Working Life

I couldn’t tell whether to laugh or cry or cheer at today’s front-page story in The Wall Street Journal, entitled “Globalization’s Gains Comes With A Price” followed by the subtitle, “While Poor Benefit, Inequality Feeds A Backlash Overseas.” You want to cheer because the WSJ’s editorial page regularly leads the clarion call for so-called “free […]

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    I’m not the first to say it–but it bears repeating. Why are the Democrats caving on the Iraq funding resolution and backing away from demanding a timeline for withdrawal? Some Dems have some courage, as an article from today’s The Hill shows: Liberal Democrats who reluctantly have backed House leaders on the Iraq spending […]

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This immigration bill is a mish-mash: a mess created by trying to appease the wing-nuts in the country, not to mention the business community. I admit that as a son of two immigrants, it gets me particularly hot that we’ve got a bunch of people in the country who want to make the lives of […]

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Now, here’s an interesting story: L.A. gang members go union A rising number of gangbangers are moving into well-paid futures as members of the region’s building trade unions. By Sam Quinones, Times Staff Writer Shortly after his release from prison four years ago, Julio Silva entered the apprenticeship program in the Ironworkers Union Local 433 […]

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    As most people have heard, there is a Senate deal on immigration, cut between a bi-partisan liberal/conservative group that includes Ted Kennedy and Jon Kyl, among others. Personally, I detest the “Build the wall” portion and the requirement that for people to become citizens, they first have to leave the country and return.     […]

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    I promise I won’t keep writing every day about the UAW–it might seem like favoritism–but, if you’re interested, there is a transcript of an on-line chat that UAW prez Ron Gettelfinger had with members.     One thing I found interesting was this little snippet: Ludington, Mich.: Gentlemen, as a Chrysler retiree and former chief […]

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The folks that are going to buy Chrysler–the private equity firm of Cerberus Capital Management–are working hard to reassure the UAW and rank-and-file workers that a bunch of workers are not heading for the unemployment line. I’m skeptical–mainly for the long haul. The Wall Street Journal has this today (subscription only):   Leaders of the […]

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Yesterday, I did a television interview about the buy-out of Chrysler by a private-equity firm. It was striking to me during that interview—and is reaffirmed if you read the MSM coverage of the story—how much the story is being framed entirely around the “sacrifices” that the rank-and-file workers will have to make to keep Chrysler […]

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I am glad Paul Krugman is a columnist for The New York Times. He is one of the great voices exposing the incompetence and dishonesty of the Bush Administration on all matters economic and chimes in usually quite well on foreign policy. But, he has one blind spot—-trade. His column today does a great disservice […]

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My email box runneth over with various statements from union leaders on the trade deal struck between the Administration and Charlie Rangel and some of his sidekicks in the Democratic leadership. Anna Burger, chair of the Change To Win federation, had this to say. Jim Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, weighed in. AFL-CIO President John […]

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