Labor & Employment Law

Lincoln Attacks Arkansas Working Families; Families Don?t Blanche

Posted on March 17, 2010
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) who this week launched a television ad slamming working families as “outside interests” is continuing her descent into “yet another hypocritical, flip-flopping D.C., politician,” says Arkansas AFL-CIO President Alan Hughes...

Senate Passes Jobs Bill, Obama Signature Next

Posted on March 17, 2010
The Senate today passed a jobs bill that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls “good start” in helping the nation’s workers climb out of the 11-million-deep jobs hole dug by the Wall Street greed that propelled the economy’s nosedive...

JP Morgan Chase Greed Brings ?Guilty? Verdict

Posted on March 17, 2010
       JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was found guilty yesterday of conspiracy to wreck the economy, destroy jobs and the immoral use of taxpayer bank bailout money for millions in Wall Street bonuses. The courtroom was on a Madison Wis...

Reconstructionist Rabbis Resolve to Reaffirm Workers? Rights

Posted on March 17, 2010
Ross Hyman, a research analyst for the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research, sends us info on this latest support for the Employee Free Choice Act. ?Wool workers and dyers have the right to say: ?We will all be partners in any business that comes to the city...

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9/11 Health Bill Clears Another Hurdle

Posted on March 17, 2010
      The nearly 60,000 rescue and recovery workers and community members whose health is at serious risk from their exposure to the contaminated and toxic rubble at the 2001 Ground Zero World Trade Center attacks are a step closer to receiving long-term medical care...

JPMorgan Chase Greed Brings ?Guilty? Verdict

Posted on March 17, 2010
       JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was found guilty yesterday of conspiracy to wreck the economy, destroy jobs and the immoral use of taxpayer bank bailout money for millions in Wall Street bonuses. The courtroom was on a Madison Wis., street in front a JPMorgan Chase bank branch and the jury included dozens of union and community activists...

Bigger Enforcement Hammer Saves Workers? Lives

Posted on March 16, 2010
When a worker is killed on the job because of an employer’s serious and willful violation of the nation’s job safety laws, the median penalty the employer faces isn’t time in jail–it’s a mere $3,675. It’s time to put some real teeth and a bigger enforcement hammer into the Occupational Safety and Health Act, (OSH Act), witnesses told a House hearing today...

China Currency Bill: ?Major Step? Forward

Posted on March 16, 2010
Bipartisan legislation to address "egregious and ongoing" currency manipulation by China and other nations is a major step in the fight for good jobs and fair trade, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2010 was introduced today by Democrat Sens...

Building Green Cars Could Create 150,000 Jobs

Posted on March 16, 2010
      Congress has the power to put thousands of Americans in some of the hardest-hit industries back to work and help protect the environment at the same time, according to a new report. New vehicle technology and the right policy choices, including incentives for higher fuel efficiency vehicles, could create up to 150,000 jobs for U...

Gaining a Formal Voice for the Informal Sector

Posted on March 16, 2010
In this cross-post from Border Jumpers, Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg send us another report from their journey through Zimbabwe. It’s hard to believe that more than 90 percent of the workforce in Zimbabwe are part of the informal sector...

Seattle Activists Demand Big Banks Pay Fair Share

Posted on March 16, 2010
      Nearly 100 union and community activists rallied outside a JP Morgan Chase bank branch in downtown Seattle yesterday demanding the state legislature make “Big Banks pay their fair share” by closing a $67 million tax loophole for out-of-state banks...

Unions Urge Jobs Focus in Trans-Pacific Trade Talks

Posted on March 16, 2010
Jeffrey Vogt, AFL-CIO legislative specialist on the global economy, reports on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. Trade representatives of the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are meeting in Melbourne, Australia, to begin negotiations for a proposed regional trade agreement?the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement...

Join Us and Make Wall Street Pay

Posted on March 15, 2010
Starting today, the union movement and our allies are taking our fight for good jobs now to the biggest Wall Street banks whose reckless greed has gone a long way to wreck the U.S. economy and kill American jobs. From March 15-26, working people will hold rallies and demonstrations at branches of the Big Six Wall Street banks?Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Wachovia-Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley?across the country...

Workers? Stories Put Face on Victims of Wall Street Greed

Posted on March 15, 2010
One worker says she lost four jobs during the past seven years. Another saw his unemployment insurance (UI) benefits evaporate due to Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-Ky.) callous filibuster of an UI extension last month. Those are just two of the personal stories jobless workers and others have shared at the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now site...

UAW Reaches Tentative Agreement on NUMMI Closing

Posted on March 15, 2010
The UAW today announced it has reached a tentative agreement on the planned closing of Toyota’s New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, Calif. The agreement covers some 4,500 members of UAW Local 2244. The tentative agreement will be presented to members of the local in the coming days...

Momentum Building for Action on China Currency Manipulation

Posted on March 15, 2010
The momentum is building for the United States to take strong action to counteract manipulation of its currency by China’s government. More than 130 members of Congress signed on to a letter from Reps. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) delivered today that urges Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to take strong action up to and including countervailing duties (CVD) or tariffs because of currency manipulation...

IBEW Institute Graduates First ?Green Technicians? Class

Posted on March 15, 2010
To ensure union members are well trained to compete for the new opportunities in solar, wind and other renewable energy projects, the Electrical Workers has woven green training into its apprenticeship program. Last week, the first 14 certified “green technicians” graduated from the Electrical Training Institute electrical apprenticeship program in Indianapolis...

Proposed Settlement Not Nearly Enough for 9/11 Heroes

Posted on March 15, 2010
A proposed settlement has been reached of the more than 10,000 lawsuits by the rescue and recovery workers suffering serious illnesses from the toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos and other debris they were exposed to at Ground Zero of the Sept...

GOP Stacks Debt Panel with Foes of Retirement Security: The ?Sock Our Seniors Six?

Posted on March 15, 2010
Alliance for Retired Americans President Barbara Easterling points out here that the Republican appointees to the debt commission have long voting records opposing retirement security. Current and future retirees, alarmed by the extremist Republican members of Congress named to the newly created bipartisan commission to lower the federal budget deficit, have a name for this group: “Sock Our Seniors Six...

3,000 Steelworkers at Vale Inco Vote to Stay on Strike?and More Bargaining News

Posted on March 15, 2010
Some 3,000 United Steelworkers members at Vale Inco vote to stay on the picket line after eight months on strike, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers...

Bosses in the Bedroom

Posted on March 14, 2010
This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO POV section. Privacy is dead. Get over it. So says Scott McNealy, former president Sun Microsystems. He’s right. Workplace privacy is dead and buried. Employers can and do read e-mail, eavesdrop on telephone calls, monitor Internet access, and watch workers with hidden cameras (even in bathrooms and locker rooms)...

Time to Take Tough Action Against China Currency Manipulation

Posted on March 13, 2010
The manipulation of its currency by China’s government is the major problem facing American manufacturing. It’s past time the U.S. government muster the will to take strong action, even imposing emergency tariffs, to level the playing field, several experts, including economist Paul Krugman and United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard, said yesterday...

AFGE?s TSO Election Petition Moving Quickly

Posted on March 12, 2010
      Even though the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has not been confirmed, AFGE is moving ahead quickly with its plans, seeking an election so transportation security officers (TSOs) can join a union. On Feb. 22, AFGE filed a petition with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) for an election to allow the 41,000 TSOs to vote on union representation...

Wage Gap Between Women and Men Bad, Women of Color Suffer Most

Posted on March 12, 2010
Click image to view the enlarged version. The pay gap between female and male workers in this country got a hearing in a Senate committee yesterday. But you wouldn’t even know the hearing happened: The issue apparently doesn’t rank up there with the antics of drunk superstars or foolish golfers to get attention by the corporate media...

In Zimbabwe, the Voice of the Worker

Posted on March 12, 2010
In this cross-post from Border Jumpers, Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg send us another report from their journey through Zimbabwe. Imagine being one of only five opposition voices in a country of 13 million people, where all radio, print and television is strictly controlled by the government...

?I Am Not Your ATM?

Posted on March 12, 2010
Working people have plenty to be angry with Wall Street about. A $700 billion bailout. Toxic assets and loan guarantees to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. A financial crisis and credit crunch. Billions of dollars in six- and seven-figure bonuses to the Wall Street executives who got us into this mess...

U.S. Income Equality May Equal Mexico?s by 2043

Posted on March 12, 2010
Two reports out this week offer a telling glimpse into the direction of the nation. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of at least $1 million jumped 16 percent last year after dipping sharply during the financial crisis, according to a new report...

Health Insurance Premiums Soar as New Polls Show Americans Want Reform

Posted on March 11, 2010
Recent polls show a majority of Americans want Congress to pass comprehensive health care reform now. And for good reason: There's more news out this week about the enormous increases in health insurance premiums, according to a new report...

More Jobs but Workers Spend More Time Jobless

Posted on March 11, 2010
Here are a few items worth noting today. * Kudos to union members in West Virginia who successfully pushed the state’s legislature to adopt a resolution creating Labor History week following Labor Day. Just last month, Wisconsin union activists succeeded in their years-long effort to get the state legislature to make labor history part of the state’s public education standards...

We Remain United: In Zimbabwe?s Labor Movement, a Voice for Human Rights and Democracy

Posted on March 11, 2010
Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg describe their visit with Wellington Chibebe, the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). In Harare, on the way to our meeting with Wellington Chibebe, the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), even our driver was excited for us...

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