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Last updateWed, 22 May 2013 11am

LOS ANGELES Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 9:08
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We Need Jobs, Not Cuts

Virginia "Ginny" Anders-Ellmore
January 20, 2013
LABOR VUE - On Nov. 6, 2012, the people sent a message: Americans cannot be bought. We do believe there is a place for government in providing services that the private sector is ill-equipped to provide. We have experienced a change in attitude across the country, demonstrated by many of the tea party politicians losing their seats and more progressive Democrats winning seats. But we need to stay vigilant. The end of the year did not bring major tax increases for working people and spending cuts, but everything could change in the coming months. The fight hasn't ended. Read More...

Unions and Membership Organizations Turn to Technology to Give New Services to Their Members

Jim Hampton
Dec 30, 2012
Keeping track of the membership through technology is one of the latest benefits of the new database management webware that is being offered to labor unions today. Information was difficult to manage in the past. The ability to instantly access information in real time, print reports, and communicate with members through automated processes just wasn't possible. Many unions had multiple database software packages in order to keep track of dues, grievances, health records, legal and more. Read More...

The Year’s Top Five Legislative Victories for Workers

California Labor Federation
Dec 28, 2012
1. Protecting Families from Foreclosures. This year, California became the first state to enact reforms that ban the practice of foreclosing on a family seeking a loan modification (AB278, SB900). These bills also increased penalties for “robo-signing,” or the filing of false mortgage documents, and required banks to create a single point of contact for those seeking a loan modification. 2. Winning improvements for injured workers. California’s injured workers have suffered under slashed benefits and delayed medical treatment under Schwarzenegger reforms. Comprehensive workers compensation reform enacted this year (1) increases benefits for injured workers system-wide by $860 million or 30 percent, (2) cuts down delays in medical treatment, and (3) stabilizes the insurance market by removing inefficiencies and excess profiteering from the system. SB 863 earned strong bipartisan support and was based on Labor-management negotiations. Read More...

LA Housekeepers urge Hyatt to add hotel worker to its Board of Directors

Leigh Shelton
Dec 18, 2012
LOS ANGELES - In recent years, Hyatt has faced tough criticism for its record of labor abuses. Now housekeepers say they have a simple solution to move Hyatt in a new direction. In events nationwide this week, Hyatt workers are urging the company to add a hotel worker to its board of directors. Workers say Hyatt would be better off if someone who served hotel guests at some point in the last decade actually had a say in how the company is run. On Tuesday, national actions kicked off at Hyatt headquarters in Chicago, where hotel workers are submitting a resolution to the company for consideration at the annual shareholders meeting in June 2013. Hyatt workers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Baltimore, Phoenix, Honolulu and Seattle are also holding events this week. Holding signs and speaking before large crowds, housekeepers say “someone like me” would make Hyatt a better company, for workers and shareholders alike. Democratic corporate governance structures that include workers have been successful in European countries for decades. Read More...

The Grinch Who Stole Retirement

Danny Feingold
Nov 21, 2012
There are better ways to burnish your legacy than trying to deny firefighters, garbage collectors and other hard-working people a decent retirement. Unless, of course, your name is Richard Riordan. Since leaving office in 2001, the former mayor has not exactly distinguished himself as an elder statesman of L.A. politics. But at age 82, Riordan seems determined to leave a permanent imprint on the city he once governed by gutting the pensions of some 30,000 city employees. Read More...

Hello Walmart Shoppers! A Guide to Black Friday Strikes

Steven Mikulan
Nov 20, 2012
Talk about your perfect storm. Walmart, which in recent years has been raising the danger level for shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, has now created a new attractive nuisance that’s being called Gray Thursday. This is when Walmart stores open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening, ostensibly to alleviate security and safety pressures on Black Friday, the traditional pre-dawn running of the bulls – er, shoppers – down the stores’ aisles in search of cut-rate prices. Read More...

Labor 411′s Union-Made Thanksgiving Shopping List

Jackie Tortora
Nov 19, 2012
As you prepare to head to the grocery store to pick up your Thanksgiving dinner ingredients, double-check your shopping list to make sure your Turkey Day fixin’s are all union-made in America. Check out some highlights from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor’s resource site, Labor 411. Here are some of the best union-made Thanksgiving eats and tools from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), Machinists (IAM), United Steelworkers (USW) and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Read More...
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