Worldwide, May Day Honors Workers; Here, It Salutes 'Loyalty'
Today is May Day, a major international celebration of workers' rights and labor solidarity. But in the U.S., where it all began, it has a different name: Law Day.
unions
Fast Food Labor Strikes: What It'll Mean If Workers Have It Their Way
Fast-food workers are joining the movement to unionize in protest over low pay. More than 200 workers at Burger King, Wendy's, McDonald's, and other fast-food restaurants recently went on strike in New York -- and organizers say it was just the start of a larger campaign.
Hostess Gets OK to Begin Winding Down Business
Hostess Brands lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second-biggest union. As a result, Hostess will be in court Wednesday asking for a bankruptcy judge for permission to shutter its operations.
Labor Day Pop Quiz: What Are We Really Celebrating This Weekend?
Most people only think of Labor Day as a nice excuse for long weekend, the beginning of fall, or the start of football season. But it's actually one of the most controversial American holidays, a celebration of the unionized laborers -- who made America strong.
GOP's Anti-Union Measure Fails in the Senate
The Senate rejected a Republican attempt Tuesday to overturn new regulations designed to give unions quicker representation elections in their effort to organize more workplaces. One GOP senator, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, joined the unanimous Democrats in backing the new NLRB rules.
What Unions Should Have Said in New Ad Campaign
Organized labor in the U.S. has been under sustained assault for some time; now, unions are fighting back with a major ad campaign designed to improve their image. Problem is, the centerpiece commercial mangles the message -- and misses the point.
How 'Welfare Capitalism' Can Save Our Country
With the effective unemployment rate possibly above 16%, the "job-creators" have little incentive to offer robust benefits packages to workers. But a look at U.S. economic history suggests that it's time to revisit the idea that a corporation can remain highly profitable over the long term by providing a floor of economic security for its employees.
Is It Time for Unions to Sober Up?
In this economy, many Americans feel grateful to have jobs in the first place. The nation's high unemployment rate makes recent video of some of Chrysler's unionized workers drinking and smoking pot on the job all the more galling. It's time for unions to stop protecting slacker employees.
The Financial Landscape: SEC Fines JPM Over CDOs
The news across the financial world is good for unions, which will find organizing a bit easier; adequate for Greece, which will find getting bailed out a bit easier, and bitter for JPMorgan which had to accept a $153.6 million SEC fine for misleading investors about a mortgage securities transaction.
Workers' Rights 100 Years After the Triangle Fire
A century after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire claimed the lives of 146 seamstresses in New York, worker protections are eroding around the world. As government and corporate interests from Bangladesh to Wisconsin wage war on the rights of labor, have the lessons of the Triangle disaster been forgotten?
Strike! Eleven of the Best Union Movies Ever
Regardless of your political leanings, the struggle for fair wages and collective bargaining is fraught with drama, and Hollywood's union movies have inspired some amazing performances. With the public workers standoff in the news now, here are a few of Tinseltown's best offerings.
Former Northwest Employees Sue Delta Over Pay Discrepancy
A half-dozen Delta Air Lines flight attendants sued the carriers for what they say is discrimination in the form of smaller profit-sharing paychecks for former Northwest Airlines employees, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Labor's Fall -- Not Oil's Rise -- Is Key to Inflation
Despite all the worry over the impact of rising oil prices, recall that the U.S. is now a largely services-based economy. And observe that the rising wages that have led to real overall cost rises in decades past are nowhere to be found today. Exhibit A is in Wisconsin.
Before Wisconsin: Five of American Labor's Biggest Battles
Can you say image problem? For the first time in the more than 70 years that Gallup has been measuring the popularity of unions, in 2009 more than half the public didn't approve of them. The current showdowns have plenty of precedent when it comes to transformative moments for organized labor.
State Governments Are Just Adding to Labor's Woes
American labor unions have been in decline for a half-century now. About the only large unions still growing have been those in the public sector. Until now. Cash-strapped states are attacking unions where it hurts by trying to strip them of the right to collectively bargain.