unions

A Lake County, IN, judge decided yesterday that the state’s “Right-to-Work” law is unconstitutional, sending the dubious anti-worker legislation to the Indiana Supreme Court for further review. The law was signed into law by then-governor Mitch Daniels, and has been challenged in court before. But this latest development, which stems from an International Union of Operating Engineers’ lawsuit, sets the path for a conclusive legal fate for “Right-to-Work” in the Hoosier state.

Volkswagen managers have confirmed in a letter to employees that the automaker is in talks with the United Auto Workers about establishing a German-style "works council" at its Tennessee assembly plant. The letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, said the talks with the UAW center on "the possibility of implementing an innovative model of employee representation for all employees."

A Michigan state appeals court has ruled that an anti-union right-to-work law applies equally to all state employees. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that the law superseded the Michigan Civil Service Commission, which had be tasked with setting compensation prior to the legislation.

The leader of the city's struggling school system wants to suspend rules that require laid-off workers to be rehired based on seniority, a move the teachers union said it would fight.

Why Labor Organizing Should be a Civil Right: Rebuilding a Middle-Class Democracy by Enhancing Worker Voice, by Moshe Z. Marvit and Richard D. Kahlengerg, was released last year to critical and academic acclaim but not nearly enough attention. The book, whose authors are both fellows at the progressive think tank the Century Foundation, lays out a simple, brilliant idea: to amend the Civil Rights Act so that it prohibits discrimination.

Gary CohnGary Cohn: A conservative legal organization that has pushed to overturn the 1964 Voting Rights Act filed a lawsuit in federal court in Santa Ana that could accomplish in the courts what Prop. 32 couldn’t at the ballot box.
Prop 32 Ghost Looms Over Lawsuit Against Teachers Union is a post from: LA Progressive
LA Progr

The Radical Rightwing is licking their chops over the economic and financial failure of what was once the great city of Detroit, at one time perhaps the greatest industrial city in the world. Lavish pensions and much too powerful unions destroyed Detroit they crow on Fox News.

Woven into our national conversation on immigration reform are divisive arguments pitting immigrants against U.S. workers — including workers of color. These arguments aren't just unfounded — they run counter to the goal of helping all workers organize against wage suppression and exploitation. As union members and immigrants' rights activists, we think it's time to re-frame the discussion.

WI Governor Scott Walker's Act 10 anti-union law has had devastating consequences on unions around the state - exactly what the Governor intended. Tens of thousands of workers have left their unions, and some unions have been rendered nearly functionless.

Washington State has a world-class aerospace cluster, employing more than 130,000 people making products the rest of the world wants to buy. In 2003, Boeing cast a chill on the state, moving its headquarters to Chicago. In 2009, the chill deepened with the decision to assemble some 787s in South Carolina. Sadly, this trend is continuing.