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Source: WBNG
A new report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) shows that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is engaged in a widespread campaign to suppress the wages of already low-wage workers. ALEC has created model legislation that is designed to weaken or repeal state minimum wage laws, reduce minimum wages for young workers and tipped workers, weaken overtime compensation rules and stop local governments from passing living wage ordinances.
McDonald's workers in central Pennsylvania launched a strike at 11 this morning, reports Josh Eidelson of the Nation. The guest workers, who began the surprise strike, allege the franchisee of the world's largest fast-food hamburger chain owes them unpaid wages and has retaliated against them.
Martina Sangster’s ceiling was on her floor. Living room, dining room and entryway—all tumbled down after what started as a small crack.Her insurance wouldn’t cover the mess and her family couldn’t afford the extensive work that was needed. But help came from a different direction: the AFL-CIO community services liaison for United Way of the Quad Cities Area and local union members who donated their skills and also got the materials contributed.
Today, labor is one of the key forces pushing for comprehensive immigration reform in Washington, D.C. To learn more about the movement's advocacy and more about how unions transformed themselves into outspoken champions of immigrant rights, I spoke with Maria Elena Durazo. A daughter of Mexican immigrant farm workers, Durazo rose to become the leader of the hotel and restaurant workers union in Los Angeles, the dynamic UNITE HERE Local 11. And, as chair of the national AFL-CIO’s Immigration Committee, Durazo is now a leading point person in the national immigration debate.
Fix the Debt is the most hypocritical corporate PR campaign in decades, an ambitious attempt to convince the country that another cataclysmic economic crisis is around the corner and that urgent action is needed. Its strategy is pure Astroturf: assemble power players in business and government under an activist banner, then take the message outside the Beltway and give it the appearance of grassroots activism by manufacturing an emergency to infuse a sense of imminent crisis.
In December 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 23-year-old market vendor in Tunisia, self-immolated to protest deep-seated government corruption that made it impossible for him to earn a living. Following his desperate action, Tunisian women helped spur protests and end autocratic regimes in Tunisia and throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Today, Tunisian women remain in the forefront of ensuring democratic change in their country during the difficult years of government transition.
Source: WBAI's Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
Source: Solidarity Center
Source: Columbus Dispatch
