Working Life

   The Service Employees International Union will not endorse any candidate in the Democratic primaries–at least until next week. This announcement came just a few minutes ago via  a conference call with SEIU president Andy Stern and Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.   How did SEIU get to this place? After hearing on Monday from candidates who […]

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    This is a good day to check in on the lay of the land regarding where unions are going in the Democratic presidential primaries. Today, two important unions are hearing from the Democratic presidential candidates: The Service Employees International Union and the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA).     For SEIU, here’s the […]

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    A colleague sent me this note from AFL-CIO staff director Bob Welch: President Sweeney informed the AFL-CIO Executive Council yesterday that Linda Chavez-Thompson had notified him that she intended to step down as Executive Vice President of the Federation effective next Friday, September 21st —  for personal and family reasons. President Sweeney also advised […]

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Three weeks ago, I took a look at where unions might end up in the Democratic presidential primary race. There has been a fair amount of movement so it’s a good time to check back and see where we are—with some general analysis. Here, and down the line, I’m generally going to focus on national […]

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The most interesting responses during last night’s presidential "debate" were those on trade, specifically, those answers to Keith Olbermann’s question about whether NAFTA should be scraped or fixed. I admit that I have an abnormal interest in the topic but, to me, it is the defining issue for the future for workers here and abroad. […]

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Today is a significant day for the Democratic presidential race: the unions of the AFL-CIO will be freed up to endorse candidates. But, I suspect that a number of unions may hold back, at least until after Labor Day. Here are a few guesses, some based on information and some wildly speculative and pulled out […]

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If only we could organize workers here at this rate: China’s government-sanctioned trade union has strengthened its foothold in McDonald’s Corp., a move that illustrates the increasing involvement by the All-China Federation of Trade Union in the work forces of multinational companies doing business in China. About 80% of the McDonald’s work force in China […]

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    Okay, no surprise, the Employee Free Choice Act is dead. I’ve gotten no fewer than a dozen e-mails from various politicians and organizations, including the AFL-CIO and Change To win, hailing the Senate vote because a majority–51 senators–voted to let the bill proceed i.e., to cut off the filibuster. Here’s what John Sweeney had […]

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    The immigration bill is headed back to the Senate floor today. It is unclear whether there will be enough votes–60 are needed–to allow the bill to proceed. And, even some of the Senators who say that they will vote to allow the bill to proceed–i.e., they will vote to cut off any filibuster–are saying […]

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My email box runneth over with various statements from union leaders on the trade deal struck between the Administration and Charlie Rangel and some of his sidekicks in the Democratic leadership. Anna Burger, chair of the Change To Win federation, had this to say. Jim Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, weighed in. AFL-CIO President John […]

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