Labor Union Blog

Economic Report:

By Jesse Russell

The country’s largest mortgage lenders said Wednesday that foreclosures and late payments hit the highest number on record in December. Countrywide said 1.44 percent of the 9 million mortgages it collects foreclosed in December – twice as many as in 2006. The rate of late payments hit 7.20 percent over 4.60 percent a year before.

By Doug Cunningham

Pennsylvania’s leading organization of registered nurses and other health professionals, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) will announce today that it is affiliating with the the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. The affiliation will unite two of the fastest growing healthcare unions in the nation.

By Doug Cunningham

US District Judge Robert Cleland has issued an order blocking UAW retirees from scrutinizing documents detailing the health care trust deal between the United Auto Workers and General Motors. The union agreed to take on responsibility for retiree health care by creating a trust known as a VEBA. In return for payments of roughly $55 billion, the UAW agreed to let the auto companies off the hook for future health care obligations amounting to $88 billion. Mark Baumkel, a lawyer representing some retired GM workers fighting to block the health care changes, alleges that retirees’ vested health benefits were unlawfully negotiated away by current UAW leadership.

The top of the Democratic race is all tied up with union households being credited for giving Hillary Clinton the win in New Hampshire and Barack Obama in Iowa. Heading into Nevada on the caucuses on January 19 Obama is hoping for two key endorsements to push him ahead. Jesse Russell reports:

The two largest unions in Nevada have thrown their support behind Illinois Senator Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic Presidential nominee. Both the Service Employees International Union – Nevada and Culinary Workers Union announced their endorsements on Wednesday morning – just hours after Clinton defeated Obama in New Hampshire. For the SEIU the decision came down to former North Carolina Senator John Edwards and Obama. Communications Director Hilary Haycock:

On Monday, we described how President Bush once again made an end run around the U.S. Senate and, with a bit of bureaucratic sleight of hand, kept Richard Stickler in the top post at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). When Stickler’s recess appointment expired, Bush named him “acting” MSHA director, which doesn’t require Senate confirmation, something Stickler twice failed to receive.

Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts called the move “outrageous,” and yesterday, one of the most respected media voices in the coalfields, the Louisville Courier-Journal, described the move as typical of Bush’s “arrogant approach” to governing.