labor unions

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Actors Union, Hollywood Studios Make Tentative Deal

(Newser) - Nearly 10 months after their previous contract expired, the Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood’s major film and TV studios have a tentative agreement for a 2-year deal, the Los Angeles Times reports. Few details of the deal, which must be ratified by the union’s 120,000 members, were...

Labor Rivals Unite to Push Immigration Reform

Yes on legalization, no on guest-workers, say AFL-CIO, Change to Win

(Newser) - America’s two labor umbrella groups may be archrivals, but on immigration reform, they’ve agreed to put up a common front, which could be a big boon to White House hopes, reports the New York Times. The AFL-CIO and Change to Win have agreed to push for the legalization...

Specter's Choice Saves Obama Labor Headache
Specter's Choice Saves Obama Labor Headache
ANALYSIS

Specter's Choice Saves Obama Labor Headache

GOP senator's threat to kill bill means Dems won't have to pick sides

(Newser) - Republican Sen. Arlen Specter’s choice to oppose a bill to ease unionization will let President Obama and congressional Democrats avoid a tough choice between labor and business interests, Politico notes. Obama had promised to sign the Employee Free Choice Act, but would have infuriated businesses whose support he needs....

Specter's Shift May Doom Bill on Union Organizing

It's a major blow to EFCA hopes

(Newser) - Sen. Arlen Specter said today he won't support the Employee Free Choice Act, delivering a serious setback to the much-watched labor initiative, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bill would allow unions to organize more easily, using card signatures instead of secret ballots. The Republican's support of the measure was...

GOP Launches Offensive on Pro-Union Bill

Big business is paying big bucks to lobby against 'card check' bill

(Newser) - Republican lobbyists are swarming Capitol Hill this week, launching the battle over the pro-union Employee Free Choice Act—a fight one Chamber of Commerce exec describes as "Armageddon." Legions of GOP operatives are being enlisted to spend tens of millions of dollars offered by large corporations like Wal-Mart,...

Leno Scabbed on Own Show During Writers Strike: Union

Guild could expel late-night host

(Newser) - The Writers Guild of America claims Jay Leno broke union rules when he hit the air with his own material during the 2007-08 strike, the Los Angeles Times reports. Leno denies wrongdoing. The accusation against the host, who was publicly supportive of striking writers, was kept mum until he appeared...

Germans Exalt Grocery Clerk Sacked Over $2

She's become a symbol of recession-time class struggles

(Newser) - A grocery clerk fired from her job of 31 years after allegedly stealing $1.66 has turned into a recession-time hero in Germany. While financial fat cats walk away with billions despite triggering a worldwide economic crisis, the sacking of a 50-year-old mother seems unfair, her supporters tell Der Spiegel....

Back-Room Consensus: Require Health Insurance for All

Kennedy leads meetings with industry

(Newser) - A series of unprecedented back-room meetings among the biggest players in health care is close to a consensus: Any new legislation will require that every American have insurance, the New York Times reports. The next part, of course, is trickier: figuring out how to enforce it, how to make it...

Detroit Bailout Proposals: Disappointing, Incomplete

Chrysler, GM offer no plans to get people to buy their cars

(Newser) - GM and Chrysler now want another $22 billion from Washington—and propose to use dramatic job cuts to help right their respective ships. What both companies avoid, writes economist Susan Helper for the New Republic, is an appraisal of the real problem: Nobody wants to buy their cars. Rather than...

Dems Gird for Fight Over Pro-Labor Bill

'Card check' legislation faces stiff business opposition, Senate fight

(Newser) - House Democrats are about to unveil a bill easing the unionization process, a measure that’s already sparked major backlash, the Hill reports. The Employee Free Choice Act, which President Obama has said he'll sign, would allow workers to skip secret ballot elections to create unions, instead openly signing cards....

Biden to Head Middle-Class Task Force

Obama calls it an 'American moment'

(Newser) - President Obama today announced a new task force on the middle class, to be led by none other than onetime "working class kid from Scranton" Joe Biden, the Chicago Tribune reports. “This is a difficult moment,” Obama said, referring in part to the day’s dire GDP...

Cash-Squeezed Calif. to Close Offices Twice a Month

Labor unions file suit opposing cost-saving move

(Newser) - In another creative and/or desperate budgeting move from the Governator, California state offices will close 2 days a month, the Wall Street Journal reports. The state is low on cash and facing a budget deficit expected to swell to $42 billion deficit over the next 18 months. The days off,...

Labor Faces a Tough Year at Table as Economy Stalls

Worsening economic conditions are forcing unions to reopen contracts, weigh givebacks

(Newser) - Organized labor is facing one of its toughest negotiating years in decades as the swooning economy prompts employers to seek givebacks and contract reopenings, reports the Wall Street Journal. With several major contracts expiring—AT&T, United Airlines, and Goodyear, among others—2009 could be punishing for labor.

Bush Loan Could Crush Once-Powerful UAW
Bush Loan Could Crush Once-Powerful UAW
analysis

Bush Loan Could Crush Once-Powerful UAW

Union takes benefits "equal" to nonunion workers

(Newser) - Washington's $17.4 billion loan to Detroit automakers may inflict a death blow to one of America's most powerful unions, the Washington Post reports. The loan requires UAW workers to accept pay and benefits “equal” to those of nonunion workers, a stipulation that undermines the union's purpose, analysts say....

State, Chicago Threaten BoA Over Ill. Sit-in

Will yank business if bank doesn't restore window factory's credit

(Newser) - The sit-in launched by laid-off workers at a Chicago door and window factory could have a nine-figure financial impact on Bank of America. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a day before his arrest on corruption charges, called on state agencies to cease doing business with the bank, and the city of...

Laid-Off Workers Refuse to Leave Chicago Factory

Chicago plant employees stage a sit-in demanding severance and vacation pay

(Newser) - Laid-off workers at a Chicago window manufacturing company are taking matters into their own hands, staging a sit-in at their former plant to demand severance and vacation pay, reports the Chicago Tribune. Union members have been occupying the plant in shifts since the news—given only three days earlier—that...

Five Best Jobs Left in Obama Administration
Five Best Jobs Left in Obama Administration
ANALYSIS

Five Best Jobs Left in Obama Administration

Highest-profile unfilled slots are energy, intelligence positions

(Newser) - State and Defense are taken, but Barack Obama has yet to fill several high-level administration positions. Politico looks at the top five open jobs:
  • Energy Secretary: Sustainable energy will remain a priority, despite the attention the economy will draw away. Key candidates: Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; Dan Reicher and
...

UAW Bends to Boost Bailout

Concessions meant to help Big Three win financial help from feds

(Newser) - The United Auto Workers agreed today to concessions that may help Detroit get $34 billion in federal assistance, the Detroit News reports. The union’s job bank—which pays eliminated employees 95% of their base salaries—will be suspended, and the UAW will delay billions in payments to its health...

Put the Brakes on Car Chiefs' Pay: UAW Boss

Loans necessary to escape temporary bind, he adds

(Newser) - The nation's Big Three automakers should pledge to limit executive pay—including bonuses and severance packages—in exchange for federal money, insists the president of the United Auto Workers. Ron Gettelfinger warned that everyone is going to have to tighten his belt, including the rank-and-file, in order to save jobs....

Obama Labor Snub Has Unions Worried
Obama Labor Snub Has Unions Worried
ANALYSIS

Obama Labor Snub Has Unions Worried

With no secretary yet among Obama's economic team, labor mulls role, agenda

(Newser) - Labor unions campaigned hard for Barack Obama, but are now worried he may have taken them for a ride, Politico reports. Unions noted with concern that there was no labor secretary-designate among the economic advisers introduced Monday, suggesting Obama isn’t emphasizing the position. “I hope they take that...

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