Articles: Kentucky Nurses’ Long Struggle for Justice Takes Step Forward
Region: KentuckyPosted by Mike Hall to AFL-CIO NOW Registered nurses (RNs) at Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville, Ky., may be a step closer to a long awaited fair election for a voice at work after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a 13-point complaint against the hospital. The nurses are fighting to win a union voice with the Nurses Professional Organization, California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (NPO, CNA/NNOC). According to the Louisville Courier-Jou... more
Views: 1268Minnesota Bridge Collapsed 1 Year Ago. Bush, Pawlenty Stall on Action
Region: United States
by Mike Hall, Aug 1, 2008 One year ago today, the I-35W bridge spanning the Mississippi River at Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people. The bridge’s deadly failure brought calls for immediate inspection and repairs of bridges around the country and focused the public’s attention on the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. But a year later, hardly any of the talk has become action. In fact, President Bush says he will veto legislation (H.R. 3999) passed by the U.S. House ... more
Views: 511Union Members Demand an End to Bush-McCain Policies
Region: United States
by Seth Michaels, Aug 1, 2008 With fewer than a hundred days to go before the election, union members are taking action around the country, including Ohio and New Hampshire, to demand those running for public office provide real solutions to address the economy, health care and more. Around Ohio, union members and members of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, focused on health care and taxes as they confronted Sen. John McCain and President Bush, who were both visiting the ... more
Views: 786Obama Speaks with Union Members: ‘We Can Turn Around America’
Region: United States
by Seth Michaels, Jul 31, 2008 Sen. Barack Obama took part in a nationwide conference call with union members this afternoon, and he’s ready to work with the union movement to win this fall and turn around America. More than 2,500 union leaders, activists and members across the country got a chance to hear Obama talk about the challenges facing the country, and the values and principles that inspire his campaign. Everywhere I go I hear the same story. Wages are fall... more
Views: 433Big Oil’s Big Profits Padding the Pockets of McCain Campaign
Region: United States
by Tula Connell, Jul 31, 2008 Once again, Exxon Mobil made U.S. corporate profit history, pulling in $11.68 billion in second quarter income, the highest quarterly profit rate of any U.S. company in history. It must be gratifying for Sen. John McCain to know that his sudden flip-flop to support Big Oil’s long-held dream of offshore drilling is tapping into some of the deepest pockets on the planet. Because right after he reversed his long-standing opposition to oil drilli... more
Views: 467L.A. City Council Joins Car Washers’ Fight For Justice
Region: United Statesby James Parks, Jul 31, 2008 The campaign by car wash employees for fair wages and decent work in the Los Angeles area gained a major boost yesterday when the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution strongly endorsing efforts of car wash workers to secure just wages, safe working conditions and the freedom to organize a union. In recent months, the mostly immigrant car wash workers throughout Los Angeles have formed the Carwash Workers Organizing Committee (CWOC) of the Un... more
Views: 422House Hearing: Income Inequality Threatens Middle Class, Our Democracy
Region: United Statesby James Parks, Jul 31, 2008 By almost all measures, economic inequality is growing. But strengthening workers’ ability to join unions can play a key role in shrinking the gap and rebuilding the nation’s middle class, experts told a House panel today. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, opened the hearing on “The Growing Income Gap in America,” saying “inequality between the top income earners and... more
Views: 4707 Years After 9/11, First Responders Still Lack Medical Treatment
Region: United States
by Mike Hall, Jul 31, 2008 Medical and health and safety experts today urged Congress to approve new legislation to establish a permanent monitoring, research and health care program for the responders and people who lived and worked near Ground Zero who were exposed to the same mix of pulverized glass and concrete, asbestos, lead and burning jet fuel. Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO health and safety director, told the House Subcommittee on Health: The exposures were made much worse by EPA&rsqu... more
Views: 417Smith Rumors a Sign of McCain’s Anti-Worker Policies
Region: United States
by Seth Michaels, Jul 31, 2008 The biggest parlor game among journalists and politicos this summer has been guessing who the presidential candidates will pick as their running mates. Fred Smith emerged as one possible running mate, a selection floated by Sen. John McCain’s campaign that reveals McCain’s disturbing disregard for workers. Marc Ambinder, a political journalist, reported that McCain campaign sources have been dropping Smith’s name for a potential role... more
Views: 359Book Talk: All Workers Want Respect, Freedom to Do Their Jobs
Region: United Statesby James Parks, Jul 31, 2008 There was a time when workers who did good work on the job and were loyal to their employers were rewarded with a lifetime job, decent wage, health care and a secure retirement. Not anymore. Today, the social contract between employers and workers is so broken, Gen Y no longer expects to have those kinds of jobs, says author David Kusnet. A visiting fellow at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and former chief speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, Kusnet ... more
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