Jun
2012 25
2012 25
Iceland Has Jailed Bankers. Why Can’t We?
The people of Iceland are currently doing what Americans can only dream of, dismantling a corrupt political system and arresting the bankers who caused the country’s financial collapse in 2008. They have rewritten their constitution so such abuses of power and trust will (hopefully) never be allowed again. The process of changing their...
Jun
2012 25
2012 25
MD GOV: Prosperity “Achieved by a Partnership with Unions, Not by Scapegoating Labor.”
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has an impressive record in terms of job growth which he recently attributed to his partnership with unions. The state’s AAA credit rating, along with its top 10 ranking in job growth and its spot atop the state median income list, have led him to be an early mention as a ...
Jun
2012 25
2012 25
DOUBLE POSITIVE: Pension Fund Portfolio Investments in Infrastructure
New research supports the idea that pension fund portfolio investments in infrastructure double as good investment and pro-American job creation tactic. At a time when capital is needed to rebuild our nation’s aging infrastructure, diverse sources such as pension funds could provide a win-win for both government and investor according to the...
Jun
2012 22
2012 22
Worcester, MA Signs Responsible Employer Ordinace, Ensures Apprenticeship on Public Works
Despite threats of legal action from non-union groups, the Worcester City Council has voted 9-1 to enact a new Responsible Employer Ordinance that will require contractors on municipal projects to maintain apprenticeship programs. The morning of the vote, the Utility Contractors Association of New England faxed letters to City Council members,...
Jun
2012 22
2012 22
New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge PLA Comes With Half a Billion Dollar Cost Savings
In case you haven’t heard, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently reached a huge deal with the New York Thruway Authority and the state’s Building Trades unions to build the Tappan Zee Bridge under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). The project, which will create 45,000 jobs, is one of the nation’s largest proposed infrastructure...
Jun
2012 22
2012 22
Milwaukee Building Trades Voice Support for AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Project in Wisconsin
The redevelopment of O’Donnell Park in Milwaukee, WI, including a possible high rise apartment complex overlooking Lake Michigan, has gained support from the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC). The complex is slated to be on the site of an underused downtown transit center and will be partially funded by the...
Jun
2012 22
2012 22
The Solutionless Citizens United States
In the Citizens United States of America, Mr. Smith will never be able to get to Washington again unless he decides to play crony to big money. The problems that face our reprivate (the opposite of a republic…) — polarizing verbal attacks, inability to accomplish simple legislative tasks, limitless advertising disinformation — share...
Jun
2012 19
2012 19
SICK: PA Rep. Aims to Make Cancer Patients the Poster Children for Prevailing Wage Reform
Pennsylvania’s already aggressive attack on the prevailing wage took a sharp turn for the worse this weekend with a memo from State Rep. Brad Roae that attempts to link prevailing wage reform to children of deceased military veterans and child cancer patients. From the memo: I will soon be introducing legislation that would exempt...
Jun
2012 19
2012 19
Teamsters’ Rolling Sympathy Strikes Worked for Mobile, Now They May Work for Evansville
Locked out sanitation workers in Evansville, Indiana, are witnessing solidarity actions from their Teamsters brothers and sisters who have been participating in “rolling sympathy strikes,” according to a new Josh Eidelson piece for Salon. The 79 locked out workers have refused to sign a new contract that would replace their pensions...
Jun
2012 19
2012 19
Canadian Government Looking to Repeal Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act
This week on…Sound Familiar!? Canadian labor officials are puzzled by their government’s attempts to repeal the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act which mandates that prevailing wages be paid on government funded projects. According to Larry Cann, assistant to the General President of the Canadian affiliate of the United Association:...
Jun
2012 19
2012 19
“If anything is on the decline in the U.S. it is not the importance of New Deal era unionism, it is the promise made by the New Deal itself.”
There is a fungus among us. It grows in the form of a narrative that says: “Unions were necessary in the past. They were needed to fight exploitation and improve conditions for workers. But those problems have gone away. Unions are no longer necessary.” This narrative is hurled upon the millions by Far Right members ...
Jun
2012 19
2012 19
Obama, Rep. Hinchey Have Sights on a PLA for West Point Construction
After securing the funding for new barracks to alleviate severe overcrowding at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) is now pressing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the project under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in order to ensure efficiency and lower costs. Forty percent of rooms ...
