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Pope: Unions Can Help Resolve Financial Crisis

February 4, 2009

The AFL-CIO Now Blog has some more thoughts on the role that faith leaders play in supporting worker rights.  For example, Interfaith Worker Justice does great work all across the US with a range of religious leaders and faith communities to organize in support of labor rights campaigns.  They have a great toolkit for religous leaders about the Employee Free Choice Act so that faith communities can support this legislation which would help increase the right of workers to join unions -- and improve the economy. 

Rein-In Russell 2009 USAS Worker Tour Update

February 4, 2009

You can check out some press articles from the Maryland event online here:

http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2009/01/30/Opinion/Time-To.Bring.Justice.To.Jerzees-3604880.shtml

http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2009/02/02/News/Sweating.For.Your.Sweatshirt-3608403.shtml

Monday, February 2nd Part I -- Georgetown University

Don’t pay your taxes? Then you have to pay the price! (Well, except if you are a business)

February 3, 2009

Here’s a
short excerpt:

A Senate committee is investigating whether multinational
companies abused a tax break in 2004 that gave them an 85% discount on profits
made overseas and brought back to the U.S. The
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is circulating a 17-question
survey asking companies to explain whether they used the cash to create U.S.
jobs as promised or whether they bought back stock or increased executive pay
in violation of Treasury Department rules.

An Increase in Labor Union Participation Promising For the Economy

February 2, 2009

It is precisely this lack of union membership that is preventing our country from rebounding from this economic crisis. Robert B. Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor during Bill Clinton’s administration, published an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times titled "The union way up" that states his belief that the way out of an economic recession could be relieved by increasing the number and the influential power of labor unions. He states that the ability to negotiate for higher wages increases disposable incomes, which thereby elevates ones’ ability to purchase goods and services. This increased desire to make purchases paves the way for new jobs to be created.

Stop Playing Politics With the Department of Labor!

January 29, 2009

It is time for us to stop
the madness. When our Congress recently debated the stimulus package,
constantly we heard pundits and politicians talking about who would “win” the
debate or score the most points during this debate. The fact that we are
allowing the Department of Labor to be leaderless during this time of economic
turmoil for workers around the globe just shows how politics is trumping
patriotism at every step of the game. The last election was about change and we
as voters and workers need to say enough!

Super Bowl Halftime Show Sponsor Exploits Workers

January 29, 2009

After
a long struggle, workers finally held the first free and fair union election
and signed their first contract negotiated by a democratically elected and
independent union leadership in August 2008. 
The agreement was a major step forward in the long struggle of workers
to protect their rights.  However, since
the time the agreement was signed, Firestone management has failed to implement
many of the important improvements in the new contract.  For example, the new contract reduced the
size of the production quota, but many workers throughout the plantation report

Bittersweet Chocolate This Valentine’s Day? No Thanks!

January 28, 2009

So this Valentine’s Day, stay away from the bitterness. Check out freelance journalist Steffanie Rivers from Dallas TX who plans to go on a chocolate fast from the 1st of February. You can also check out our bittersweet chocolate scorecard before you purchase your sweets this year so that you can go for the sweetest treat. Or join us in sending letters to chocolate companies to stop purchasing cocoa fueled by child labor.

WalMart and the Employee Free Choice Act

January 22, 2009

During the election last November, The Wall Street Journal reported that WalMart managers ran meetings to push their political agenda on their workers while acting as though they were remaining neutral. They would say “I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill (the Employee Free Choice Act) will pass and you won’t have a vote on whether you want a union.” WalMart spokesperson David Tovar said that “They believe the Employee Free Choice Act is a bad bill and they have been on record as opposing it for some time.” Tovar also stated that, this is the reason they feel it was important to educate their workers about the bill.

Could there be a Sweatshop in your Neighborhood?

January 21, 2009

Around the same time last summer, a factory called Jin Shun, located in Queens, New York, was investigated by the Labor Department and inspectors called the situation one of the worst sweatshops they have seen in years.  They found that the factory had withheld over 5.3 million dollars in wages from it’s workers.  Factory workers interviewed during the investigation reported working 66 hour weeks, six days a week, sewing clothing for companies including Banana Republic, Urban Apparel, Macy’s, Gap, and Victoria’s Secret.  Worst of all, employees were given written instructions (in both English and Mandarin, since

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