Labor Union Blog

Economic Report:

Americans are burning our, or at least they feel like they are burning out. A new study from Harris Interactive has found that 78 percent of American workers say they feel burned out. Forty-five percent attribute it to a heavy workload while 23 percent are unhappy with the balance between work and their social lives. However, many workers confuse stress with burning out. Some signs of actual burn out include detachment, isolation, apathy, and hopelessness.

Dell is being hit by a class action lawsuit. Jesse Russell reports:

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Dell, alleging that the computer maker violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and underpaid call center workers. The suit was filed by two Dell workers, but was opened up for class action status to include 5000 additional workers. The allegations in the suit say that Dell only allows supervisors to make changes in the time keeping system, which has been underreporting how many hours are worked. The workers allege that the supervisors aren’t making the necessary corrections and

Newspaper workers spent Thursday protesting as Tribune Company prepares to make job cuts today. At the Baltimore Sun 100 black folding chairs were lined up to represent the 100 jobs being cut at the paper, but as of yesterday no one knew how the layoffs would be handled by the company. Sixty jobs will be cut in the newsroom.

By Doug Cunningham

At its convention in Chicago the American Federation of Teachers voted to endorse the Conyers single payer universal national health care bill in Congress. HR676 would create a real national health care plan covering all medically necessary care by expanding a greatly improved Medicare system. The sweeping health care reform would eliminate deductibles and co-payments. There are 90 co-sponsors in the U.S. House right now. More than 400 different labor union organizations have endorsed the Conyers health care bill.

By Doug Cunningham

On Thursday the SEIU rallied for what it called a Global Day of Action to take back the economy against private equity firms. One of the goals, according to the SEIU, is to get Congress to close tax loopholes that give private equity firms big tax breaks that reward the destruction of jobs when equity firms buy, slash and sell companies. SEIU says if these tax loopholes were closed to the “buyout billionaires” $31 billion in government revenue would be generated. That money could be used for healthcare or for middle-class tax cuts rather than stuffing the already overstuffed pockets of private equity firm owners.

The nation’s labor movement is “more relevant today than ever,” but unions need to help the general public “connect the dots” between a strong and growing union movement and improving their lives, says Phil Dine, veteran St. Louis Post-Dispatch labor reporter.

Dine, author of State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence, spoke to a lunch-time crowd at the AFL-CIO here in Washington, D.C., today.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka introduced Dine, who has spent more than 20 years covering unions and workers, and is one of the few remaining labor reporters in the mainstream media. Trumka gave Dine high praise, describing him as “not some Beltway pundit but a grassroots labor reporter.”