Labor Union Blog

The drive to establish a national holiday honoring César Chávez, one the most inspirational labor leaders of the 20th century, got a boost this week when three prominent and progressive entertainers agreed to serve as national co-chairs of the movement.

Grammy award-winning musician Carlos Santana and acclaimed actors Edward James Olmos and Martin Sheen “give the national holiday effort a tremendous boost and inspiration,” says Evelina Alarcon, executive director of César E. Chávez National Holiday. The Los Angeles-based organization is seeking to establish March 31, Chávez’s birthday, as the national holiday.

WIN Week In Review February 1-3, 2008

By Doug Cunningham

For workers the coming U.S. recession will mean they will be feeling it for years to come, not just the several months it typically takes for the economy to pull out of a recession. Economist Dean Baker is with the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

[Baker]: “Workers weren’t doing terribly well prior to the recession and we never really recovered from the last recession. We’re just getting back to where we were before the recession. So we had an upturn that really didn’t offer very much for workers, and the unfortunate part of the story is the downturn is going to be worse.”