labor unions

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Chamber of Commerce Plugs Cash Into Tight GOP Races

Fearing a big Senate majority for Dems, organization may spend up to $35M

(Newser) - The US Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobby, is throwing millions of dollars into an advertising campaign to prevent Democrats from winning a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate, the Wall Street Journal reports. The group could spend $35 million, twice what it set aside for all...

Bollywood Strike Over; Talent Prevails

(Newser) - The 2-day-old strike involving almost 150,000 Bollywood film workers has been settled, the BBC reports. Producers agreed to abide by an agreement that limits filming sessions to 12 hours and provides generous compensation and timely payment. "The strike is over and tomorrow we will resume work," the...

Sides Dig In Despite Boeing Strike Costs
Sides Dig In Despite Boeing Strike Costs
ANALYSIS

Sides Dig In Despite Boeing Strike Costs

Stoppage in week 4; price tag nears $1.3B for aircraft giant

(Newser) - Machinists employed by Boeing have been on strike for more than 3 weeks, with no end in sight; analysts say if the stoppage reaches a month, it could cost the aircraft maker $1.3 billion, the Seattle Times reports. The union sees its position as good, given Boeing’s huge...

Forget Arugula: Dems Should Hit GOP on Fiscal Crisis

But they should ignore the arugula and hammer on GOP moves that created this mess

(Newser) - Put aside the arugula and forget "priggish" counter-attacks on Sarah Palin, Thomas Frank advises Democrats. The way to win the culture war being waged by Republicans is to point out what GOP dominance over the last quarter century has done: removed fiscal safeguards and brought us "to the...

Calif. Guards Vow to Recall Governator

Salary cut to minimum wage sparked rage of powerful union

(Newser) - A union of angry California peace officers vowed today to recall Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Sacramento Bee reports. The guards have struggled with the Governator over pay and prison policies, and lost patience this summer when he cut salaries to minimum wage. “It's gone beyond professional,” union spokesman...

Obama Dials Back Campaigning to Watch Gustav

Supporters received Red Cross donation requests from campaign

(Newser) - Barack Obama curtailed his Labor Day speeches to unions in the Midwest today to keep the focus on the Gulf Coast, asking instead for silent prayer and donations to the Red Cross. Republicans, after scaling back the opening of this week's convention because of Hurricane Gustav, had criticized Obama for...

Inflation Hurts US Workers; Europeans Keep Pace

But higher Europe wages drive up prices

(Newser) - Workers in the US are falling behind inflation while their counterparts in the 15-nation Eurozone are keeping pace, in part because of more powerful unions, the Wall Street Journal reports. But rising wages may damage the European economies, as they deter companies from hiring and in turn boost inflation. When...

SEIU Local Paid Big Bucks to Relatives' Firm

Fast-rising union prez defends payments to wife's company

(Newser) - California's biggest union local has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on companies owned by its president's relatives, the Los Angeles Times reports. The SEIU local for low-wage caregivers, and a related charity, paid six figures to a video company run by the wife and mother-in-law of union President Tyrone...

Wal-Mart Tells Managers to Fear Democratic Win

The retailer warns employees of disastrous labor legislation if left wins

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is warning store managers and department supervisors nationwide that a Democratic victory in November would likely lead to passage of a federal law making unionization easier, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a series of mandatory meetings, the company says it's not telling hourly employees how to vote, which...

France Bids Adieu to 35-Hour Work Week

More hours piled on in boost to businesses

(Newser) - The French parliament has passed landmark legislation eliminating the 35-hour cap on the work week, Reuters reports. President Nicolas Sarkozy has long blamed the short week for France's economic struggles. Most employees work longer, but accumulate overtime pay or vacation days for the extra hours. Tens of thousands of French...

Mailman Wants to Wear a Kilt
 Mailman Wants to Wear a Kilt 

Mailman Wants to Wear a Kilt

Carrier advocates for the right to wear a MUG

(Newser) - Dean Peterson likes kilts. In fact, the 48-year-old Air Force vet and mail carrier owns 15 of them, and he's on a one-man crusade to persuade the USPS to allow carriers to wear kilts on the job, the Boston Globe reports. He’s contacted every postal union branch in the...

Actors Won't Strike&mdash;Yet
 Actors Won't Strike—Yet 

Actors Won't Strike—Yet

SAG: members can keep working, pending talks

(Newser) - The contract between the Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood studios expired early today—but SAG has decided to let members keep working for the time being, E! Online reports. The two sides are scheduled to reconvene tomorrow. The Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers made it what it called...

Labor Blasts Obama's Top Economist
Labor Blasts Obama's Top Economist

Labor Blasts Obama's Top Economist

Unions worry that candidate is tilting toward Wall Street

(Newser) - After locking up the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama moved quickly to bring Clinton supporters into his general election tent, including Robert Rubin, President Clinton's treasury secretary. Jason Furman, an economist closely associated with Rubin, was hired as economic policy director, and that's provoked the ire of labor unions, who see...

Spitzer Moves On to Dad's Real Estate Firm

Disgraced governor pitches vulture fund for distressed properties

(Newser) - Having laid low for two months after exiting in disgrace from the New York governorship, Eliot Spitzer is back in business. He’s recently been shopping a plan to start a vulture fund that would flip distressed real estate assets, the New York Sun reports. Spitzer gathered labor union officials...

Hollywood Strike Talk Might Be Just an Act
Hollywood Strike Talk Might Be Just an Act
ANALYSIS

Hollywood Strike Talk Might Be Just an Act

As June 30 deadline looms, insiders aren't sure actors will walk

(Newser) - Uncertainty still reigns in Hollywood as the largest actors union, the Screen Actors Guild, faces a pair of tough choices, Variety reports. SAG could try to sabotage a deal reached by the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and it will need to get its members to authorize...

US, UK Workers to Create First Trans-Atlantic Union

Steelworkers close to pact with huge guild in Britain

(Newser) - Workers from the US and UK are close to joining forces in what would be the first trans-Atlantic labor union, the Wall Street Journal reports. United Steelworkers is in talks with Britain’s Unite to create a 3-million-member group that would act as a single union in the US, Canada,...

Big Unions Cut Secret Deals With Employers

Confidential pacts speed organizing, but raise rights questions

(Newser) - Two of America's biggest unions have made secret deals with major employers that let the companies choose where workers can organize and how many of them can do so, the Wall Street Journal reports. The unions, SEIU and Unite Here, say the confidential agreements have gotten more workers into unions,...

Dockworkers Strike Against Iraq War

West Coast ports idle for May Day in run-up to union contract talks

(Newser) - In an action their union says is a protest against the war in Iraq, dockworkers from Washington to Southern California have taken May Day off, crippling West Coast port traffic, the Los Angeles Times reports. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, whose contract is up in 2 months, was ordered...

Colombia Fires Clinton Aide Over Remark
Colombia Fires Clinton Aide Over Remark
updated

Colombia Fires Clinton Aide Over Remark

Says apology for trade meeting showed 'lack of respect'

(Newser) - Colombia fired a Washington lobbying firm today after its CEO, a top Hillary Clinton strategist, apologized for meeting with the country's US envoy, Politico reports. Mark Penn called the trade meeting an “error in judgment” that “will not be repeated,” but the remark ruffled feathers in Colombia....

Strike Cripples German Airports
Strike Cripples German Airports

Strike Cripples German Airports

Scores of flights canceled; Berlin transport also shut

(Newser) - Thousands of German airport workers have walked off the job on the first day of a strike, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe's largest country. Frankfurt International Airport, a key European hub, was picketed by more than 2,000 employees from baggage handlers to check-in counter workers and...

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