Working Life

   The AFL-CIO endorsed Barack Obama today…    Weren’t you holding your breathe in anticipaton? From the press release: Calling Sen. Barack Obama a champion for working families, the top leaders of AFL-CIO unions today voted without opposition to endorse him for president of the United States, thrusting the labor federation’s largest ever grassroots mobilization […]

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  Not to be holier than thou, I understand why its cool to drive a Prius–rented one recently on a trip and loved that gas mileage. Clean for the environment, easy on the wallet–what’s not to like? How about this: Your Prius is being made by workers who are being driven to the brink of […]

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   The collapse of the housing market–preciptated by a bunch of greedy people who drove a speculative market over a cliff–has opened up a gasping financial wound for the vast majority of people nearing retirement. Already devoid of any real, true pensions (meaning, defined benefit pensions that guarantee a specific amount of money that a […]

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   There was an interesting round-up of Wal-Mart’s legal troubles in Arkansas-based The Morning News: Wal-Mart has worked overtime to show its kinder, gentler side, but accusations of workplace misdeeds are surfacing in a slew of class-action lawsuits that continue to challenge the retailers new image. There are at least 80 class-action lawsuits in 41 […]

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   Never been to Atlantic City. Not that I don’t like the occasional trip to lose a little money (notice that I am honest and don’t pretend to win…overall). Just never made it to the place. Until Saturday. And for a much better reason than playing the tables (info on that at the end). Thousands […]

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  Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled against unions in an important case. In the decision, the Court made clear that it wants to encourage more tension in the workplace rather than promote workplaces that are harmonious and productive. It’s a case that should make even more clear what the stakes are come November.   The […]

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Yesterday, Sen. Obama made comments to a business reporter that leave the impression that he is already shifting his stated position on NAFTA and, by extension, so-called “free trade”. It is worth looking at as a sign where Sen. Obama really intends to lead us on trade if he wins the White House.   A […]

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   I meant the "breaking" as a snark, in case it wasn’t obvious. For everyone but the pro- so-called "free trade" crowd (economists, elites and too many Democrats), it’s been crystal-clear that the driving force behind trade is wages, not efficiency, a better product, lower prices for consumers and all the other nonsense you read. […]

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   There is a pretty interesting poll out today in The New York Times about our billionaire mayor. The teflon mayor is still pretty popular–something I’ve never understood. But, people are paying attention to one of his failings–choosing development over the lives of workers. I’ve been watching the fatalities and injuries pile up for a […]

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I almost broke my pledge of sanity not to blog on the weekends when I read Roger Lowenstein’s monumentally stupid article on trade in the Sunday Times Magazine. The piece was so moronic as to…well, let’s go to the text.   Lowenstein starts out by setting the terms of debate thus: According to Political Science […]

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