Working Life

I wrote this for Huffington Post but thought it might generate some thoughtful discussion here. The previous post looked at the close relationship between corporate lobbyists and the Democratic Party–and how those lobbyists are stepping up their cash contributions to Dems in anticipation of a switch in control of one or both house of Congress.

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Yesterday I had been musing about whether the 26th Congressional District race might be a race to watch. Democrat Jack Davis is running against Republican incumbent Tom Reynolds; Davis is making trade a huge issue in the race in an area that has been devasted by NAFTA and so-called “free trade.” And, sure enough, a […]

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Sounds like a start of a piece about Paris Hilton, huh? Nah. Several hundred people went to jail yesterday in Los Angeles for blocking a main street near the airport as part of a protest in support of unionizing Hilton and Westin hotels. Which brings up the tactic of civil disobedience. It says something when–if […]

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This Congressional race isn’t in the top-tier of competitive races–it doesn’t even rank in the top 50 races to watch at The Hotline–but it will be interesting to see what happens in the 26th CD in New York. Democrat Jack Davis is running against Republican incumbent Tom Reynolds, who also happens to be the national […]

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This came across my desk and is worth noting: a group of janitors is fasting literally on the freeway on-ramp of a strip mall in an all-white, wealthy suburb outside of Boston. It’s a five-day, water-only fast to protest alleged sexual misconduct and other charges at Burlington, Mass.-based Gutierrez Co. Here’s what the union sent […]

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Friends, I’m going to take a short break–just a few days–to catch up on some sleep and just turn the brain off. So, going to be off-line until Wednesday morning. See you then…But, keep discussing any issue you want right here as an open thread: What’s on your mind?: THE ECONOMY? WAGES? UNION STUFF? THE […]

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It’s not an avalanche but nice job on the part of CWA–the union negotiated the return of about 2,000 jobs that AT&T had outsourced: AT&T is bringing back 2,000 outsourced jobs Sanford Nowlin Express-News Business Writer In a move hailed as a union victory, San Antonio-based AT&T Inc. has agreed to return 2,000 outsourced jobs, […]

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The combination of two stories today in The New York Times reinforces what has been clear: the occupation continues to descend into more chaos. My first thought in reading the articles was: If only The Times hadn’t acted, as much of the MSM did, as a cheerleader for the war, would we be in this […]

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The trade deficit grew last quarter. Again. Not good. From The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. reported that the deficit in its current account, the broadest measure of trade, widened further in the second quarter — underscoring concerns about economic imbalances voiced by global finance ministers this past weekend. Finance officials have long warned that […]

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The figure are pretty well-known by now: 48 million Americans don’t have health care and millions more pay outrageous prices for inadequate care. This is all about greed and profit–take those two factors away and, presto, you get national health care. The Wall Street Journal today exposes one aspect of the blood-suckers who are ripping […]

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