Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/category/policy/page/27/)
The financial sector overhaul legislation that President Barack Obama will sign this week is good, but focuses too much on overhauling government regulation of the financiers and not enough on overhauling the industry itself, analysts said. Still, unions and consumer advocates praised the overhaul as significant.
Since the recession began 30 months ago, more than half of all adults in the workforce — 55 percent — say they have either been unemployed, taken a pay cut, had their work hours reduced or become involuntary part-time workers, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends Project.
Once again, a successful Senate Republican filibuster has killed a jobs bill – even after Democratic leaders watered it down to attract support.
Organizations helping workers cope with continuing high levels of unemployment report that the recession is taking a high toll on workers and their families. At the same time, the increased need for help from workers experiencing long-term unemployment is straining the resources and testing the capacity of programs designed to help workers through short-term economic emergencies.
After a careful screening of candidates, the unions of the Minnesota AFL-CIO decided not to endorse a candidate at this time, the federation announced. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council, which is part of the AFL-CIO, declared its support for Margaret Anderson Kelliher.
As the U.S. Senate considers a much-needed jobs bill with no certain date for a vote, the AFL-CIO union movement continues to push lawmakers to put the needs of workers and the economy before concerns over the nation’s budget deficit.
Leaders of the Dakota County Regional Chamber, Minnesota Building and Construction Trades, and City of West St. Paul joined local Sierra Club members Monday to release “Greening Dakota County Cities,” a new report highlighting energy-saving projects in eight Dakota County cities that reduce energy use, save taxpayer dollars and build the clean energy jobs economy.
Toyota operates union plants in Japan. So why did the company deliberately close its only union plant in the U.S. in April?
Black workers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area live with an unemployment rate more than three times that of whites, according to a new report. The disparity is greater here than in any other large metro area in the nation.
Describing the financial devastation that hits workers after corporate bankruptcies, representatives from four unions and the AFL-CIO urged Congress to put workers first when companies take themselves into such turmoil.