Working Life

This story makes no sense to me. When the AFL-CIO announced the concept of Solidarity Charters, I thought it was a good idea once the kinks got worked out with the Change To Win federation. It was a strong step towards realizing that everyone needed to figure out how to work together, and that, frankly, […]

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We’ve been following the trail of the attack on the pension system on a regular basis here. Down there, inside the Beltway, there’s been a fight brewing of how to “reform” the pension system, with two competing bills duking it out: A House version and a Senate version. From where I sit, neither is great […]

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Check out today’s front-page story in the biz section of The New York Times on the Communications Workers of America’s success at organizing Cingular Wireless. The main reason for the success is obvious: Cingular has agreed to be neutral in organizing drives. Indeed, that’s even more obvious when you consider that of the 225,000 workers […]

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Here’s a stark contrast: think of the gap between a minimum wage worker and a guy like Jerald Fishman, chief executive of Analog Device who just picked up a payday worth $144.7 million (that’s not a typo). While the greed of a few executives is continuing unabated, here’s what’s happening to millions of minimum wage […]

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A couple of days, I posted about Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott’s blog. Well,if you’re really interested, you can read the complete thoughts of Lee (will Wal-Mart sell the paperback and movie?) from 2004, 2005 and 2006.

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This is a very distressing story out of Los Angeles: L.A. County Labor Chief May Quit in Funds ProbeBy Patrick McGreevy and Steve Hymon, Times Staff Writers Former Los Angeles City Councilman Martin Ludlow is considering stepping down as head of an influential and politically active labor group and is weighing a plea bargain with […]

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Let me check in on a few things to clean the plate here. On the deal made to allow chapters of the National Education Association (NEA) to affiliate directly with local AFL-CIO bodies even though the NEA as a whole remains outside of the AFL-CIO, sure, this is a harmless and potentially good thing. I […]

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Over the past few years, here and in other places, I’ve repeatedly argued that we are being fooled and mislead. Okay, that’s true in many arenas but today I’m referring to the mantra that we’ve heard from Republicans and Democrats alike that the solution to competing in the “global economy” is for people to get […]

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The Laborers International and the Operating Engineers announced that they were leaving the AFL-CIO’s Building Trades Department to form a new construction trades alliance called the National Construction Alliance. I had written that the Laborers were going to leave the AFL-CIO–but, at least, on the timing, I jumped the gun. But, Laborers president Terry O-Sullivan […]

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You may have noticed, for those of you who read the national press, that a new organization popped up called the “Center For Union Facts.” On the one hand, it’s actually quite a lame operation–and you have to chuckle at the stereotypes it tries to promote. And, you have to question any operation that features […]

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