After a Pause, Walmart Strikes Back

By Jenny Brown Labor Notes
The firings are almost certainly illegal retaliation under the National Labor Relations Act, but workers may have to wait to see justice carried out. The labor board has a slow process even in good times, but in recent years it has been declawed by Congressional Republicans—who have obstructed the appointment of board members, leaving the board without a quorum to conduct business.

labor

Walmart face-off with D.C. Fuels Wage Debate

Sam Hananel - Associated Press Boston Globe
Walmart Stores Inc., the nation's largest private employer, is fuming about a ''living wage'' bill approved by the D.C. Council that has an unusual twist: It would apply only to certain large retailers, forcing them to pay at least $12.50 an hour, nearly 50 percent higher than city's minimum wage of $8.25.

Friday Nite Videos -- July 12, 2013

Portside
Movie: Fruitvale Station. Music: 'We Are the 99'. Is Snowden a Hero? -- A debate. Working at Walmart, on food stamps. What you need to know about the secret FISA court. Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) shows what force feeding at Guantanamo is really like.

Working Full-Time at Walmart, on Food Stamps

Despite working full-time, Walmart employee and Florida resident Lisa Lopez had to apply for food stamps in order to support her family -- yet the 6 Walmart heirs are richer than 42% of Americans combined. Something is wrong with this picture.

labor

The Expendables: How the Temps Who Power Corporate Giants Are Getting Crushed

Michael Grabell ProPublica, Posted on Talking Union
In cities all across the country, workers stand on street corners, line up in alleys or wait in a neon-lit beauty salon for rickety vans to whisk them off to warehouses miles away. Some vans are so packed that to get to work, people must squat on milk crates, sit on the laps of passengers they do not know or sometimes lie on the floor, the other workers’ feet on top of them.

Tidbits - June 27, 2013

Portside
Walmart just Fired 10 Strikers; Reader Comments - Rosenberg Case; North Carolina 'Moral Monday' Protests; NSA Spying; FBI's License to Kill; Syria; James Gandolfini; Summer Reading - what we missed; Population Decline and Climate Change; Message from Berlin Demonstration for Bradley Manning; March on Washington 50th Anniversary - Unfinished March Symposium - Washington DC - July 22; 60th Anniversary of Rosenberg's Execution - Carry it Forward - event report

America Feeds the Rich

Leo Gerard Campaign for America's Future
The Farm Bill that is expected to pass the U.S. House this week explains income inequality in America.

labor

How Taxpayers Subsidize Union Avoidance by Wal-Mart and Nissan

Phil Mattera Dirt Diggers Digest
The study, which updates a 2004 report by the committee, reviews the hidden taxpayer costs stemming from the fact that many Wal-Mart workers have no choice but to use social safety net programs -- such as Medicaid, Section 8 Housing, food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit -- that were designed for individuals not in the labor force or those working for small companies that failed to provide decent compensation, not a leviathan with $17 billion in annual profits.

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."
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