Author Profile
Bruce Vail

Bruce Vail is a Baltimore-based freelance writer with decades of experience covering labor and business stories for newspapers, magazines and new media. He was a reporter for Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Labor Report, covering collective bargaining issues in a wide range of industries, and a maritime industry reporter and editor for the Journal of Commerce, serving both in the newspaper’s New York City headquarters and in the Washington, D.C. bureau.
Vail has also worked inside the labor movement as a staff writer, researcher and editor for the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (AFL-CIO). Based in the Washington, D.C. office, Bruce helped produce the union’s various publications and also worked on organizing and legislative projects between 1996 and 2005.
Currently living in Baltimore, Md., Bruce has been a member of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, and the Office and Professional Employees International Union.
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These Hotel Workers Say They Shouldn’t Have to Work Multiple Jobs to Make Ends Meet
Hotel workers union UNITE HERE isn’t resting on its laurels after winning a contract fight with the giant Marriott chain late last year. The union is pursuing new organizing... MORE
Working · August 7, 2019
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What Spurred a 98% Strike Vote by LA Teachers? Plutocrats Pushing Charter Schools
Public school teachers in Los Angeles voted overwhelmingly in late August to authorize a strike over stalled contract negotiations, but the issues really energizing the union membership go far beyond a new contract.... MORE
Working · September 7, 2018
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Trump’s NLRB Is Back in Action After Its Ethics Scandal—And It’s Not Good for Workers
The Trump-dominated National Labor Relations Board has been mostly quiet this summer, largely as the result of an ethics scandal that has tainted some of its earlier anti-union work. But NLRB initiatives are... MORE
Working · August 14, 2018
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“No More Racist Bosses”: Why Workers at a Suburban Target Store Are Protesting
A small group of workers at retailer Target Corporation is demanding accountability from local store managers in the Baltimore area, highlighting issues of discrimination and fair scheduling that affect retail workers nationwide. MORE
Working · July 6, 2018
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Workplace Deaths Are Rising. Trump-Era Budget Cuts Could Make It Worse.
In an alarming development in the world of workplace safety, the latest statistics reveal that the number of accidental deaths on the job in America is on the rise, reversing the longer-term trend... MORE
Working · June 18, 2018
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A New Model for Progressive Politics in the Heart of Deindustrialization
It’s startling when your hometown is labeled the worst city in the United States for African Americans. That’s what happened in Peoria in late 2016 when a survey by... MORE
Working · May 4, 2018
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Bernie’s Platform Could Win in Maryland’s Gov. Race, With Support From Clinton Voters
Former NAACP President Ben Jealous is building a broad coalition of progressives to take out a popular GOP governor in Maryland. MORE
Act Locally · April 2, 2018
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Inside the Trump Administration’s Plan to Shrink the NLRB
Labor rights advocates are alarmed by a proposal to centralize more control of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and shrink its network of... MORE
Working · January 31, 2018
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Trump NLRB Appointee Behind Major Anti-Union Ruling Accused of Corruption
An anti-union policy decision from President Donald Trump’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) appointees appears to be tainted by a violation of ethics standards, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is... MORE
Working · January 23, 2018
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Here’s Why These 3 Rank-And-File Union Members Are Running for Maryland Public Office
BALTIMORE – Determined to win a larger role in the state Democratic Party organization, Maryland’s labor unions are entering the 2018 off-year election season early, and betting on some of their own... MORE
Working · January 3, 2018