Mike Elk is an In These Times Staff Writer .A native of Pittsburgh and son of a union organizer, Mike Elk is currently based in Washington, D.C but spends a lot of his time on the road. Mike has visited with highway workers in West Virginia, grape pickers in Napa Valley, and aircraft workers in Wichita. Mike covered the Wisconsin Protests for Michael Moore, won a Sidney Award for coverage of the rise of prison labor in the U.S., and nearly got beat up by a scab in Metropolis, Illinois in 2011 while covering a lockout of Honeywell uranium workers. You can follow him on twitter @MikeElk or email him at mike@inthesetimes.com