Working Life

Every so often, usually over the weekend, “Flotsam and Jetsam” will be a place to knock off various items that have collected over time that didn’t warrant an individual post or got rolled over for more urgent matters. The Rich Are Really Like Us!!! At least so said a May 5th article in the Wall […]

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Damn. In case you haven’t heard, Miguel Contreras, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angles County Labor Federation, died suddenly last night of a heart attack. I never had the good fortune of working with Contreras but anyone who did spoke highly of him. There’s a fairly detailed obit of him in today’s Los Angeles Times. I […]

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My post on the aftermath of the cuts at the AFL used the phrase “Black Tuesday.” In response, I got a note from a friend who is a great leader in the civil rights movement. He writes: As a point of personal privilege, could I ask you the great favor of refraining from calling the […]

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It was a grim group that crowded into the President’s Room at 16th Street at 4 p.m. yesterday. Along with many people who participated via phone, the AFL-CIO staff vented their anger at John Sweeney and Bob Welsh, his executive assistant and chief of staff, for the brutal staff cuts announced Tuesday. Black Tuesday is […]

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Ouch, this is not good for John Sweeney. He’s managed to royally piss off Harold Schaitberger, president of the Fire Fighters union. In the April 29th letter that was just passed to me tonight, Schaitberger resigns as head of the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s Public Affairs Committee. He does so in a harsh, stinging letter to […]

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No, there’s no real connection between all those three headliners—just a confluence of stories in today’s newspapers. Steven Greenhouse has been a busy boy. He has two pieces in the New York Times today. His front-page Business section story looks at the debate over wages at Wal-Mart. I think the best nugget of information from […]

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Okay, folks, here’s what’s coming in. Bob Welch, Sweeney’s executive assistant, and Stewart Acuff, organizing director, have held conference calls with respective staff members (there was a major foul-up with the first call with Welch so he’s scheduling another one for 3:30 p.m.). Field Moblization will be merged with the Political Department into a new […]

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(ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT, ALERT: SEE UPDATES BELOW) It will not be a happy day at 16th Street and its satellite offices. I’ll be posting whatever information comes my way about the massive layoffs expected to be announced this morning. NOON UPDATE!!! Looks like, from first sketchy reports, that field staff are almost all […]

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As the fight over the Central American Free Trade Agreement heats up, I’ll have more to say. CAFTA is yet another in the so-called “free trade” agreements that basically write in law, “let’s screw workers for the sake of capital.” Okay, it’s a bit more sophisticated. Today’s Wall Street Journal, though, has some good news: […]

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Tomorrow, the word will come down on who will lose their jobs in the previously-reported cuts at 16th Street. All managers have been told to be in their offices nationwide and there’s a conference call scheduled tomorrow morning with Sweeney’s executive assistant, Bob Welch. One AFL-CIO staffer just sent me this missive from the Newspaper […]

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