Working Life

   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 […]

Read the full story

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 […]

Read the full story

    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 […]

Read the full story

    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, […]

Read the full story

    Yesterday, I mentioned the protests in Costa Rica over the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). From our friends at the Citizens Trade Campaign comes a reminder that there is a so-called "free trade" deal pending with Peru. They ask you to take action to stop the deal and here are the main reasons […]

Read the full story

Yesterday, in Costa Rica, 100,000 people marched to protest the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). You thought that was a done deal, huh? Well, not as far as Costa Ricans are concerned, as a Reuters report tell us: More than 100,000 Costa Ricans, some dressed as skeletons, protested a U.S. trade pact on Sunday […]

Read the full story

    While the government in Myanmar is shooting down monks and shutting down the Internet connections to the country, world wide action has begun to protest the violence. You can sign a petition at Avaaz.org. Also, below is a letter from Andy Stern to the Chinese ambassador–there is some thought that the Chinese have some […]

Read the full story

    Stacy Mitchell’s eye-opening book, Big-Box Swindle, has just been released in paperback.  It’s a book that you’all should read and maybe give as an early holiday gift  to your city council and state legislators so they can have the ammunition to shoot down big-box tax advantages and pass new policies that foster equitable and […]

Read the full story

    Some random things. A number of people kept asking me, "so, what is a VEBA beyond the basic name?" Here’s an excerpt from today’s Wall Street Journal–interesting note that VEBAs are not that rare at large companies: A. VEBAs are similar to pension funds. They have assets intended to pay for retiree health care, […]

Read the full story

    I’m not surprised that the strike against GM was a relatively short one. We’ll see what the details are as they emerge over the next few days. Obviously, the key was the establishment of the Voluntary Employee Benefit Association, or VEBA. Here’s what The Wall Street Journal has to say this morning: Mr. Gettelfinger […]

Read the full story