Sep
2012 19
2012 19
Health Contributions, Contract Length, Rehiring of Displaced Workers Among the Many CTU Victories in Chicago School Standoff
The seven-and-change days long strike by the Chicago Teachers Union has ended with the CTU deciding to return to work after a majority of their 26,000 members supported a contract offer last night. The compromise agreement will be finalized in the upcoming weeks and will include a 7% increase in base salary over the next ...
Sep
2012 18
2012 18
Congressional Research Service: “Tax cuts for the rich don’t spur growth.”
The Congressional Research Service, the non-partisan research office for Congress, has released a report stating what progressives have been saying for years: “Tax cuts for the rich don’t spur growth.” The analysis of top tax rates (since 1945) shows that not only do top earner tax cuts have zero positive effect on economic...
Sep
2012 18
2012 18
The Implications of Wisconsin’s Act 10 Being Ruled Unconstitutional
Last week, Wisconsin Judge Juan Colas struck down sections of Governor Scott Walker’s signature legislation, known as Act 10, which restricts the power of workers and unions in the state. Passage of Act 10 lead to the Wisconsin uprising of 2011. The decision reopens the topic for debate just weeks before the election and will ...
Sep
2012 18
2012 18
Building Trades, City of Atlanta Launch Trade-Up Program to Bring Women, Minorities Into Construction
New, creative solutions to the complex problems facing the American economy are needed in droves right now. In Georgia, the construction trades face more than the obvious current unemployment situation, they also sport a next generation that has been largely unable to apprentice due to ongoing lack of opportunity. As the skilled labor force ages, ...
Sep
2012 14
2012 14
Michelle Bachmann’s House Seat Appears to Be Up for Grabs
A new poll shows that former Republican Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann is in danger of losing her congressional seat to hotel executive Jim Graves, a sign that the GOP may not necessarily retain control of the House. The poll shows Bachmann leading Graves 48% to 46%. Her short-lived but highly memorable Presidential run may have ...
Sep
2012 14
2012 14
SURF’S UP, WAGE DOWN: Newport Beach is Latest SoCal City to Avert the Prevailing Wage
City officials in Newport Beach, California are proposing prevailing wage exemptions for construction companies bidding on city projects. Newport Beach’s move to become a charter city frees it from certain state requirements if voted upon by its governing body. A July California Supreme Court ruling found that “the wage levels of...
Sep
2012 14
2012 14
GRAND OLD MODEL LEGISLATION: Republican Study Committee, ALEC Look to Ramp Up Relations
After years of heavy flirting, a date at the conservative Heritage Foundation may be the place where the GOP and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) finally announce they are going steady. The Republican Study Committee, a caucus of 160 conservative lawmakers in the House of Representatives, is looking to engage in an official...
Sep
2012 13
2012 13
OP-ED: Gambling Expansion Creates “the Kinds of Jobs that Marylanders Need to Raise Their Families.”
With the fate of Maryland’s gambling expansion in the hands of We, The People via Question 7 on the November ballot, Rod Easter, President of the Baltimore Building and Construction Trades Council, has taken to the pages of the Baltimore Sun to correct a recent op-ed on the matter. The original piece, “A misleading pitch,” ...
Sep
2012 13
2012 13
Democrats Taking Legal Action to Prevent Iowa GOP From Purging Hispanics from Voter Rolls
UPDATE: An Iowa judge has upheld the right of Democrats to challenge Schultz As Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz prepares to go forward with his controversial voter purge just months before the November election, the state’s Democrats are outraged at a blatant misuse of federal funds to pay for it. While he was questioned ...
Sep
2012 13
2012 13
IN Building Trades’ “Indiana Plan” Succeeding at Bringning Women, Minorities Into Construction
The city of Gary, Indiana has an unemployment rate of 14.2 percent according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In response, the Indiana State Building Trades have created The Indiana Plan in hopes of helping some of the state’s unemployed into union apprenticeships to begin careers in construction. The Gary Post-Tribune recently did a story ...
Sep
2012 13
2012 13
Canadian Government Fires 1,500 Workers to Cut Costs, Then Hires Private Firm for $100M to Do the Work
THIS (NOT) JUST IN: The exact sort of anti-worker policy that has come to represent conservative economics in America is being practiced by conservatives in Canada as well. Under the guise of cost-cutting, the Canadian government recently issued notices to more than 1,500 workers that their services were no longer needed. But, according to the ...
Sep
2012 12
2012 12
CHART: High School Graduation Rates in “Right-to-Work” States Clearly Lower than States Where Unionism is Welcome
An interesting, though dated map is making its way around the web that shows graduation rates across the country versus state “Right-to-Work” status. The graphic likely resurfaced, despite showing information from 2002-2003, because of the Chicago Teachers Union strike and the ongoing assault on public education. Even though the...
