Labor Roundup

Labor Roundup

News Guild planning moves vs. Wall Street Journal cuts. The News Guild local that represents Wall Street Journal workers is brainstorming over its response to management plans to cut jobs at the business daily. Citing declining ad revenue, WSJ/Dow Jones…

AFL-CIO adds opposition to xenophobia to campaign issues. Racist xenophobia isn’t exactly a workplace issue, but the country’s top labor federation has added it to campaign issues this election. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre (himself a political refugee, at…

Labor Roundup

Clinton repeats anti-TPP stand, pledges to appoint trade prosecutor to pursue violators. Adding another specific to her economic platform, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Aug. 11 told a crowd in Warren, Mich., that she would appoint a “chief trade…

Labor Roundup

Two lawmakers seek to exempt minor-leaguers from minimum wage, overtime law. Peoria Chiefs and other minor-league baseball players would be excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act guaranteeing a federal minimum wage and overtime pay under a measure introduced in…

Labor Roundup

Illinois Fire Fighters back bill to end frivolous lawsuits. The Illinois Association of Fire Fighters is backing legislation to end frivolous lawsuits against first responders. SB1070 would restore the state’s “public-duty” rule – letting first responders prioritize resources without fear…

Labor Roundup

CLUW urges local unions to mentor for women in the workplace. Mentoring is a recognized tool for career and union development, particularly for women, and “mentoring circles” – a group of peers (6–10 people) led by a facilitator – offer…

Labor Roundup

Low-paid workers stage another mass 1-day walkout April 14. Low-paid workers, fast-food workers, retail workers, adjunct professors, health-care workers and others from coast to coast staged another one-day walkout on April 14, again demanding “$15 and a union.” The protests…

Labor Roundup

Labor criticizes President Obama’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year for keeping the “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health insurance plans. The Cadillac tax is a 40-percent levy on health plans provided by employers to workers if the value is…

Labor Roundup

Journalists blast Supreme Court. In Chicago, journalists are reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision to let stand a lower court ruling letting police sue news media for disclosing officers’ physical descriptions, and the international president of the News Guild-CWA argues…

Labor Roundup

The year has had some labor victories. There were several big wins for the labor movement in 2015: the UAW (representing 142,000 workers) ratifying contracts at General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler; Fueling Agents at Phoenix’ Airport unionizing with the…