Workers fear SEIU’s violent “shock and awe” tactics on Day One of union election (tags)
Workers fear SEIU’s violent “shock and awe” tactics on Day One of union election SEIU has been condemned by the AFL-CIO for using violence against other unions—SEIU Trustee with record of violence tells staff, "We gotta put them in the ground and bury them" Fresno, Calif.—Today is the first day of a highly contested union election for 10,000 homecare workers in Fresno County who are trying to leave the Washington, D.C.-based SEIU, a union that has been condemned by the AFL-CIO for using violence in inter-union conflicts. The stakes have never been higher for SEIU officials, who are desperately trying to stop a movement of nearly 100,000 healthcare workers in California who are organizing to quit SEIU and join the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).
The Fight Continues For The Employee Free Choice Act EFCA and The Truth! (tags)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today repeated his intent on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to block a Senate vote on the Employee Free Choice Act, despite his past support of the bill. The bill hasn’t changed—so why has Specter flipped?
Stewart Acuff, special assistant to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney touts EFCA (tags)
Employee Free Choice Act: Acuff told his Denver audience that he believes the legislation will come before Congress in seven to eight weeks and that he is hopeful Senate Democrats will be able to round up 60 votes.
Endorse: U.S. Trade Unionists Support S. African and Australian Dockers' Boycott of Israel (tags)
Join us in publicizing the example of South African and Australian dock workers, and working toward the same kind of labor solidarity here at home.
Employee Free Choice Act Now - Union Civil Rights Activists Vow to Keep King’s Dream Alive (tags)
by James Parks, Jan 19, 2009 Union civil rights activists this weekend celebrated the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., by commiting to hold the new administration and Congress accountable and carry on the work they did in the 2008 election to mobilize workers in support of a strong progressive agenda.
The Healthcare Union War (tags)
Tensions between the California Nurses Association and SEIU escalate at the Labor Notes conference.
The Purple Punch-Out in Dearborn (tags)
SEIU-Backed Hotel Invasion
Maryland forces Wal-Mart to pay for employee health care -- Will California be next? (tags)
The Maryland General Assembly became the first state legislature in the nation Thursday to approve legislation forcing Wal-Mart (WMT) to pay more for its employee health care, potentially paving the way for other states to follow suit.
Rebuild Louisiana rally demands jobs, housing (tags)
BATON ROUGE, La. — Sporting union, NAACP and ACORN T-shirts, more than 1,000 rallied here Oct. 29 for jobs, living wages, affordable housing and public services for south Louisiana. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and the Rev. Al Sharpton were joined by rank-and-file workers and community activists in calling for a rebuilding program that puts victims of Katrina and Rita first. Speakers also called on the federal government to supply grants, not loans, to local governments for basic services.
Labor and civil rights groups: We demand jobs, justice in Gulf (tags)
Oct. 29 rally in Baton Rouge to demand a ‘new direction’ for U.S. Gulf Coast union leaders hailed an action campaign launched by the AFL-CIO Sept. 30 to defend workers’ wages and rebuild their hurricane-torn states while turning the nation in a new direction that puts “people before profits.”
Black trade unionists urge labor unity (tags)
PHOENIX — “There are no more common allies than the broad community and organized labor, and there are no more natural allies than organized labor and the African American community,” Coalition of Black Trade Unionists President Bill Lucy told the estimated 1,500 delegates at the 34th annual CBTU convention here May 26.
Bush ‘means test’ would wreck Social Security (tags)
WASHINGTON — Defenders of Social Security charged this week that a “means test” on Social Security as proposed by President George W. Bush would inflict huge benefit cuts for 70 percent of recipients, clearing the way to destroy the system vital to Americans’ economic security.
New industrial union pushes working-class power (tags)
LAS VEGAS — It was the fire from below that powered up the merger convention of the USWA and PACE, held here April 11-14. Five thousand workers, their families and guests shared stories of battles on picket lines and in battleground state polling places. Many conversations started with, “Let me tell you what that son of a Bush did in Ohio …” or Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Indiana or Southern California.
L.A.'s Social Security Now- Update (tags)
Stop The Privatization Of Social Security!
Open Letter to President Bush from IAEFF (tags)
IAEFF wants Bush to extend freedom medal to AFL-CIO leaders
County Fed gears up for offensive (tags)
L.A. labor council holds historic congress building labor community unity for progressive issues. .
No jobs, endless war: ‘Bush has made a mess’ From labor to hip-hop, voters mobilize to def (tags)
CHICAGO — Eight thousand Pillowtex workers were thrown out of work a year ago when the textile giant shut its doors.
Unions slam war, call for Bush ouster (tags)
SAN FRANCISCO – Delegates to conventions of two of the nation’s largest unions last week cheered as their leaders blasted George W. Bush for lying to justify war on Iraq and for torture of Iraqi detainees. Both unions called for Bush’s ouster in the Nov. 2 election and urged a fight to end the Republican majority grip on the House and Senate.
Grocery Strikers’ Heroic Fight for Healthcare (tags)
In the end, workers who had fought so hard for five months were forced to accept a raw deal. They were unable to prevail against a bold united front of employers when their own leaders were not willing to organize an equally bold united front of labor.
Congress abandons millions of jobless (tags)
HAMDEN, Conn. – While the White House backed off empty job creation claims last week, machinists, teamsters, building trades, and municipal workers crowded into the Job Center here, angry at the failure of the Republican-controlled Congress to extend unemployment benefits at a time of high job loss.
Immigration plan ‘chains workers’ (tags)
The “more compassionate” immigration system for undocumented workers proposed by President George W. Bush on Jan. 7 will grant corporations greater ability to pit U.S. workers against the global work force for domestic jobs, say labor and immigrant rights leaders.
Message to Congress: Extend jobless benefits (tags)
WASHINGTON – The New Year was a time of revelry for the corporate rich as government reports confirmed a surge in profits and productivity in the final quarter of 2003. George W. Bush trumpeted the news as proof that his trillions in tax cuts for the wealthy has pulled the nation out of recession.
‘Shut down Safeway’s profits’ (tags)
Workers hold the line for health care LOS ANGELES – “Empty Safeway’s stores and cash drawers” by taking action to cut them off from the source of their money – consumers and communities, United Food and Commercial Workers President Doug Dority told a massive rally and march here Dec. 16.
Dec. 16th Mass March to support striking Grocery Workers (tags)
AFL-CIO Pres. Sweeney will Lead March of Thousands of Strikers March From Century City to Beverly Hills Slated Tuesday, December 16
Grocery strike impressions (tags)
Grocery strike shows So Calif has not moved to the right.
Labor and Patriot Acts I and II: (tags)
A case for political action President George W. Bush heads the most viciously anti-worker, anti-labor administration we have seen in a long time. He and his corporate backers are hell-bent on blocking any new advances for labor and on rolling back existing labor rights.
10,000 marchers back Yale strikers (tags)
New Haven police arrest 100 NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Downtown New Haven came to a standstill Sept. 13 as the nation’s labor movement turned out more than 10,000 union members from the Northeast and as far away as Nevada and Florida in support of striking university and hospital workers at Yale University.
NO TO BUSH - NO TO THE DEMOCRATS (tags)
the elections
D.C. rally targets 2004 elections: ‘Take back America’ (tags)
WASHINGTON – Wearing plastic top hats and chanting, “Who needs Medicare? I’m a millionaire!” over 1,000 mock-capitalists marched to Vice President Dick Cheney’s residence, June 6, to thank him for pushing through another trillion dollar tax cut for the rich while slashing Medicaid and education.
Jobless rate climbs to nine-year high (tags)
EAST CHICAGO, Ill. – Bruce Gaddy is single. Tony McIntosh is married and has two children. Both live in this working-class suburb, 25 miles south of downtown Chicago. And both are unemployed: Gaddy because his plant closed, McIntosh because he was “down-sized” after working 22 years for AT&T.
Bush policies blasted At Home (tags)
George W. Bush attempted to win backing for his agenda of tax cuts for the rich and war on Iraq in his Jan. 28 State of the Union Speech. But mayors, governors, members of Congress and leaders of mass organizations sharply rejected his policies.
AFL-CIO tells Bush and Congress: Get real on the economy (tags)
(see related story below) The AFL-CIO charged in a Jan. 27 report that, despite President Bush’s rosy claims, the economy is in worse shape than it was two years ago when measured by all the key indicators important to working families.
Working families say: We’ll fight Bush agenda (tags)
WASHINGTON – Despite setbacks in the Nov. 5 elections, the AFL-CIO, the National Organization for Women and other grassroots organizations vowed a determined fight to block the Bush administration from railroading its ultra-right agenda through Congress.
Win the elections for Wellstone! (tags)
MINNEAPOLIS – “Stand up, keep fighting,” the refrain from a Wellstone campaign song, rocked Williams Arena here Oct. 29 as more than 20,000 people packed a memorial service for Sen. Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, daughter Marcia and three campaign staff members and crew who died in a plane crash Oct. 25.
Thousands rally in capital against war and greed (tags)
WASHINGTON – For four days last week, the capital echoed with marching feet and chants of “corporate greed has got to go” and “No war for oil!”
Iowa labor maps Election 2002 fight (tags)
WATERLOO, Iowa – The 46th convention of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, opened here Aug. 14 with a blistering attack on the policies of the Bush administration. It ended two days later with a plan of action aimed at electing worker-friendly candidates to Congress and the Iowa legislature, with a special emphasis on re-electing Sen. Tom Harkin.
Main St. goes to Wall St. (tags)
NEW YORK – Workers chanting, “Who’s city? Our city!” rallied here outside the New York Stock Exchange with laid-off workers from WorldCom, Enron and Arthur Andersen to tell Corporate America, “No more business as usual!”
AFL-CIO to Wall Street: No more business as usual (tags)
Call for Bush-Cheney probe George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney faced sharp new questions about their role in Enron-style corporate fraud as the stock market continued to plummet and WorldCom went belly-up July 22, the largest corporate bankruptcy in history.
Bush covers for Wall Street thieves (tags)
WASHINGTON – Hammered with questions about his links to corporate crime, President George W. Bush hastily travelled to Wall Street July 9 and vowed to crack down on CEOs who enrich themselves through fraud while employees lose their jobs, pensions and health benefits.
Building Bridges Internet Radio present International Labor & the War (tags)
Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report in Exile presents a 57 min. internet Radio program on International Labor & the War in Afghanistan with participants from Pakistan, the U.K., the U.S. & South Africa. Building Bridges can be heard over the internet on WBAI In Exile on Tuesdays from 8-9PM at www.wbix.org
In what should be recognized as scandalous opportunism, the Bush Administration and the pro-free trade think tanks have been exploiting the political leverage they've gained in the wake of the S11 tragedies to try to win "Fast Track Trade Authority" for the pResident.
Labor Day Events in Los Angeles (tags)
Labor Day Events in Los Angeles. (See also pictures posted by Slobodan Dimitrov)
Hotel workers demand their rights in Santa Monica (tags)
At the posh Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, surrounded by a preposterous police presence in full riot gear, low-wage hotel workers rallied for their right to organize. Senator Paul Wellstone, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Rev. Jesse Jackson came out to represent.