Labor & Employment Law

Trade You a Mohawk for That Peanut Butter

Posted on May 24, 2013
She said she?d get a Mohawk. She got a Mohawk.?I?m sporting a new ?do,?? says Alice Phillips, business manager for Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 483 of Tacoma, Wash. ?It feels?light. It?s different.?The shaved head and spiked hair came about because Phillips wanted her union local to double last year?s donation of union-made peanut butter as part of the Letter Carriers? (NALC's) National Food Drive...

Walker?s Greek Tragedy for Wisconsin

Posted on May 24, 2013
AFSCME President Lee Saunders finds some dangerous parallels between the crushing austerity measures that have ?left the Greek economy dangling on a ledge, threatening to prolong the recession and sending unemployment skyrocketing,? and Gov. Scott Walker?s (R) economic prescription for Wisconsin...

Homeowner Protests Continue at Law Firm

Posted on May 23, 2013
Homeowners supported by the Home Defenders League (HDL) and Occupy Our Homes participated in a third day of protest Wednesday, this time at the law firm Covington & Burling, which represents several major U.S. banks and is the former workplace of Attorney General Eric Holder, a key target of the week's protests...

Teachers, Students and Parents Fight Chicago School Closures

Posted on May 23, 2013
After the Chicago Board of Education approved a proposal from Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) to close 50 of the city's public schools, the Chicago Teachers Union vowed to take legal action to stop the closures and to challenge supporters of the mayor's plan with grassroots mobilization...

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Social Media Can Open Doors to Latino Workers

Posted on May 23, 2013
New technologies and social media are increasingly important and effective ways to communicate and they can open doors for the labor movement to build stronger relationships with the Latino community. But, says Elianne Ramos, there are several key points to keep in mind when using tech to reach Latino workers?the fastest growing ethnic group in the U...

Today: Tell Us How to Open More Doors to Latino Workers

Posted on May 22, 2013
Be sure to join Elianne Ramos today from 3-4 p.m. EDT for a live online discussion on how to build a stronger movement for working people with today?s chat spotlighting Latino workers.   Ramos, principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media, poses this question:

NLRB Nominees Head to Senate Floor....Filibuster Next?

Posted on May 22, 2013
The fight over President Obama?s five nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is headed to the U.S. Senate floor after the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee voted today to send the five to the full Senate. Now the question is, will Senate Republicans filibuster?

In the States Roundup for May 22

Posted on May 22, 2013
Here's a look at some of the key battles in the states over the past week.

From Housekeeper to City Council: Help Tell Carmen?s Story

Posted on May 22, 2013
Carmen Castillo is a UNITE HERE union steward, immigrant and 19-year veteran hotel housekeeper. In November 2011, the single mother of three from the Dominican Republic won election to the Providence, R.I., City Council. Since then filmmaker Margo Guernsey and her crew have been following Castillo at home, work, on the council and in the community...

Black Students Flock to STEM Fields, Yet Business Lobby Pushes for More Temporary Workers

Posted on May 22, 2013
Over the weekend, young people watched or read about President Obama speaking at Morehouse College and first lady Michelle Obama addressing the graduates of Bowie State University. Hopefully they were inspired by seeing so many young and gifted people finishing the course they chose to follow...

San Diego Labor Leader Wins State Assembly Race in a Landslide

Posted on May 22, 2013
Lorena Gonzalez, 41, secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, defeated rival Steve Castaneda on Tuesday in a special election to fill the vacant 80th Assembly District in California, the U-T San Diego reports.

Trumka: Senate Judiciary Committee Immigration Bill an 'Enormous Step' Toward Healing an Injustice

Posted on May 22, 2013
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following statement in response to the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration bill: Today brings to mind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?s wise and hopeful words, ?The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice...

New York Times Article Highlights Immigrant Workers and California Unions

Posted on May 21, 2013
While, according to official government statistics, union density declined last year, there were a handful of states that actually saw an increase in membership. California placed at the top of this list.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Testifies Before Congress About Offshore Tax Havens

Posted on May 21, 2013
Apple CEO Tim Cook is appearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations today to answer charges that his company has avoided paying billions of dollars in taxes through the use of overseas tax shelters and loopholes in the corporate tax code...

New Video Series: Unions Make the Middle Class

Posted on May 21, 2013
After 45 years of driving a cab in New York City, Beresford Simmons says the emergence of the National Taxi Workers Alliance in the past few years is helping his family and those of other drivers reach the middle class.Simmons? story is one of three illustrating that unions make the middle class strong, giving workers a voice in our economy, portrayed in a trio of new videos by the Center for American Progress Action Fund...

Hundreds Protest 'Too Big to Jail' at Department of Justice; 27 Arrested, Several Tased

Posted on May 21, 2013
Organizers from the Home Defenders League, Occupy Our Homes and allied organizations estimate that more than 500 people attended a rally at the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday, calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to begin arresting bankers accused of fraud and unscrupulous lending practices...

Union Plus Disaster Relief Grants Available for Union Tornado Survivors

Posted on May 21, 2013
Oklahoma City-area union members who were impacted by tornadoes and who participate in Union Plus programs may be eligible for financial assistance. Union Plus Disaster Relief Grants of $500 are available to help participants in the Union Plus Credit Card, Insurance or Mortgage programs who are facing financial hardship due to this devastating natural disaster...

U.S. Workers Protest International Labor Rights Abuses at Mondel?z

Posted on May 21, 2013
At today?s Mondel?z International's shareholder meeting, the IUF, the international union body representing food workers worldwide, and unions representing the company?s North American employees raised concerns about human rights abuses in the company?s overseas operations...

Texas Legislature Passes Major ?Buy American? Measure

Posted on May 21, 2013
Thanks to what Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller calls a ?historic, robust? bipartisan effort, the Texas Legislature approved on Monday a "Buy American" provision for water projects that establishes a preference for iron, steel and manufactured goods produced in the United States...

How You Can Help the Oklahoma Tornado Disaster Relief

Posted on May 21, 2013
UPDATE: The death toll from the Moore tornado has been revised downward and stands at 24 as of noon today. But officials say they expect it to increase as rescue workers search the wreckage.  While rescue operations continue in Moore, Okla., after one of the worst and deadliest tornadoes on record that has claimed more than 50 lives, with the toll expected to climb, relief efforts are being organized...

Minnesota Family Child Care Providers and Personal Care Attendants Win Collective Bargaining Rights

Posted on May 20, 2013
AFSCME Council 5 sends us this exciting update from Minnesota:After a debate that took nearly 10 hours over three legislative days, the Minnesota House of Representatives approved historic legislation Monday that extends collective bargaining rights to family child care providers and personal care attendants...

Apple Avoiding Billions and Billions of Dollars in Taxes

Posted on May 20, 2013
Apple (like many giant, multinational corporations) has been avoiding paying the taxes they owe to the country by setting up foreign ?subsidiaries? in tax-haven countries and moving jobs and profit centers out of the country. They have accumulated billions upon billions of dollars in these tax havens...

Make It a Union-Made Memorial Day Barbecue

Posted on May 20, 2013
Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to the summer holiday season. While the day honors those who have given their lives defending the nation?and Jimmy Gilbert, director of the AFL-CIO?s Union Veterans Council, will write more on that next Monday?the weekend also marks the start of grilling season...

Attack on NLRB Worst Since the 1930s

Posted on May 20, 2013
Wilma Liebman who served 14 years on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)?including chairwoman from 2009?2011?says, ?Appointments to the NLRB have been a political battleground for decades.? But, in a column today in Politico, she says the current attack on the NLRB is the most vicious since the board was created in the 1930s.

Hirono's Amendments to Immigration Bill Focus on Keeping Families Together

Posted on May 20, 2013
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) has offered a series of amendments to the commonsense immigration bill (S. 744), currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate, designed to fix what many see as flaws in the bill that weaken families. If approved, the amendments would make the bill more focused on keeping families intact, long an important principle in the U...

Ramos: Building Latino Membership Through New Technologies

Posted on May 20, 2013
Join Elianne Ramos on Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. EDT for the third in our series of live online discussions on how to build a stronger movement for working people. Ramos, principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media, poses this question:Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group in the U...

After 39 Years, Steelworker Hands Off Local?s Ledger

Posted on May 19, 2013
Jim ?Runt? Gregory served as the financial secretary of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 727 in Calvert City, Ky., during the tenure of eight presidents.?Presidents of the United States,? he said with a grin.

Changing One Woman's Life in Oklahoma in Only Eight Hours

Posted on May 18, 2013
Dorothy was a longtime activist with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Oklahoma State AFL-CIO. In the summer of 2012, she lost her only son and found that her home, which she bought for her retirement, was in serious need of repair. That's when her church, Journey Church, in Norman, Okla...

Hall of Fame Honors Three Women Labor Trailblazers

Posted on May 17, 2013
Three pioneering and historic women labor trailblazers were inducted into Labor?s International Hall of Fame Thursday night. The award ceremony honored Evelyn Dubrow, Viola Liuzzo and Anna ?Annie? Klobuchar Clemenc posthumously...

Here's What You Said: Building a Stronger Labor Movement for People of Color

Posted on May 17, 2013
In our second online discussion on how to build a stronger movement for working people, Dr. Steven Pitts, labor policy specialist at the University of California, Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, asked you: ?Union density is higher among black workers than it is for any other racial or ethnic group of workers...

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