Tidbits - February 13, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Cecily McMillan Update - Occupy Activist Faces Seven Years in Jail - Trial Postponed to March 3rd; Africa; Latin America; Learning from History; Slavery; UAW Campaign at Volkswagen; Amiri Baraka; Pete Seeger memories; Announcements - CISPES Delegation to El Salvador; Workers Get a Cut on Powell Books purchases; New Video - The USA's new underclass; Labor Notes conference - April 4 - 6 - Early bird discount

labor

Two Roads Forward: The AFL-CIO's New Agenda

Nelson Lichtenstein Dissent Magazine
The AFL–CIO is a multifaceted institution composed of scores of autonomous unions, so President Richard Trumka’s leadership can hardly turn around this cumbersome vessel all that quickly. But the new emphasis is clear: the unions should ally with progressive partners and devote more energy to make the kind of changes in social policy that can benefit millions of poorly paid and insecure workers.

Walmart Workers Announce Labor Day Deadline

The growing group of OurWalmart workers across the country are demanding justice and a decent wage. They have given the giant retailer a Labor Day deadline to meet their demands or face intensified and widespread actions.

labor

BART Strike Illustrates Heated Debate Over Public-Sector Work Stoppages

Josh Richman San Jose Mercury News
"Union struggles reflect on all jobs," said Jane Smith, 30, a data scientist from San Francisco. "Unions won the struggle for a 40-hour workweek, and we are all benefiting from that still. Unions also fight for higher wages, which translate to higher wages for all Americans." The BART strike is a symptom of "the income and wealth inequality that is plaguing our nation," she said. "I can't believe that people are missing the point."

Fast Food Workers Striking in Seattle - 7th City in 8 Weeks - and Show No Sign of Stopping

Kara Kostinich (KOMO), Josh Eidelson
Fast food workers strike in Seattle - 7th city in past 8 weeks. Workers say their wages are stagnant and want a living wage of $15, more opportunities to advance, and the right to organize without retaliation. "Personally I'm on food stamps, my hours have been cut back," Burger King worker Andrew Thomas said. "Being here for a year and half. I haven't gotten a raise."

Deficit Fixed. Now Fix The Job Gap, Wage Gap And Trade Gap

Dave Johnson Campaign for America's Future
The "deficit problem" is man-made. The deficit is now down 60 percent as a percent of gross domestic product. It is down more than the deficit hawks Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles asked for. This rapid reduction is seriously hurting the economy and jobs, but demands for cuts continue. It is time for Congress and the President to "pivot" to focusing on our real problems: the jobs gap, the wage gap and the trade gap.

From Bad Jobs to Good Jobs

By Colin Gordon Dissent Magazine
The strongest payoff comes with socializing and universalizing health and retirement coverage. Adopting either would erase the bad jobs entirely.

labor

Regulators Crack Down on Classifying Workers as Contractors

Jennifer Smith The Wall Street Journal
In recent months, regulators have demanded millions of dollars from companies that hired independent contractors to hang drywall, install cable, staff call centers, give manicures and perform other jobs in which the government said workers were really functioning as company employees.
Subscribe to wages