Tag Archives: labor

The New York Daily News reports that a group opposing NYC’s pending bill to mandate paid sick leave has donated $370,000 to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s mayoral campaign. The business leaders were among the 180 people who penned an open letter to Quinn last summer arguing that mandating paid sick leave would be prohibitively costly for small businesses. They …

Via Breitbart: A group of pro-union, progressive protesters leveled a large tent with people inside during Tuesday’s demonstrations outside the Michigan Capitol building in Lansing against right to work legislation. The protesters shouted “scab” and “Walmart tent” as they advanced. The tent, one of many at the demonstration, had been put up by the pro-right to work group Americans For …

The Michigan legislature is expected to vote today to make that state the 24th to endorse a so-called “right to work” law which will make it illegal to require union membership as a condition of employment.  Yesterday President Obama denounced the bill. The House session has started and the Capitol has been closed because it has reached capacity. Insp. Gene …

Despite some claims that the storm-related closure of federal offices would cause its delay, the highly-anticipated final pre-election jobs report was issued on schedule today. One analyst calls the report “solid.” In the final monthly jobs report before Election Day, the government today said the U.S. unemployment rate for October ticked up to 7.9 percent. The Labor Department’s Bureau of …

The 34th annual International Mister Leather convention is taking place this weekend in Chicago, where attendees at the host hotel could potentially face a picket line over a long-running union labor dispute. The Hyatt Regency Chicago, site of the recent competitions, has been at the center of a bitter a contract fight with workers represented by the union UNITE HERE …

As you doubtlessly know by now, Occupy Wall Street protesters are staging May Day strikes across the nation today. But all eyes are on NYC. Labor groups, immigration advocates, Occupy Wall Street protesters and other activists are planning marches and other events in Manhattan with the aim of bringing daily business to a standstill on International Workers Day, or May …

Today’s planned 4:30pm march from City Hall to Wall Street is expected to be the largest show of numbers in the three week old Occupy Wall Street protest. Unions, community groups, college students and the unemployed – calling themselves “the 99%” who are getting the shaft from the richest 1%, which controls 40% of America’s wealth – are joining in. …

So is anybody laboring today?

RNC chair Priebus is thrilled that the Koch Brothers got their way in the special election to recall Wisconsin’s anti-union legislators. The teabaggers won’t be happy until every labor union in the nation is dismantled.

Newly issued Department of Labor regulations have added gender identity to the class of employment protections. Via press release: The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its full commitment to implementing equal employment opportunity policies for all department employees and applicants. The policies ensure equal protections for all employees and applicants regardless of race; color; religion; national origin; sex, including …

As he prepared to introduce Sarah Palin over the boos of Wisconsin’s pro-union protesters, wingnut blogger and GOProud backer Andrew Breitbart told labor supporters, “Go to hell!” Because “class warfare” (which, hello, is what the Tea Party stands for) is “un-American.” Raw Story has a much better clip (non-embeddable) taken from the rear of the crowd.

Manhattan’s infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred one hundred years ago this week, spawning the modern American labor movement. HBO’s documentary on the tragedy and the resultant labor reforms airs tonight at 9PM.

The above chart depicts the number of paid holidays and vacation days legally mandated by the world’s 21 richest nations. The labor movement is completely out of control in America!

The teabaggers are going crazy with glee because actual open socialists joined in at this weekend’s “One Nation Working Together” labor rally in Washington, DC.

Open lesbian Mary Kay Henry has been chosen to lead the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents over two million workers in the health care, public service, and food service industries. Henry will replace retiring president Andy Stern, a longtime and vocal ally of the Democrats. Key locals in New York, Los Angeles, Oregon, and Washington State committed crucial …

The terrible economy has resulted in huge rise in the number of unpaid internships offered by employers. The Department of Labor says many of these jobs are illegal and has begun a campaign to enforce the regulations that define these positions. “If you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going …

A coalition of more than 50 labor unions representing over two million workers has filed an amicus brief with the state of California calling for the overturn of Proposition 8. In their amicus brief, the unions argue that Proposition 8 would amend discrimination into the state constitution and divide Californians into “suspect classifications.” “It really does establish the potential for …