Jun
2012 15
2012 15
IAM Local 776 Protest Affecting Lockheed Martin’s Bottom Line as F-35 Quotas May Not Be Met
A 52-day protest of Lockheed Martin by International Association of Machinists Local 776 workers is having an effect on the company according to reports that the industrial giant is unlikely to meet its yearly quotas. The company had promised to deliver 30 F-35 aircraft this year, a figure their partially temporary workforce apparently can’t...
Jun
2012 14
2012 14
Claim of Employer Calling for a Drug Test Before Aiding a Fallen Worker Results in $15M Lawsuit
A Texas cement company, Texas Industries, is under fire for allegedly ordering a drug test before calling an ambulance to tend to an injured worker. The man, 67 year old Benino Perez, had fallen several feet and later died from his injuries. A $15 million dollar lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the deceased ...
Jun
2012 14
2012 14
NO MORE TEARS: Johnson & Johnson the Latest to Leave ALEC
Johnson & Johnson has decided to end their relationship with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) following a pressure campaign from progressive groups. The New Jersey based company joins 17 others, including Coca-Cola, Kraft, Pepsi and Wal-Mart, who have left ALEC, the über-conservative, anti-labor think tank that writes and...
Jun
2012 13
2012 13
Canton, OH Union Pension Investment Creates Affordable, Energy-Efficient Housing and Good Jobs
In Canton, Ohio, a $14 million dollar rehabilitation of the Mayfield Manor Apartments, made possible by $10 million from the AFL-CIO’s Housing Investment Trust (HIT), is welcome news to both construction workers and area seniors. The project will create 100 union jobs and keep 144 units affordable to for at least two decades. From a ...
Jun
2012 13
2012 13
A Whopping 89% of Chicago Teachers Union Members Vote to Authorize a Strike in the Fall
In Chicago, the battle between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has come to a head with 89 percent of educators voting to authorize a strike in the Fall if contracts cannot be finalized over the Summer. Public polling suggests that Chicago citizens support the union, even if they do support Emanuel’s ...
Jun
2012 12
2012 12
“Have you ever organized a majority, even a plurality, of your co-workers to confront the boss in such a way that all of your jobs were put into jeopardy?”
The results of the Wisconsin Recall election have lead many left-leaning citizens to call for a more innovative and radicalized labor movement. And while many worker-supportive parties would give their left paycheck to see more labor-friendly results, writer Corey Robin makes a sobering request in his post, “A Challenge to the Left,”...
Jun
2012 12
2012 12
REVEALED: Maine’s Same-Day Voter Registration Ban Was Funded by Michigan Conservatives
Though the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) may be backing slightly off their Voter Suppression crusade due to corporate members jumping ship, states under Tea Party influence are continuing the effort with funding from unexpected sources. In Maine, a legislation was signed into law last year disallowing same-day voter registration....
Jun
2012 12
2012 12
Massive Wind Power Project Advancing in Massachusetts
Developers are lining up in Massachusetts to build a massive wind farm the size of Rhode Island that aims to produce 4,000 Megawatts of energy and power 1.7 million homes. The area, which the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has called ideal for such development, must now undergo an environmental assessment. The proposed development ...
Jun
2012 11
2012 11
Palermo’s Pizza Strike Press Conference Scheduled for Noon Today
The workers who make Palermo’s Frozen Pizzas in a plant next to Milwaukee’s Miller Park are striking after their attempts at progress were met with threats and replacement workers. Accidents that led to amputations and horrible injuries yielded mild OSHA fines but no signs of policy change so workers decided to take a stand against ...
Jun
2012 11
2012 11
Orlando VA Hospital Is the Site of $3 Million in Lost Wages, ABC Contractors In Over Their Heads
The mismanagement of a Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital currently being built near Orlando, Florida has left workers and contractors out to dry in the Sunshine State. What’s worse, many of these problems could have been avoided if the government-funded project had been built under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) or any kind of arrangement with...
Jun
2012 6
2012 6
Verizon Laying Off 1,700 Despite Record Profits. IBEW Members Affected.
Despite record profits and executives who have raked in $350 million in the past five years, Verizon has announced layoffs of more than 600 workers in New England and New Jersey. This is part of a plan to reduce its workforce by 1 percent or 1,700 people through buyouts and layoffs. Affected members of the ...
Jun
2012 6
2012 6
Emails Shows VA Governor Supported a Dulles PLA Until Extremists In His Party Objected
The second phase of the Dulles Metrorail expansion in Northern Virginia has become an unrelenting political game between the state’s Far Right GOP and worker representatives. The first phase of the project was built under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) but the Virginia GOP is now holding up the second phase, refusing to move forward ...
