Working Life

    I’m trying to keep election news t a minimum so we can focus on labor and workers’ issues that get less discussion but, let’s face it, people want to know and politics will dominate even more in 2008. So…though he didn’t get the national union’s endorsement, John Edwards did pretty well yesterday as nine  […]

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  Last week, I took part in a discussion on CNBC about the agreement reached between the UAW and Chrysler. The show’s producers wanted to focus on the question of whether the deal showed that the UAW’s power is in decline. The truth is that the Chrysler deal, and the previous pact reached between the […]

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The Wall Street Journal has an interview today with George Bush that gives great insight into the disinformation, lies and, charitably, cognitive dissonance that underpins the Administration’s economic policy. "We have lost sight of what it means to be a nation willing to be aggressive in the world, and spread freedom or deal with disease," […]

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    Though not surprising, here’s a report that puts some facts behind a grim picture: Low wages, inadequate benefits, and limited work supports leave one-in-five people (nearly 41 million) in working families struggling to make ends meet. According to a study released today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, and […]

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    So, as a short follow up to yesterday’s post on the decision by SEIU to be neutral at a national level and let its state-level organizations make up their own minds, here’s some intel on where at least one insider believes states might go. Some of this is probably obvious–and feel free to disagree […]

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  (This is the fourth installment of an occasional update on where the labor movement is ending up in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination)   At this point, this is really not a surprise: the Service Employees International Union has chosen not to endorse, at the national level, any one candidate, freeing up […]

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   Even though it looks like Costa Rican voters will narrowly ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement, I’m still sticking to my view that so-called "free trade" is in trouble—if the people continue to mobilize and demand a change from an economic policy that favors elites over the rest of us.   The media […]

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This is huge: Republican voters are now overwhelmingly opposed to so-called "free trade." Not surprising but really a potential goldmine for Democrats—if they have the foresight and courage to seize it. We are talking about a possible major realignment based on economic issues.   Let me talk first about the poll and, then, say something […]

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    A long-time reader alerted me to this yesterday (and asked: "why haven’t I written about this?" To which I said to him–and say to all–open up your own blog here and get cracking…I can’t do everything, you know, and there are a lot of smart and connected people out there who have something to […]

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    Is it just me or are we seeing more workers than usual end up on a slab in the morgue? Maybe it’s just that the media is starting to pay more attention to the carnage out there in the workplace–the deaths of too many miners may have created more awareness of workplace dangers. Yesterday, […]

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