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Unions Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 27, 2012 18 Comments

For the top prize as the Worst-Run State. Via Yahoo Finance (h/t Danelle), California is the worst-run state, with Rhode Island just behind: 49. Rhode Island > Debt per capita: $9,018 (3rd highest) > Budget deficit: 13.4% (28th largest) > Unemployment: 11.3% (3rd highest) > Median household income: $53,636 (17th highest) >...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 24, 2012 38 Comments

Just applying a little election year anti-Republican logic to the Black Friday union protests against Wal-Mart, which mostly were a fizzle. Via Lachlan Markay's Storify entry. It's hard keeping up with all the emerging social media tools; Storify is just another thing which, while probably useful, makes...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 19, 2012 17 Comments

As noted the other day, Hostess is seeking lidquidation of its operations rather than trying to emerge out of bankruptcy as a going concern because it could not negotiate the union concessions it said it needed. But there may be a White Knight on the Horizon,...

Posted by Anne Segal on September 24, 2012 16 Comments

Here we go again. Another group of Chicagoans is going on strike. And this time, it's not the teachers. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians went on strike over the weekend to protest proposed three-year contract salary levels and an increase in the percent they pay of...

Posted by Anne Segal on September 17, 2012 21 Comments

The Chicago Teachers Union strike continues Monday after a failure to resolve the strike, now into its second week with 350,000 children affected by the standoff. There had been some optimism that the union officials, who met Sunday afternoon, would vote in favor of the...

Posted by Anne Segal on September 15, 2012 22 Comments

It appears the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), which held a solidarity rally this Saturday afternoon, is facilitating a rejuvenation of the Wisconsin-style protest movement. The scene at Saturday's rally, held in anticipation of Sunday's yes-or-no vote on the latest negotiated agreement, seemed more like a...

Posted by Anne Segal on September 13, 2012 14 Comments

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has announced their strike will continue into Friday--despite an offer from Jesse Jackson to mediate--after CTU President Karen Lewis said she's "optimistic, but we're still hammering things out." At the heart of the standstill is accountability: merit pay, the evaluation process,...

Posted by Anne Segal on September 10, 2012 31 Comments

I've been documenting the presence of the Chicago Teachers Union at non-education-related, radical protests over the past year. From Occupy to Anarchist, gay pride, and anti-NATO protests, the union deploys its members not on the basis of "for the children" but rather for political solidarity. On...

Posted by Anne Segal on September 10, 2012 31 Comments

Just after the Chicago Teachers Union released a statement on its website declaring their intent to strike Monday morning, the union published a solidarity statement from feminist and honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America Gloria Steinem as the top item on their website. In...

Posted by Anne Segal on July 18, 2012 25 Comments

James O'Keefe's Project Veritas has released a new video that exposes unions willing to dig holes and fill them in again against the backdrop of the farce that is Obama's "shovel-ready jobs" agenda. The video, "Legislators, Union Bosses Seek Funding for Digging Holes and Filling...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 28, 2012 7 Comments

Obama gave a speech to the United Auto Workers laced with what Greg Sargeant described as "withering derision": A key line: “I keep on hearing these same folks talk about values all the time. You want to talk about values? Hard work: That’s a value. Looking...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2012 34 Comments

Caterpillar has ruled out building a planned new plant in Illinois due to the negative business climate, via AP: "Please understand that even if your community had the right logistics for this project, Caterpillar's previously documented concerns about the business climate and overall fiscal health of...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 21, 2012 18 Comments

Sore Loosiers Wisconsin had its Fleebaggers, the 14 state Senators who fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum on Wisconsin's collective bargaining law. Indiana Democratic House members have been boycotting the legislative session over Indiana's proposed right to work law unless they also get an unconstitutional referendum on the law: House...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 18, 2012 45 Comments

So Obama is going to kill the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, pending apparently another route being drawn up.  Which means that he has killed it dead, because any route is going to be met with objection and delay. Instead, let's build more of the bird...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 09, 2011 15 Comments

The decision of the National Labor Relations Board to prevent Boeing from relocating some manufacturing to South Carolina was hailed as a necessary step to punish anti-union retaliation by the company. It all was a mere tool to give uthe machinists' union greater bargaining power, which it then used...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 15, 2011 16 Comments

The recall effort against Scott Walker starts today, and Walker took a preemptive strike on Monday Night Football last night: This is the right message.  Unlike in Ohio where the collective bargaining reform bill lost in a referendum, in Wisconsin the benefits already are being felt. But...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 23, 2011 11 Comments

You know about the RI pension mess, because I've been pounding that issue pretty much since the founding of this blog three years ago. The New York Times takes a devastating look at Rhode Island, The Little State With a Big Mess (h/t @amandacarpenter): ON the night of...

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