Working Life

   I know we are shocked by this (via The Wall Street Journal–subscription): Overall, median total direct compensation for CEOs in the sample rose 3.0% during their latest fiscal year, as total shareholder return came in at 29%. Total direct compensation includes salary, bonuses and the awarded value of stock, options and other long-term incentives. […]

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   Today is a day to celebrate–no kidding. The so-called "free trade" deal with South Korea is dead in the water–at least for now. There are a whole host of reasons these deals stink from top to bottom. But, little attention is ever given to this reason: the phony promises made about enforcing labor and […]

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   I am so tired of listening to the transcribers of press conferences (people we used to call "journalists") speaking about the debt or deficit "crisis". They just regurgitate crazy, phony stuff–and the height of all this came yesterday with the release of the proposals by the co-chairmen of the Commission appointed by the president. […]

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   This will be interesting. The Democratic Party loves to come to the labor movement when it needs help or money. Harry Reid, for example, doesn’t win re-election without the help of the Culinary Workers i.e., UNITEHERE. And so: A union representing hotel workers has asked the Democratic National Committee to rule out two of […]

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War is peace. Lies are truth. And, now, Melissa Bean is like Elizabeth Warren. That is the instant thought I had when reading about the rumors that the White House might consider appointing Melissa Bean to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if she ends up on the short end of the vote count in […]

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   Interesting: In what labor officials and lawyers view as a ground-breaking case involving workers and social media, the National Labor Relations Board has accused a company of illegally firing an employee after she criticized her supervisor on her Facebook page. This is the first case in which the labor board has stepped in to […]

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   Look, I am not happy when wacky Republicans win. But, I am not feeling particularly sorry that Melissa Bean may lose her seat in Illinois: Vote counting is temporarily on hold for Illinois’ 8th Congressional District where Republican Joe Walsh has a razor-thin lead over Democratic Congresswoman Melissa Bean. The race has been too […]

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   The first act of surrender will be the opening up of the Treasury to the rich: President Barack Obama is open to considering the extension of all Bush-era tax cuts for a year or two, the White House confirmed Thursday, putting to a likely end any debate over whether to extend the breaks for […]

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Yesterday, I wrote about the disastrous state of labor in the wake of the elections. Suffering from either a lack of sleep or simple brain lock, I neglected to include one of the most dangerous coming debacles: we have lost much of the ground built opposing so-called "free trade" agreements, which have played a central […]

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There isn’t any other way of putting it: last night was a disaster for the labor movement and for its members and all working people. When the working class "hero" John Boehner choked up in recounting his humble roots, I said aloud, "will you remember that when you unleash Big Business to press its boot […]

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