January 10 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.

The January 9 Week In Review is now online
Recession Holds Down Health Spending *
New York Governor, SEIU 1199 Raise Hackles with Medicaid Deal
Hyundai union threatens stoppages after worker self-immolation
Occupy protesters join strike at Union City candy plant
Global warming: European species lag in habitat shift
Fidel Castro warns of climate change, nuclear threat
A closer look at Canada's nuclear plants
Federal cuts could be catastrophic, union says
Acadian, union seek transit subsidies
Tar sands pipeline battle turns ugly

January 9 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.

What’s Behind Postal Crisis? Privatization
Unemployment rate falls to 8.5%, lowest in nearly 3 years
Actors unions SAG and AFTRA to meet for merger talks
Call for pay raise for federal workers may set up fight with Congress
Bain Capital tied to bankruptcy, closing of KC steel plant
Brownback to announce Bombardier incentives deal
Labor Board Backs Workers on Joint Arbitration Cases *
Damaged pump caused heavy water spill at Point Lepreau nuclear plant
Bracing for trouble on the picket line
Cargo ship Rena breaks up off New Zealand
Private Sector Gets Job Skills; Public Gets Bill *
Talks Break Down at New York City Opera *
State’s most profitable nursing home seeks givebacks from workers
Bakery workers get five-year deals at Old Dutch, Ralcorp/Lofthouse
Nigeria strikes over fuel costs

January 6 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.

Labor Support Pledged To Help CAW Keep Scabs Out Of EMD
As 'Right to Work' Law Looms, Indiana Occupiers Brace Limestone Strikers
ILWU Pres. McEllrath: ‘Prepare to take action when EGT vessel arrives’
Unions praise new workplace rules for domestic workers, truckers and more
Candy workers block entrance at Union City licorice plant
Lufthansa Unions Protest Use of Temporary-Employment Company
Maine labor battles brewing
El Camino Hospital workers contemplate breaking from regional union
Labor leaders in Md. promoting same-sex marriage bill
New Agreement Set for Sodexo Workers Worldwide
Judge Rolls Back Idaho’s Expanded RTW
Vast majority of Canadians believe country is in recession
Fracking 'will poison New York water'
Students of Online Schools Are Lagging *
A Coal-Fired Plant That Is Eager for U.S. Rules *
Lawsuit Is Latest Clash Over Giving Retired Transit Workers Free Rides *

January 5 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.

Job Killers Hit Wichita
You may recall how Boeing enlisted labor support in its long, ultimately successful fight to get a lush Pentagon contract for refueling planes. During that struggle with competing bids they promised 7500 jobs in Wichita where they have built military aircraft since the 1920s. Yesterday they announced they are closing the plant.
Boeing to close historic aerospace facility in Kansas
Boeing shutdown will ripple across region

Obama bypasses Senate to fill labor board posts
Public Employees Need the Right To Strike
With Doors Open, Indiana Workers Flood Statehouse
Nurses’ union wins bargaining agreement
Labor Board Sides with American Truck Drivers
Canadian defined benefit pension plans had bleak 2011
Keystone XL pipeline: Oil chief issues threat to Obama over decision
Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs *

January 4 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

CAW vows no retreat after Electro-Motive lockout
The UAW's last stand
Unions call on governments to save Petroplus jobs
Freeport Indonesia workers heading back after strike -union
Local 1137 Members Secure Wage Fairness In Second Ferro Pfanstiehl Contract
Rio Tinto Alcan gets picket injunction
Ecuador upholds Chevron oil fine
China's city dwellers to breathe unhealthy air 'for another 20-30 years'

January 3 News Update

The Labor Advocate Blog is now the venue replacing the old Daily Labor News Digest that long appeared on the KC Labor web site. 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.

Will Caterpillar Offshore Canadian Jobs to Muncie, Indiana?
After seven months of “bargaining” that did not budge from demands of more than fifty percent wage cuts and elimination of pensions, Caterpillar locked out 650 CAW members at its Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London, Ontario New Year’s Eve. EMD, the principal competitor with General Electric (organized by UE in Erie, Pennsylvania) for the North American diesel-electric locomotive market, was a division of General Motors until being sold to private equity in 2005–who in turn resold it for a tidy profit to Caterpillar in 2010. Caterpillar is in the process of cranking up a brand new, nonunion EMD plant in Muncie, Indiana. CAW wages at the London plant were about 35 dollars an hour. The wage rates in Muncie–where the company got tax-payer handouts to open up--range from 12-16 dollars per hour.

A Gathering Storm Over ‘Right to Work’ in Indiana *
Factory output subdued going into 2012
Expert: Wastewater well in Ohio triggered quakes
Obama, Congress begin 2012 in oil pipeline dispute
Settlement Reinstates Branford 4: 'I Felt Like Norma Rae'
Rio Tinto Alcan lockout shrinks Quebec production
British private sector pension 'collapse'
U.S. water, sewer systems tapped out

For 2012, Signs Point to Tepid Consumer Spending *

Storehouses for Solar Energy Can Step In When the Sun Goes Down *

January 2 News Update

The Labor Advocate Blog is now the venue replacing the old Daily Labor News Digest that long appeared on the KC Labor web site. 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 a *. The Times pay wall policy allows free access to only about twenty articles a month.

Longshoreman acquitted in labor conflict trial
Rio Tinto Alcan locks out 800 workers in Quebec
Office Owners and Cleaners Reach a Deal, Averting a Strike
DA Asks Wis. Supreme Court to Reopen Union Lawsuit
Montefiore Reaches Contract Accord With Nurses *
Wyden-Ryan’s Unrealistic Assumptions *
U.S. exports record amount of refined fuels in 2011 *
Organic Agriculture May Be Outgrowing Its Ideals *
Hunt for Gas Hits Fragile Soil, and South Africans Fear Risks *
Chicago Teachers Battle Mayor 1%
Nurses Press for Financial Transaction Tax
Deals Appear to Avert Nurses' Strikes at Two Hospital Centers
Mayor Ford versus CUPE Locals 79 and 416
AFSCME Hennepin County Locals: All six locals approve new contracts
Electro-Motive Locks Out 500 London Workers
Greece sees first strike of 2012