Working Life

This is a must-read op-ed column in the Los Angeles Times (registration required). It’s by Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell from 2002 to 2005. Wilkerson has been all over the news recently after he described the White House cabal, led by Vice President Dick Cheney, […]

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I’ll bet this is a shock to you: Wal-Mart wants to cut its health care costs…but check out the story in today’s New York Times (registration required) to get the Beast of Bentonville’s rationale and strategy. Describing an internal company memo, the article gives a strong view of the real corporate mentality prevailing at Wal-Mart […]

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If you believed the media spin, well, it was just about time that those auto workers gave up their generous health care benefits provided by General Motors. What? The real issue that should have been thrust on to the front pages is: why don’t we have a universal health care system in this country? The […]

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You remember good ‘ole Melissa Bean? She’s one of our CAFTA 15–so-called Democrats who voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement. As a repayment for their votes, the CAFTA 15 have been getting a rush of corporate dollars–you may remember the fundraiser thrown for the CAFTA 15 by a whole raft of business interests. […]

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Let me start out by saying I don’t think John Sweeney or the top folks at the AFL-CIO are aware of this but it still is a bit disturbing. The Federation is doing business with a guy who is supporting efforts to destroy the labor movement in California… Here’s the story. I’ve written a few […]

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The New York Times features a piece on the front page of the today’s Week In Review entitled “Labor’s Lost: For Blacks, A Dream In Decline.” You might have a sense of the statistics that show that blacks are hurt even more by the unfair economic trends that run through the economy. But, this piece–surprising […]

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Good piece in today’s Los Angeles Times looking at who supports Prop 75, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-backed initiative that is trying to cripple the ability of unions to spend money on political activities. Guess what, it’s not the union workers themselves. Here is a snippet with the rest of the article available by registering: Union Members […]

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Things are not getting any better at Northwest. Just last week, it seemed like the union was caving in, deciding to let members vote on a company proposal which would only let 500 members of the 4,400 strikers go back to work. In my humble opinion, you can’t conclude anything good from a deal that […]

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Just around the corner is the premier of the film about Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. You can see a clip of it here and also register to either host a screening or go to a screening–and get your very own DVD.

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I’ve been pretty vocal about my distaste for the weak leadership exhibited by the Democratic Party–can you imagine if the Republicans were handed the kind of political environment the Dems have been handed? They would crush their opposition–but the Democratic Party just seems incapable of finding a voice… But, one of the people down there […]

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