Aug
2016 18
2016 18
Contractor for Coast Guard, Navy Reluctant to Recognize Employees’ IUPAT District 11 Union Effort
J. Goodison employees held a rally at a Rhode Island shipyard last week. They were trying to get management to recognize their efforts to unionize. Currently there are over 30 employees who have signed union cards with International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District 11: 32 Goodison employees have signed union cards, said…
Aug
2016 16
2016 16
IBEW 461 Records 30,000 Work Hours on Wrigley Factory Expansion Without a Single Lost Time Incident
Wrigley’s just spent $50 million on a 145,000 square-foot Skittles factory expansion in Yorkville, IL. They hired members of the local building trades to complete the 1.5 year construction project, and the results were remarkable: IBEW Local 461’s workforce reached 30,000 hours without a lost time incident while working on two…
Aug
2016 12
2016 12
REPORT: $6.2B in Annual Government Aid Required to Support Poorly Paid Walmart Workers
Walmart does not pay its workers very well, but that’s not a reason to write a blog post at this point, is it? What about if they paid so poorly that it cost the United States twelve times what we spend on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration? Well, they do. According to a [&hellip…;
Aug
2016 5
2016 5
A “Culture of Fear” Has Contributed to Declining Union Membership
“Why are there no labor unions in America?” So begins a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post by author and American history professor Kimberly Phillips-Fein. Phillips-Fein, who teaches at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, is quick to point out that millions of Americans do still belong…
Aug
2016 5
2016 5
First Resort: Trump Hiring Foreign Temps on H-2b Visas Despite Available American Workers
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says he wants to bring jobs back home to America. Apparently the billionaire businessman also wants to give those jobs away to temporary guest workers. Trump is currently looking to staff two of his Florida properties — the Mar-A-Largo resort in Palm Springs and the Trump National Jupiter…
Jul
2016 15
2016 15
Cuomo Boosts NY’s Statewide Pre-Apprenticeship Program Investment to $50M for the Year
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s valiant crusade against unemployment continues with a $30 million investment in statewide pre-apprenticeship construction job programs. The Urban Youth Jobs Program uses a tax-credit incentive system to connect minority and at-risk youth with job opportunities. Cuomo’s announcement brings total…
Jun
2016 2
2016 2
Man Loses Both Legs at War, Runs Marathon 9 Months Later, Begins Union Apprenticeship
The Huffington Post recently featured the amazing story of 26-year-old Matias Ferreira, who lost both of his legs five years ago in Afghanistan. He has miraculously settled into a successful civilian life with help from the Helmets to Hardhats program. The man who went from not being able to walk to being able to [&hellip…;
May
2016 24
2016 24
BLS: Foreign-Born Workers Make Up 17% of U.S. Workforce, Largest Share in History
Newly released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that the percentage of foreign-born workers in the U.S. workforce is at a two-decade high. In 2015 there were 26.3 million foreign-born persons in the U.S. labor force, comprising 16.7 percent of the total. The figure is the highest since the BLS began [&hellip…;
May
2016 19
2016 19
State AFL-CIO Awards $590,000 of Scholarship Money to Children of Union Members in MA
In a post titled “You Won’t Read About This!,” United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 12 business manager, Harry Bretty, highlights the 58th Annual Massachusetts AFL-CIO Scholarship Breakfast, at which almost $590,000 in scholarships were awarded to the children of union members. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO website…
May
2016 13
2016 13
STUDY: Prevailing Wage Repeals Would Raise Veteran Poverty 8%, Drop Veteran Wages by $3B
A new first-of-its-kind study has found that the economic outcomes of veterans would be profoundly affected if states with strong-to-moderate prevailing wage laws were to weaken their standards. The study was conducted by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute’s Frank Manzo IV; University of Illinois-Urbana Professor Robert Bruno;…
Apr
2016 29
2016 29
Bumgarner Strikes Out 9, Brings Helmets to Hardhats Donation Total to $19,000 Through 5 Starts
San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner struck out nine San Diego Padres in a winning effort this week, improving his record to 2-2. What’s more, the big night boosted the profile of his charitable partnership with Carhartt. Bumgarner is donating $500 to the Helmets to Hardhats (H2H) program for every strikeout he has this…
Apr
2016 25
2016 25
New Goldman Sachs Report Asserts that Alleged “Labor Shortage” Does Not Exist in Construction
A recent CNBC Reality Check column cast doubt on the widespread yet false theory that there is currently a “labor shortage” in the construction industry. As workers advocates have argued in recent years, simple economics disprove the presence “labor shortage” theory. A 2014 paper from economist Dale Berman of Michigan State…