the UK did: they smashed the unions, in the belief that they had to compete on cost. The result? They quickly ended up wrecking their industrial base.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Unions have made some attempts to organize across borders. Eder observed that transnational organizing is not a new phenomenon but has been facilitated by technological change. Nevertheless, he claimed that while unions pay lip service to global solidarity, they still act largely in their national self-interest. He argued that unions in the global North are becoming increasingly depoliticized while those in the South grow politically, and that global differentiation of production processes leads to divergent strategies and interests in different regions of the world. These structural differences tend to hinder effective global solidarity. However, in light of the weakness of international labor, Herod wrote that globalization of production need not be met by a globalization of union strategies in order to be contained. Herod also pointed out that local strategies, such as the United Auto Workers' strike against General Motors in 1998, can sometimes effectively interrupt global production processes in ways that they could not before the advent of widespread market integration. Thus, workers need not be connected organizationally to others around the world to effectively influence the behavior of a transnational corporation.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A 2018 study in the "Economic History Review" found that the rise of labor unions in the 1930s and 1940s was associated with a reduction in income inequality. A 2020 study found that congressional representatives were more responsive to the interests of the poor in districts with higher unionization rates. Another 2020 study found an association between state level adoption of parental leave legislation and labor union strength. A 2021 study in the "ILR Review" found that state union density was associated with a reduction in poverty in both unionized and non-unionized households.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: A 2020 study in the "American Journal of Political Science" suggested that when white people obtain union membership, they become less racially resentful. Higher union density has been associated with lower suicide/overdose deaths. Decreased unionization rates in the United States have been linked to an increase in occupational fatalities.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: Other research has found that unions can harm profitability, employment and business growth rates. The outsourcing of labour from the United States to Asia, Latin America, and Africa has been partially driven by increasing costs of union partnership, which gives other countries a comparative advantage in labour, making it more efficient to perform labour-intensive work there.


title: Labor unions in the United States

text: The weakening of unions has been linked to more favorable electoral outcomes for the Republican Party. However, Republican-controlled states are less likely to adopt more restrictive labor policies when unions are strong in the state.


title: Bunny Man

text: The Bunny Man is an urban legend that originated from two incidents in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1970, but has been spread throughout the Washington, D.C., and Maryland areas. The legend has many variations; most involve a man wearing a rabbit costume who attacks people with an axe or hatchet.


title: Bunny Man

text: Most of the stories occur around Colchester Overpass, a Southern Railway overpass spanning Colchester Road near Clifton, Virginia, sometimes referred to as "Bunny Man Bridge".


title: Bunny Man

text: Versions of the legend vary in the Bunny Man's name, motives, weapons, victims, description of the bunny costume or lack thereof, and sometimes even his possible death. In some accounts, victims' bodies are mutilated, and in some variations, the Bunny Man's ghost or aging spectre is said to come out of his place of death each year on Halloween to commemorate his passing.


title: Bunny Man

text: Fairfax County Public Library Historian-Archivist Brian A. Conley extensively researched the Bunny Man legend. He has located two incidents of a man in a rabbit costume threatening people with an axe. The vandalism reports occurred ten days apart in 1970 in Burke, Virginia.


title: Bunny Man

text: The first incident was reported the evening of October 19, 1970, by U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Robert Bennett and his fiancée, who were visiting relatives on Guinea Road in Burke. Around midnight, while returning from a football game, they reportedly parked their car in a field on Guinea Road to "visit an Uncle who lived across the street from where the car was parked". As they sat in the front seat with the motor running, they noticed something moving outside the rear window. Moments later, the front passenger window was smashed, and there was a white-clad figure standing near the broken window. Bennett turned the car around while the man screamed at them about trespassing, including: "You're on private property, and I have your tag number." As they drove down the road, the couple discovered a hatchet on the car floor.


title: Bunny Man

text: When the police requested a description of the man, Bennett insisted he was wearing a white suit with long bunny ears. However, Bennett's fiancée contested their assailant did not have bunny ears on his head, but was wearing a white capirote of some sort. They both remembered seeing his face clearly, but in the darkness, they could not determine his race. The police returned the hatchet to Bennett after examination.


title: Bunny Man

text: The second reported sighting occurred on the evening of October 29, 1970, when construction security guard Paul Phillips approached a man standing on the porch of an unfinished home, in Kings Park West on Guinea Road. Phillips said the man was wearing a gray, black, and white bunny costume, and was about 20 years old, tall, and weighed about . The man began chopping at a porch post with a long-handled axe, saying: "You are trespassing. If you come any closer, I'll chop off your head."


title: Bunny Man

text: The Fairfax County Police opened investigations into both incidents, but both were eventually closed for lack of evidence. In the weeks following the incidents, more than 50 people contacted the police claiming to have seen the "Bunny Man". Several newspapers, including "The Washington Post", reported that the "Bunny Man" had eaten a man's runaway cat. The articles that mentioned this incident were:


title: Bunny Man

text: In 1973, Patricia Johnson, a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, submitted a research paper that chronicled precisely 54 variations on the two incidents.


title: Bunny Man

text: Colchester Overpass was built in about 1906 near the site of Sangster's Station, a Civil War era railroad station on what was once the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Because of its association with the legend, the overpass is a popular destination for paranormal enthusiasts (ghost hunters) and curiosity seekers (legend trippers). Interest increases around Halloween, and starting in 2003, local authorities began controlling access to the area during that time. During Halloween 2011, over 200 people, some from as far away as the Pennsylvania–Maryland state line, were turned away during a 14-hour traffic checkpoint into the area.


title: Bunny Man

text: The 2017 Amazon original series "Lore", based on the podcast of the same name, uses the Bunny Man legend to introduce the second episode of Season 1.


title: Bunny Man

text: In 2015, non-fiction author Jenny Cutler Lopez published a full-length feature in Northern Virginia Magazine (readership 100,000 plus) titled Long Live The Bunnyman.


title: Bunny Man

text: On October 9, 2020, Adult Swim broadcast the story of the bunny man as a "bump" during an episode of "Family Guy".


title: Bunny Man

text: Published in the spring of 2021, the short story anthology Dark Words: Stories of Urban Legends and Folklore features the horror story "The Bunny Man Salvation" by Alex Norcross, which follows a local teenager as he investigates the haunted bridge.


title: Bunny Man

text: Bunnyman Brewing in Fairfax, VA was named after the urban legend. The owners, Sam Grey and Eric Berrett, decided on the name based on stories they heard growing up in Fairfax.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Lupus erythematosus is a collection of autoimmune diseases in which the human immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks healthy tissues. Symptoms of these diseases can affect many different body systems, including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart, and lungs. The most common and most severe form is systemic lupus erythematosus.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Symptoms vary from person to person, and may come and go. Almost everyone with lupus has joint pain and swelling. Some develop arthritis. Frequently affected joints are the fingers, hands, wrists, and knees.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Photosensitivity is the amount to which an object reacts upon receiving photons especially in visible light. Photosensitivity is a known symptom of lupus, but its relationship to and influence on other aspects of the disease remain to be defined. Causes of photosensitivity may include:


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: It is typically believed that lupus is influenced by multiple genes. Lupus is usually influenced by gene polymorphisms, 30 of which have now been linked with the disorder. Some of these polymorphisms have been linked very tentatively, however, as the role that they play or the degree to which they influence the disease is unknown. Other genes that are commonly thought to be associated with lupus are those in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) family. There have been several cases wherein a single gene influence appears to be present, but this is rare. When a single gene deficiency does cause lupus, it is usually attributed to the complement protein genes "C1", "C2", or "C4". The influence of sex chromosomes and environmental factors are also noteworthy. Usually, these factors contribute to lupus by influencing the immune system. Several studies also indicate a potential association of lupus with mutations in DNA repair genes.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Lupus can develop in people at any age, but it does most commonly at ages 15 to 44, with varying results. Typically, the manifestation of the disease tends to be more acute in those of younger age. Women are more likely to get it than men. Patients with juvenile-onset lupus are more vulnerable to mucocutaneous manifestations of the disease (alopecia, skin rash, and ulceration of the mucus membranes) than any other age group, and they are also more susceptible to evaluation of pulmonary artery pressure. However, patients with late-onset lupus have a much higher mortality rate. Nearly 50% of those with late-onset lupus die of their condition. Women who are of childbearing age are also particularly at risk.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Substantial data have been found to indicate that certain ethnic populations could be more at risk for lupus erythematosus and to have a better or worse prognosis. Asian, African, and Native Americans are more likely to get lupus than Caucasians. Caucasians seem generally to have a milder manifestation of the disease. Their survival rates after five years were typically around 94–96%, while patients of African and some Asian ethnicities had survival rates closer to 79–92%. The only documented ethnic group that had a higher survival rate than Caucasians was Koreans, who had survival rates nearer to 98%. Among Caucasians, the most common causes of death were complications involving the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system, and malignancies. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is more prevalent in African Americans with lupus than in Caucasians with lupus.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Diagnosis of lupus will vary from person to person. It is common to be diagnosed with other illnesses before a doctor can finally rule out lupus because a lot of the symptoms overlap with other common illness.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Diagnosis of lupus erythematosis requires a physical examination, blood and urine tests, and a skin or kidney biopsy. Some other tests that may need to be run include:


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Lupus erythematosus may manifest as systemic disease or in a purely cutaneous form also known as "incomplete lupus erythematosus". Lupus has four main types:


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: There is still no cure for lupus but there are options to help control symptoms. The goal for treatment is to prevent flare ups and reduce organ damage. Doctors may prescribe a handful of different medications to help with their patients symptoms.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: Treatment consists primarily of immunosuppressive drugs (e.g., hydroxychloroquine and corticosteroids). A second-line drug is methotrexate in its low-dose schedule. In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first new drug for lupus in more than 50 years to be used in the US, belimumab. In addition to medical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy has also been demonstrated to be effective in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression due to the psychological and social impacts that lupus may have.


title: Lupus erythematosus

text: People with SLE treated with standard care experience a higher risk of opportunistic infections and death than the general population. This risk is higher in men and in African Americans.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Kieffer Roberto Francisco Moore (born 8 August 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AFC Bournemouth and the Wales national team.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Moore started his career with Conference South club Truro City, having as a teen been a part of Torquay United's youth system and playing for South Devon League Division Two club Paignton Saints. Moore joined Dorchester Town in February 2013 due to Truro's continued financial difficulties, and he finished his first season in the Conference South with 20 goals. His goal-scoring record brought him to the attention of Yeovil Town for whom he signed in July 2013.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: After making more than fifty appearances for Yeovil, Moore was released and had a brief spell with Norwegian club Viking before returning to English football with Forest Green Rovers. Moore had a loan spell back at his hometown club Torquay United where he scored five goals in four games, grabbing the attention of Championship club Ipswich Town, signing for the club in January 2017. Before the beginning of the 2017–18 season, Moore signed on loan for Rotherham United for whom he scored 13 goals in 20 matches. His form saw him recalled by Ipswich in January 2018, and he subsequently joined fellow Championship club Barnsley for an undisclosed fee.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Born in England, Moore played once for their non-league select team in 2016 but was eligible for Wales and China through ancestral affiliations, before making his senior debut for Wales in 2019; he was selected subsequently for the Welsh UEFA Euro 2020 finals squad and scored on his first appearance at the tournament. Moore also helped Wales qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2022 for the first time since 1958.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Born in Torquay, Devon, Moore began his football career playing in the youth system of Torquay United until the age of 12 when the Devon club were forced to fold their youth programme. Moore subsequently played for Paignton Saints in the South Devon League Division Two for whom he scored 47 goals in 43 matches across two seasons, before in July 2012 he went on trial and subsequently signed for Conference South club Truro City. On 18 August 2012, he made his debut for Truro City in a 2–1 defeat against Billericay Town. Moore scored his first goal for Truro a week later in a 1–1 draw against Conference South leaders Salisbury City, Moore scored for the second time in three days when he headed home a free-kick from player-manager Lee Hodges, in a 2–0 victory over Weston-super-Mare helping Truro to their first victory of the season. The turn of the year saw Moore score seven goals in seven games in January and early February 2013, but after scoring the 80th-minute winner in Truro's 2–1 win over Hayes and Yeading it was announced that Moore was set to join fellow Conference South club Dorchester Town. Moore left Truro City having scored 13 times in 24 appearances for the Cornish club, his manager Hodges described his transfer as "a really big loss" and that it "came out of the blue that he decided to leave".


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Moore joined Dorchester Town on 11 February 2013 on an 18-month contract, making his debut the following day in a 3–2 win over Bath City. Moore grabbed his first goal for Dorchester in the following match with a consolation goal in a 2–1 defeat against Basingstoke Town. On 19 February 2013, Moore returned with Dorchester to his former club Truro City and scored a brace in a 2–1 victory for Dorchester to take his goal scoring tally to three goals in his first three matches for Dorchester. Moore's 18th and 19th goals of the season came during Dorchester's 3–2 victory over AFC Hornchurch, two audacious goals first an impudent finish with his right foot and then repeating the feat with his left foot to give his team a late winner. A thigh injury restricted Moore to just 13 appearances for Dorchester but he still managed to take his goal scoring tally to 20 goals for the season finishing as the Conference South's fourth top scorer. Moore's performances for Dorchester were enough for Football League club Charlton Athletic to offer him a trial in May 2013.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: He combined his non-league career with Truro and Dorchester with jobs as a lifeguard and personal trainer.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: In late June 2013, Moore joined newly promoted Football League Championship club Yeovil Town on trial for their pre-season. On 6 July 2013, Dorchester Town confirmed they had agreed terms with Yeovil Town for the transfer of Moore for an "undisclosed fee", but that Moore had yet to agree personal terms or have a medical with the club. Moore subsequently signed a two-year contract with Yeovil on 10 July 2013. Moore made his debut for Yeovil as an 82nd-minute substitute in their Football League Cup first round victory over Southend United, on 6 August 2013. On 14 September 2013, Moore made his Football League Championship debut for Yeovil against Sheffield Wednesday as an injury time substitute. Moore scored his first senior goal for Yeovil, on 4 January 2014, in the FA Cup third round in a 4–0 victory against Leyton Orient. Moore's first season in the Championship ended prematurely with a calf injury meaning he missed Yeovil's final three matches as they failed to avoid relegation back to Football League One. Overall, he made 24 appearances for Yeovil in his first season scoring five times making him the club's joint third top goalscorer.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Moore was released by Yeovil at the end of the 2014–15 season following their relegation to League Two.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Having been made available for transfer Moore returned to England and spent time on trial with League Two clubs Exeter City, and Leyton Orient. On 18 January 2016, Moore signed for National League club Forest Green Rovers until June 2017. He made his debut for the club on 23 January 2016, playing as a central defender in a 1–0 home win against Braintree Town. His first goal for the club came in a 2–2 away draw at Barrow on 27 February 2016. He helped Forest Green make it into the National League play-offs after finishing second in the division, and appeared as a substitute in the play-off semi-final second leg against Dover Athletic, producing an instrumental performance that helped the club reach the play-off final at Wembley. He was denied the chance to appear in the play-off final defeat to Grimsby Town after rupturing his appendix the night after the semi-final second leg.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 17 November 2016, Moore joined fellow National League club Torquay United on a 28-day loan deal. He scored an 88th-minute equaliser on his debut in a home 1–1 draw against Wrexham. In his second appearance he scored his first career hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Solihull Moors.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 14 January 2017, Moore signed for Championship club Ipswich Town for £10,000 on an 18-month contract. He made his debut for the club on 21 January 2017, featuring as a second-half substitute in a 0–2 away loss to Huddersfield Town. He made 11 substitute appearances during his first season at Portman Road.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 10 July 2017, Moore joined League One club Rotherham United on loan until the end of the season. He scored a hat-trick on his home debut in a 5–0 win against Southend United. On 9 September 2017, Moore then scored a brace against Bury in a 3–2 home win to put him on 6 goals in 6 league appearances. Moore scored his 11th goal of the season away at Oxford on 21 October to put himself back as the league's top scorer. He scored his 12th league goal of the season in a 1–3 loss to Gillingham. Moore's 13th goal of the season was a 96th-minute equaliser against Rotherham rivals Doncaster Rovers.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 8 January 2018, Moore signed for Championship club Barnsley for an undisclosed fee on a deal until 2021. Moore scored his first goal for Barnsley in a 2–1 defeat against Burton Albion, on 20 February 2018.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: In his second season with Barnsley, Moore emerged as the Tykes' first choice striker, featuring in 31 matches and scoring 17 goals. On 21 August 2018, Moore scored his first hat-trick for Barnsley against Rochdale in a 4–0 away win. On 1 September 2018, Moore scored both goals in Barnsley's 2–1 victory over Gillingham, putting him on six goals in six games for the season. He scored another brace against Sunderland on 27 November 2018 in a 4–2 defeat. On 9 February 2019, Moore was involved in an aerial collision with Gillingham defender Gabriel Zakuani which resulted in Moore being down for 10 minutes and later taken to hospital. On 28 February 2019, it was reported that he would miss the rest of the season with a serious head injury, though he made his return on 19 April 2019 against Shrewsbury Town. On 24 April 2019, Moore was one of five Barnsley players named in the PFA Team of the Year for League One.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 5 August 2019, Moore signed for Championship club Wigan Athletic on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for Wigan, a penalty, on 2 November 2019 in a 2–1 loss to Swansea City. His goal against Reading in February 2020, saw Moore nominated for Championship goal of the month.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 14 July 2020, Moore scored twice as Wigan defeated Hull City by a scoreline of 8–0; the result was Wigan's biggest victory in club history. Despite Moore's efforts, Wigan were relegated from the Championship due to a points deduction


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Moore signed for Championship club Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee on 13 August 2020. He scored his first goals for the club on 19 September in his second appearance, netting a brace against Nottingham Forest in a 2–0 win. Moore won the February 2021 PFA Player of the Month award after a run of five goals in seven matches.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 31 January 2022, Moore signed for fellow Championship side AFC Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee understood to be worth up to £5m. On 9 February, Moore was substituted on for his debut in the final minutes of the 3–1 win against Birmingham City and suffered a broken foot. He missed two months of action, and made his second appearance against Swansea City on 26 April 2022. With the Cherries losing 3–0 upon his substitution, Moore scored twice to earn a draw. A week later, he scored the match-winning goal against Nottingham Forest, which secured Bournemouth's promotion to the Premier League. He netted a further goal in the final day win over Millwall to make it four goals in just 83 minutes of action for AFC Bournemouth that season.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: On 6 August, Moore made his Premier League debut in a 2–0 win against Aston Villa, scoring his first Premier League goal in the 80th minute. On 29 October, he scored twice against Tottenham Hotspur, putting the team into a 2–0 lead, before Tottenham mounted a second half comeback to win 3–2.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Moore was born in England and represented England C on a single occasion in 2016, however later chose to commit to Wales at senior international level.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: Moore is eligible for the Wales national team through his paternal grandfather, who hailed from Llanrug. The Chinese Football Association, however, had tried to get contact with the hope to get Moore into the Chinese team, using the Chinese ancestry of his maternal great-grandfather, who hailed from Guangdong before migrating to Liverpool in the 1940s (although great-grandparent Is not a valid international qualification); Moore later arrived at Beijing to discuss the matter in 2019 but the move failed to materialise. Moore is also of Italian descent.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: He received his first call-up to a Welsh national team training squad in May 2019. On 10 October 2019, Moore scored his first international goal for the Wales national team in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Slovakia. Moore scored in each of his first three away internationals, with further goals in a 2–0 win over Azerbaijan on 16 November 2019 and the winner in a 1–0 win over Finland on 3 September 2020. Moore scored again against Finland on 18 November 2018, this time in a 3–1 victory in Cardiff in another Euro qualifier.


title: Kieffer Moore

text: In May 2021, Moore was named in Wales' squad for the Euro 2020 tournament. On 12 June 2021, Moore scored the equaliser in Wales' opening Euro 2020 group match versus Switzerland, earning Wales a 1–1 draw. In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the special operations component of the United States Air Force. An Air Force major command (MAJCOM), AFSOC is also the U.S. Air Force component command to United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), a unified combatant command located at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. AFSOC provides all Air Force Special Operations Forces (SOF) for worldwide deployment and assignment to regional unified combatant commands.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: Before 1983, Air Force special operations forces were primarily assigned to the Tactical Air Command (TAC) and were generally deployed under the control of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) or, as had been the case during the Vietnam War, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). Just as it had relinquished control of the C-130 theater airlift fleet to Military Airlift Command (MAC) in 1975, TAC relinquished control of Air Force SOF to MAC in December 1982.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: AFSOC was initially established on 10 February 1983 as Twenty-Third Air Force (23 AF), a subordinate numbered air force of MAC, with 23 AF headquarters initially established at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. On 1 August 1987, 23 AF headquarters moved to Hurlburt Field, Florida. AFSOC elements include Combat Controllers (CCT), Pararescuemen (PJ), Special Reconnaissance (SR), and Tactical Air Control Party (TACP).


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: The following list contains the flying and Special Tactics squadrons of the Air Force Special Operations Command:


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: Additionally, the Air Force Special Operations Command would gain the following units from Air Mobility Command or Air Combat Command aligned Air National Guard wings:


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: The command's SOF units are composed of highly trained, rapidly deployable airmen who are equipped with specialized aircraft. These forces conduct global special operations missions ranging from precision application of firepower, to infiltration, aviation foreign internal defense, exfiltration, resupply and aerial refueling of SOF operational elements.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: In addition to the pilots, combat systems officers, and enlisted aircrew who fly AFSOC's aircraft, there is a highly experienced support force of maintenance officers and enlisted aircraft maintenance personnel who maintain these complex aircraft and their support systems, a cadre of premier intelligence officers and enlisted intelligence specialists well versed in special operations, as well as logisticians, security forces and numerous other support officers and personnel.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: Another aspect of AFSOC is Special Tactics, the U.S. Air Force's special operations ground force. Similar in ability and employment to Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC), U.S. Army Special Forces and U.S. Navy SEALs, Air Force Special Tactics personnel are typically the first to enter combat and often find themselves deep behind enemy lines in demanding, austere conditions, usually with little or no support.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: The command's Special Tactics Squadrons are led by Special Tactics Officers (STOs). Special Tactics Squadrons combine Combat Controllers, Tactical Air Control Party (TACP), Special Operations Weather Technicians, Pararescuemen (PJs) and Combat Rescue Officers (CROs) to form versatile SOF teams. AFSOC's unique capabilities include airborne radio and television broadcast for psychological operations, as well as combat aviation advisors to provide other governments military expertise for their internal development.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: Due to the rigors of the career field, Special Tactics' year-long training is one of the most demanding in the military, with attrition rates between 80 and 90 percent. In an attempt to reduce the high attrition, Special Tactics is very selective when choosing their officers. Special Tactics Officers (STO) undergo a highly competitive process to gain entry into the Special Tactics career field, ensuring only the most promising and capable leaders are selected. STO leadership and role modeling during the difficult training reduces the attrition rate for enlisted trainees.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: STO selection is a two-phase process. Beginning with Phase One, a board of veteran STOs reviews application packages consisting of letters of recommendation, fitness test scores, and narratives written by the applicants describing their career aspirations and reasons for applying. Based on Phase One performance, about eight to 10 applicants are invited to the next phase. Phase Two is a weeklong battery of evaluations, ranging from physical fitness and leadership to emotional intelligence and personality indicators. At the end of Phase Two, typically two to four applicants are selected to begin the year-plus Special Tactics training pipeline.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: Additionally, AFSOC, through the 492nd Special Operations Wing (as of 2017, and the Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center previously), possess and operates a small number of the following aircraft for its special training mission and Aviation Foreign Internal Defense (FID) missions:


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: New AC-130J and MC-130J aircraft based on the Lockheed Martin KC-130J Super Hercules tanker variant are being acquired and sent to certain AFSOC units. MC-130J aircraft have already entered service while the AC-130J continues developmental testing in preparation for an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with AFSOC projected for FY 2017


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: In December 1982, the Air Force transferred responsibility for Air Force special operations from Tactical Air Command (TAC) to Military Airlift Command (MAC). Consequently, in March 1983, MAC activated Twenty-Third Air Force (23 AF) at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. This new numbered air force's responsibilities included worldwide missions of special operations, combat rescue, weather reconnaissance and aerial sampling, security support for intercontinental ballistic missile sites, training of USAF helicopter and HC-130 crewmen, pararescue training, and medical evacuation.


title: Air Force Special Operations Command

text: In October 1983, 23 AF helped rescue Americans from the island nation of Grenada. During the seven-day operation, centered at Point Salines Airport, 23 AF furnished MC-130s, AC-130s, aircrews, maintenance, and support personnel. An EC-130 from the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Air National Guard (ANG) also played a psy-war role. Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) James L. Hobson Jr., an MC-130 pilot and commander of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, was later awarded the Mackay Trophy for his actions in leading the air drop on the Point Salines Airport.