When I first heard about the Chris Dorner story I rolled my eyes – blood in the water brings out the media sharks who have to swim or die because thinking is too hard. But worse than the vapid callous infotainment press was the cheering from the cheap seats. Dorner was a hero for shooting cops? The lumpenproletariat’s candy-coated derangement, I thought, must have reached a level Mike Judge could not even imagine.

Then I read something that changed my mind.

This case had long been the concern of the international community, not only because the death penalty is inherently cruel and inhumane and should be abolished, but also because there are reasons to believe Rizana Nafeek had been forced into making a confession — which she later retracted — and that the trial against her was anything but fair.

I guess worker-led revolts are catching. After a successful set of Black Friday protests at Walmart stores nationwide, New York City will see walkouts at dozens of fast-food restaurants today, part of a more explicit effort to unionize the sector with the slogan Fast Food Forward.

I briefly mentioned the implications of the Walmart supply chain, and how the insistence of keeping prices low has wide-ranging impacts across the globe. Apparently some of those impacts are completely tragic.

The historic Walmart worker strikes over the past couple months built energy toward an even bigger culmination. Walmart workers, protesting low wages, erratic hours, lack of health benefits, and most importantly disrespect in the workplace, decided to speak their grievances in a series of worker-led actions. Walmart responded with retaliation, including firings, reductions of hours, and intimidation in the workplace. One organizer and former worker was handcuffed in front of his colleagues when he returned to talk to them about upcoming actions.

As a result, the non-union coalition OUR Walmart protested with temporary strikes at 28 stores in 12 states. They inspired supply chain walkouts and strikes at warehouses, to protest similar grievances and retaliation. And this all leads to a major action at Walmart stores on Black Friday, typically the biggest retail sales day of the year. This will includes strikes, in-store actions, potential flash mobs, and solidarity demonstrations from sympathetic allies. Organizers have billed it as the largest one-day action against Walmart in history, much larger than the October strikes.

There’s only one thing: Black Friday is happening on Black Thursday night this year.

I welcome and endorse the AFL-CIO’s campaign to finally fulfill President Roosevelt’s 1944 call for a second, Economic Bill of Rights, including the rights to jobs, living wages, labor unions, voting rights, health care, education, and retirement security. As the Green Party candidate for President, my Green New Deal platform already has specific proposals to secure these rights. – Jill Stein

Wal-Mart is under fire after guest workers at a seafood supplier of theirs in the Gulf Coast went on strike, alleging slave labor conditions and 24-hour work shifts.

The latest poll from Ohio is that SB5, the anti-labor law that stripped worker rights passed by Ohio Republican Governor Kasich and the GOP legislature, will be repealed by voter initiative tomorrow. The poll shows a solid 59 percent opposed to the law and only 36 percent in favor of keeping it, despite tons of corporate and conservative money and ads.

You could make an argument that this is a great time for the labor movement, energized by the battle in Wisconsin and ready to re-establish themselves in the American consciousness as part of what builds and protects the middle class. And to an extent that’s true. But the wave of labor protests sweeping the country are the direct result of rear-guard, defensive actions where right-wing politicians are attacking and assaulting the rights of the worker. And they won’t all end in victories for labor.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. A documentary on HBO tonight will remember the event, where 146 garment workers died in a fire at their factory. The managers of the factory had locked the doors to the exits, a typical tactic to force long workdays in a time before laws outlawing the practice. The Triangle Fire led directly to worker safety laws and the growth of the ILGWU garment worker’s union.