UPDATED: RI workers found their factory doors locked, now demand justice
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Workers who were locked out of their jobs at a local factory two months ago are demanding, “Pay us what you owe us.”
California could lose billions for jobless, if lawmakers don't act quickly, labor warns
Simple changes in state legislation can bring billions in federal funds to bolster unemployment benefits, the California Labor Federation says. But speedy action is vital, with unemployment at 10.1 percent in California, and benefits for tens of thousands slated to run out in mid-April.
Taking Employee Free Choice Act to the streets, media
CLEVELAND — Dozens of activists committed to workplace fairness and economic recovery gathered here March 7 for a three-hour speakers training session to promote the Employee Free Choice Act.
Jobs report worst since Great Depression
The United States is now facing levels of joblessness comparable to those of the Great Depression.
UPDATE Citigroup, AIG, on taxpayer dole, lead charge vs. worker rights
WASHINGTON — Organized labor hit the ground running March 10, bringing hundreds of workers to the capital to visit their senators and representatives to urge passage of the Employee Free Choice Act on the day it was introduced.
Bread and roses 2009: Women need a union
March 8 International Women's Day was born of the struggles of women in the textile mills in our country at the turn of the last century. They fought and died for better wages and working conditions, an end to child labor, and the right to vote.
Vigil held to protest murder of undocumented worker
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A poster-sized photograph with flowers and votive candles formed a sidewalk altar in front of the Sacramento County Main Jail Feb. 26, as more than 40 activists held a press conference and protest-memorial for 22-year-old Evaristo Ramirez Ventura, an undocumented worker murdered Feb. 17 in a jail holding cell.
COMMENTARY: The Big Lie about employee free choice just keeps getting bigger and bigger
Human Events, the right-wing magazine that Anne Coulter describes as the place where she really feels at home, sent out alerts all over the Internet March 6 claiming that Vice President Joe Biden was meeting “in secret” with leaders of the AFL-CIO in Miami during their recent executive council meeting there. The alleged topic of these “secret” meetings was how they were going to “ram through” the “Card Check Forced Unionism Bill.”
Memo to Obamas auto task force: build mass transit
DETROIT — As the situation for autoworkers and all American workers continues to decline, stopping the hemorrhaging loss of jobs is clearly a top priority. So here’s a suggestion for President Obama’s auto task force: include the building and funding of mass transit in your plans.
AFL-CIO endorses talks aimed at labor unity
MIAMI — “Now is the time to bring the union movement back together,” the AFL-CIO declared in a March 4 statement authorizing discussions aimed at re-uniting its unions with those of the rival Change to Win federation. The Council voted to authorize discussions about re-unification that have already begun.
