Monday, January 30, 2012

January 30 News Update

Each Monday-Friday, by 9AM Central, we’ll post links to news stories and analytical articles of interest to working people. Sometimes they will be accompanied by editorial commentary. Stories from the New York Times will be followed with a *. The Times pay wall policy allows free access to only about twenty articles a month.

UAW, GM contract talks at key plant resume Monday
Private sector unions add members
Unions mobilize to stop amendment banning same-sex marriage
California Warehouse Workers Fight Retaliation
Child welfare workers face contract uncertainty
Secret documents expose Ottawa’s tar sands enemies list
Welfare Reform Bill prompts protest in London
Screen Actors Guild votes to approve merger plan
U.S. fourth-quarter GDP falls short of expectations
Antibiotics Prove Powerless as Super-Germs Spread
KC faces an epidemic of broken water mains
Percentage of workforce represented by unions slips again
Activists Crack China’s Wall of Denial About Air Pollution *
An Iraqi Massacre, a Light Sentence and a Question of Military Justice *
Medicare Seen as Battleground Issue in Congressional Races *
Workers Hurt in Collapse at Cincinnati Casino Site *
Cablevision Workers in Brooklyn Vote to Join Union *
Toronto Politics in the Year of the Lockout
Arrests in Oakland protests rise to more than 400
Apple hit by boycott call over abuse
Brown ordered firing of regulator who took hard line on oil firms
AFTRA board agrees to tie the knot with SAG
Protesters March Through Super Bowl Village *
Alberta First Nation outraged at lack of caribou protection
Belgium strikes as EU heads meet
U.S. Drones Patrolling Its Skies Provoke Outrage in Iraq *

January 29 Week In Review Posted

You can view the new WIR by clicking here

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Keystone XL Delay—A Skirmish Won, More Battles Ahead

Continued delay in building the Keystone XL pipeline, that would carry synthetic crude oil from the Alberta tar sands to refineries near Gulf of Mexico ports, is welcome news worth celebrating. Not only is localized environmental damage from its construction and operation inevitable; expansion of the dirtiest oil production in the world would take us closer to catastrophic climate change.

Some are praising President Obama for a "brave" decision in putting the pipeline in to regulatory purgatory. There is no doubt in my mind that if it had not been for the mass demonstrations and civil disobedience mounted against it XL would have been a done deal months ago. We have won an important skirmish but decisive battles lay ahead.

The "courageous" President initially chose to defer action until after the election when he hoped to deal with it as a lame duck. The Republicans in Congress were not about to give him such a free pass and demanded a fast track response. We can expect the GOP, probably with support from many Democrats, will now work to attach the pipeline to an essential piece of legislation.

We need to continue to mobilize in the streets against any efforts to resurrect this environmental disaster, carrying out the fight to the finish.


January 18 News Update

Each Monday-Friday, by 9AM Central, we’ll post links to news stories and analytical articles of interest to working people. Sometimes they will be accompanied by editorial commentary. Stories from the New York Times will be followed with a *. The Times pay wall policy allows free access to only about twenty articles a month.

At Cablevision, Expected to Install Everything Except a Union *
MTA labor deal elusive, a day after contract expires
AFL-CIO’s Trumka Acknowledges Labor’s Divisions Over Keystone Pipeline
When New Obama Chief of Staff Was NYU Exec, School Ceased Recognizing Union
University of Minnesota graduate student workers advance union drive
‘Union Stooges'?The NLRB Is No Panacea for Workers
Democrats file 1 million signatures for Walker recall
Toronto budget passes as protesters arrested
York transit workers reject final Veolia offer
Union rejects Olympic pay offer
Chevron oil rig catches fire off Nigeria coast
What impact will the Costa Concordia disaster have on the environment?
Nixon proposes $106 million cut from Missouri higher ed
Brownback tax plan would hit impoverished Kansans the hardest

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/#storylink=cpy
Firestorm brewing as city manager outlines cuts to KC department
KC’s recovery lagged in 2011, Brookings report says
Supreme Court rebuffs Applebee’s appeal in wage and tip case
Protest on Web Uses Shutdown to Take On Two Piracy Bills *
NYC City Opera Reaches Tentative Deal With Union *


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

January 17 Week In Review Online

The January 7 Week In Review is now online-- click here.

January 17 News Update

Each Monday-Friday, by 9AM Central, we’ll post links to news stories and analytical articles of interest to working people. Sometimes they will be accompanied by editorial commentary. Stories from the New York Times will be followed with a *. The Times pay wall policy allows free access to only about twenty articles a month.

Obama jobs panel pushes tax reform, U.S. drilling
Oversight of Cruise Lines at Issue After Disaster *
Greeks strike against austerity as EU, IMF visit
Canadian Labour At The Crossroads?
Hollywood's two main actors unions reach tentative deal to merge
PG&E diverted safety money for profit, bonuses
Hundreds of Oakland workers to get layoff notices
City cool to CUPE wage freeze offer
Walter Johnson dies - headed S.F. Labor Council
Several hurt in Bucharest clashes
Federal tax deduction for mortgage insurance premiums expires
Israelis Facing a Seismic Rift Over Role of Women *
Among the Wealthiest One Percent, Many Variations *
Foreclosure Auctions Show Raw Form of Capitalism *
Poll: Disapproval of Congress hits new high
Wikipedia to go dark to protest web piracy drafts
Nigerian unions call off strike after fuel price cut
Thousands protest Bulgaria 'fracking' plans
Timken workers reject new labor deal
Peace activist Marv Davidov dies
Cablevision Workers Lead MLK Day March as Disparities Fuel Union Drive
UMKC teaches unorthodox economics