Labor & Employment Law

Hoosiers, Stand Up!

Posted on February 28, 2011
       Breaking News: Actor and activist Danny Glover will join the rally today at the the Indiana State Capitol. Here’s the latest from the Indiana State AFL-CIO. Over the past week, events at the Indiana Statehouse have been moving at a mile a minute...

Mass Rally in Madison; Capitol Doors Finally Opened

Posted on February 28, 2011
 Working people staged a mass rally this evening in Madison, Wis., at the state capitol. The rally follows  a day of ugly actions by Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators. First, they had the state police locked the public out of the building?the people?s building?even bolting the windows shut and removing the tops so they could not be unscrewed...

Follow News from Wisconsin Capitol: No Arrests

Posted on February 27, 2011
We’re hearing the police are asking people to leave but not arresting anyone and, for now at least, the state house IS the people’s house.  There’s a rough but live feed from from a phone here.   Follow developments with the AFL-CIO on Twitter, where we’re retweeting on-the-ground news.

King?s Words Will Ring During Arrests at Wis. Capitol

Posted on February 27, 2011
Police are expected to begin arrests in less than a half hour at the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison, following Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) order to clear the building. A group including clergy have pledged to take arrest peacefully rather than leave...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

More from Saturday?s Nationwide Rallies

Posted on February 27, 2011
Hundreds in Nashville, San Diego and Charlottesville, W.V.; more than 3,000 in Trenton, N.J.; 3,500 in Olympia, Wash. That?s what democracy looked like yesterday from Maine to Hawaii, as America?s workers came together to protest attacks on good, middle-class jobs and collective bargaining rights by Republican governors and legislators in Wisconsin and other states...

Walker Orders Capitol Cleared

Posted on February 27, 2011
Continuing his unprecedented power grab, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ordered the state capitol to be cleared at 4 p.m. local time Sunday, closing the building to Wisconsinites protesting his plan to gut the right to bargain for good jobs. Now he’s violating their freedom of assembly, too...

Trumka: ?This Is Not About a Budget Crisis?

Posted on February 27, 2011
“No person should have to face the loss of their rights or the loss of their jobs,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today on NBC’s Meet the Press. His remarks came in response to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) threat to begin laying off public employees if he doesn’t get his way on a sham budget bill that would strip away collective bargaining rights...

Movement for Good Jobs and Rights Continues; Trumka, Walker on Meet the Press

Posted on February 27, 2011
With more than 100,00 working men and women at the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison yesterday, demanding their right to bargain collectively for middle-class jobs and lives, their action was echoed across the country with rallies in 50 states. And the fight continues...

Assaults on Public Employees Deal a Sharp Blow to Blacks

Posted on February 27, 2011
    Steven Pitts          Assaults on public employees? right to bargain for a better life hurt all working people. But blacks are being hit especially hard. Black unemployment was 15.7 percent in January, compared with a national rate of 9 percent...

More than 100,000 Rally in Wisconsin

Posted on February 26, 2011
This is a crosspost from the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. On a snowy Wisconsin Saturday over 100,000 union members, working families, community members, faith leaders, activist groups and concerned citizens gathered in Madison to tell Gov. Walker to stop the attacks on the middle class and kill the bill...

Follow Solidarity Rallies with Public Employees Here and Take Action

Posted on February 26, 2011
// Dozens?even hundreds?of rallies are taking place across the nation today as people show their solidarity with embattled public employees in Wisconsin, Ohio and all states where governors and legislatures are trying to slash the right to bargain for good middle-class jobs...

Watch: Live Streaming Now from the Capitol in Madison

Posted on February 26, 2011
Check out live webstreaming of the action from the capitol in Madison. Click here to watch. A band is playing “America the Beautiful” right now. You can also comment on the live feed. Here’s some of what people are saying: TessTyFy: NON Union workers support the UNIONS, whether teachers, firefighter, police or plummers… We know where our wage value came from ! kandrs: whats next after teachers and police and firefighters  this country will falter octormandible: agreed Tess!  I’m not in a union, but that doesn’t mean I don’t support them!you christophorrick: I donated $65 in pizza and tip, I can donate $64 to fix the budget

Solis: Govs. in Wis. and Ohio Want Workers to Give Up Their American Rights

Posted on February 26, 2011
The nation’s governors are meeting right now in Washington, D.C., for their annual conference. Well, not all of them. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is a no-show, preferring to make the rounds on the weekend television interview programs to explain away why he wants to take away the freedom of public employees to bargain for good middle-class jobs...

Report from Wisconsin: This is What Democracy Looks Like

Posted on February 26, 2011
This is a ground report from Wiscsonsin by Harvey J. Kaye, crossposted from New Deal 2.0. Kaye is the Rosenberg Professor of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the author of Thomas Paine and the Promise of America...

Tom Morello: Battle to Preserve Workers? Rights in Wisconsin a ?Watershed Moment?

Posted on February 26, 2011
Tom Morello was among top-name musicians who trekked to Wisconsin in recent days to perform for the thousands of citizens protesting Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to take away from public employees their freedom to bargain for good middle-class jobs...

4,000 in New Jersey Show Support for Wisconsin Public Employees

Posted on February 26, 2011
  This is a crosspost from the New Jersey State AFL-CIO.  The unity rally at the State House was a tremendous success, and you made it happen. Union members from across the state and nation, from all sectors of our labor movement, joined with our community partners and stood together ? over 4,000 strong ? to show solidarity for the Wisconsin workers...

NBA Union Backs Wisconsin Public Employees

Posted on February 25, 2011
The National Basketball Association’s Player’s Association (NBAPA) is backing Wisconsin public employees who are fighting for their right to bargain for good middle-class jobs. NBAPA Executive Director Billy Hunter denounced last night’s vote in the state assembly to take away collective bargainig rights...

Trumka to Join Washington Hospital Center Strikers

Posted on February 25, 2011
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will keynote a strike rally of registered nurses in front of Washington Hospital Center on March 4.   The hospital?s 1,650 registered nurses, members of National Nurses United (NNU), will hold a one-day strike that day to protest management?s refusal to address their concerns on safe patient care, management?s attempt to erode nursing standards, and management?s unfair labor practices...

More Than 270 Lawmakers Oppose Taking Away Public Employee Bargaining Rights

Posted on February 25, 2011
    Members of the Alliance for Retired Americans rallied this week in Nevada to support public employee bargaining rights.          Progressive States Network today released a letter signed by a bipartisan group of more than 270 state legislators representing 44 states voicing their solidarity with the Wisconsin state senators who oppose an extreme measure to take away the right of public employees to bargain for good middle-class jobs...

Solidarity Rallies Set in 50 States Tomorrow?Support Your Wisconsin Brothers and Sisters

Posted on February 25, 2011
  In 50 state capitols tomorrow, workers and activists from faith, civil rights and other communities will rally in solidarity for Wisconsin public service workers who are engaged in a historic struggle to keep their right to bargain for middle-class jobs...

Setting the Record Straight: Public Employees Make Less Than Private Sector

Posted on February 25, 2011
       The nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is setting the record straight and exposing the falsehoods behind  the extremist rhetoric about public employees from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his ilk. In a new report, CBPP looks at the facts about public employees and here?s what the data show: Public employees are paid 4 percent to 11 percent less than private-sector workers with similar education, job tenure and other characteristics...

Wisconsin Republican Vote Stunt ?Highly Unethical?

Posted on February 25, 2011
  Earlier today we reported that Republican Wisconsin state Assembly members pulled an unexpected trick play and quick-snapped a vote on Gov. Scott Walker?s (R) bill to eliminate the right of public employees to bargain for middle-class jobs. After the middle-of-the-night vote, the Republican legislators lit out of the chamber faster than a burglar with a German Shepherd on his tail...

Retirees Proud to Stand with Public Workers

Posted on February 25, 2011
  Barbara J. Easterling is president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. She was previously the secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America. For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org. In these difficult times, retirees across the country are proud to support public-sector workers...

AFT?s Weingarten Proposes New Teacher Evaluation Rules

Posted on February 25, 2011
AFT President Randi Weingarten yesterday proposed a new way to align teacher development and evaluation with due process for tenured teachers. The three-step plan includes clear standards for what teachers should know and be able to do, a time-limited improvement and a support plan for teachers deemed to be unsatisfactory, according to the evaluation standards and a hearing process...

UW-La Crosse Faculty Joins AFT in Midst of Walker?s Attacks

Posted on February 25, 2011
       In the midst of Gov. Scott Walker’s assault on public employees, faculty at  the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse voted 249-37 in favor of union representation through AFT-Wisconsin, an affiliate of AFT. The vote follows Walker’s move to slash the rights of public employees and take away the freedom of academic staff and faculty to collectively bargain for good middle-class jobs...

Across Wisconsin, Workers Rally for Rights, Middle-Class Jobs

Posted on February 25, 2011
    Workers rally at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.         While Madison is ground zero in the fight against Gov. Scott Walker?s (R) drive to eliminate the right of public service workers like nurses, teachers and others to bargain for good jobs, workers in towns and cities across the state are making their voices heard too...

19 Latino Organizations Denounce Assaults on Public Employees

Posted on February 25, 2011
Nineteen Latino organizations, including the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), have come together to oppose the attacks on public servants. Governors or legislators in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Iowa and Florida are pushing extremist legislation that would take away the freedom of nurses, police, firefighters and other public employees to bargain for a middle-class life...

Wisconsin Police Set to Stage Sleep-In to Keep Capitol Open

Posted on February 25, 2011
       The leader of the police union in Wisconsin is calling for Gov. Scott Walker to keep the state Capitol open?and today announced plans for a sleepover to make sure that happens. State lawmakers approved a rule change two days ago that clears the way for limiting the public’s access to the state Capitol and ejecting people protesting Walker?s bill to take away public employees’ rights to bargain for good middle-class jobs...

The Battle for Unions in Wisconsin?How You Can Help

Posted on February 25, 2011
  This is a cross-post from Portside by Kathleen McElroy, UAW Local 1981 National Writers Union from Madison, Wis. Folks from outside Wisconsin are contacting me and asking how to help with the battle to save collective bargaining for public employees in Wisconsin...

With No ?SHAME,? Republicans Ram Walker?s Bill Through Assembly

Posted on February 25, 2011
  The Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Assembly early this morning unexpectedly cut off debate and quick-marched a vote on Gov. Scott Walker?s (R) bill to eliminate the right of public service workers to bargain for middle-class jobs The bill passed 51-17 with 28 lawmakers?all Democrats, three Republicans and an independent?abstaining in protest...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.