Working Life

With White House Counsel Harriet Miers about to be nominated in a few minutes, according to news wire reports, to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, here is a story from today’s Wall Street Journal that is worth reading. The news media’s focus on abortion and other social issues usually leaves out the critical labor issues the […]

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Here’s a little item on a sleepy Sunday (I’m celebrating the Yankees’ clinching the division yesterday…). It’s a press release so that’s why it’s a rah-rah tone. TUKWILA – Leaders of the Public School Employees of Washington today (Oct. 1) voted unanimously to recommend affiliation with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to form the […]

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Well, it was on my list to see and I’m a Jodie Foster fan but “Flightplan” is now off my list. Apparently, the thriller does not portray flight attendants in a very nice light so, as you may have heard, the three major flight attendants’ unions have called for a boycott of the film. Here’s […]

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One of our commenters suggested I open up a thread on diversity. Okay, let’s do it. I’ve reprinted the speech given by Edgar Romney, who is now the Change To Win secretary-treasurer–the first African American to hold such a post in a U.S. labor federation (he’s also a vice president of UNITE HERE). In addition, […]

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Just a short heads-up: for those of you in the NYC area, I’m going to participate in a discussion tomorrow on the future of labor. Here are the details–and check it out, a free light breakfast! If I can, I’ll try to keep notes, while thinking of things to say, and post later in the […]

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Got an early morning meeting but saw this in today’s Wall Street Journal. More bad news for workers at Northwest. Here’s part of the article: Northwest Seeks More ConcessionsBy SUSAN CAREYStaff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNALSeptember 29, 2005 Less than two weeks after filing for bankruptcy-court protection, Northwest Airlines warned three unions that it […]

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Before I head off to the airport to return back home (where I can now chew my fingernails over the last few games of the regular season…), a few wrap-up thoughts. A number of people have been critical of CTW (and, I guess, me, too) for the lack of specifics coming out of the convention. […]

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Here’s what is boils down to: the lives of Mirna Blanco, Flora Aguliar, Irma Deshommes, Martina Casey and Amanda Figueroa. Each of these SEIU workers has been locked in battles with employers. Mirna and Flora are janitors in Houston (see left here standing–Mirna on the left and Flora on the right–with their SEIU organizer). Mirna […]

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So, we’re back after a very mediocre boxed lunch….again, this will be a rolling, updated report. At the break, there were two press briefings. In the press room. Bruce Raynor and John Wilhelm (left) answered questions from about 20 workers. One point that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention: on immigration, they both underscored their […]

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I’ll probably just run this post as a flowing update as things come up…Understand, my friends, this convention has no internal controversy. So, I’ll just give you the straight poop from here. Anna Burger is about to open the convention—and as Tom Edsall of the Washington Post points out, it’s her 55th birthday today. As […]

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