Working Life

Ah, the Beast…in trouble again. Steven Greenhouse reports today in The New York Times (registration required) on a novel legal twist to trying to hold Wal-Mart accountable. Here are the first two paragraphs: “A labor rights group filed a class-action lawsuit yesterday against Wal-Mart Stores in which apparel workers in Bangladesh, China and other countries […]

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In case you thought I was all wet (and that does happen), as I predicted Monday (and this was not, frankly, a bit lift), UNITE HERE did vote to leave the AFL-CIO yesterday (I was, really, just way too tired to lift another finger on to my computer yesterday to report..). There was a lot […]

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I heard from a source on Capitol Hill that House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is pretty livid with the CAFTA 15 after they were feted by leading business associations. Apparently, she was not aware of the fundraiser until the last minute, though Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was in […]

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This was my prediction, or maybe it was hope: once everyone started to calm down about the psychology of “the split,” adult behavior would start to come to the surface. Here we have at least one example: The Teamsters and Communications Workers of America have reached a deal to jointly represent workers when the merger […]

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UNITE HERE will officially announce it is pulling out of the AFL-CIO on Wednesday. Yesterday, I spoke with a senior UNITE HERE official who confirmed that a press statement will be released following an official vote of the union’s full executive board on Tuesday. The first step will come today when the Executive Committee convenes […]

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It seems like the Chazer caucus has backed off its attempt to repeal the estate tax–at least for now. But, I thought this chart from my friends at the Economic Policy Institute would make it crystal clear why it is complete nonsense to believe that the estate tax hurts poor farmers or folks like you […]

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Some of you may have seen this but it’s worth repeating: Republican Rep. Richard Baker of Louisiana said this, according to The Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire”: “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it, but God did.”

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So, yes, the president, responding to a request from a group of Republicans, did move quickly to undercut workers’ wages in Louisiana and Mississippi, and for good measure in areas in Alabama and Florida (beats me how he slipped in those last two states). He invoked emergency powers yesterday to suspend the Davis Bacon Act—effectively […]

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Cowards. Or so it seems. The CAFTA 15 appear to have either slipped in the back door or ended up as no-shows at last night’s fundraiser in their honor put on by the business community. Me thinks that the attention put on the fundraiser here and other places made these spineless folks take a powder. […]

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These people never stop. I mean, the Republicans–it isn’t enough that people in New Orleans and Mississippi have been devastated by Katrina, losing homes, family and friends. Now, these low-lifes in Congress want to take away a chance for workers to make a decent living, particularly in the reconstruction efforts that will be fed by […]

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