Labor Union Blog

Economic Report:

Have you found yourself living paycheck to paycheck? You aren’t quite in the minority, but a new study shows you are very close. A new study by CareerBuilder.com reveals that 47 percent of Americans say they typically live paycheck to paycheck and it isn’t just those that make less than $100,000. The study showed that 21 percent who pull in $100,000 or more live paycheck to paycheck. As a result, Americans aren’t saving. Thirty-four percent save less than $100 a month for savings.

Automobile workers in the Brazilian state of San Paulo went on a 24-hour strike on Wednesday. The 5000 workers at plants that assemble vehicles for GM, Daimler, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz walked off the job demanding a 18.83 percent pay increase.

Automobile workers in the Brazilian state of San Paulo went on a 24-hour strike on Wednesday. The 5000 workers at plants that assemble vehicles for GM, Damler, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz walked off the job demanding a 18.83 percent pay increase.

Workers rights were violated by a hotel in Waikiki according to charges the National Labor Relations Board has agreed to hear. Jesse Russell reports:

The National Labor Relations Board agreed to open a hearing regarding charges by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union that the owners of the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki abused the rights of workers. The ILWU has filed numerous charges against the hotel including one allegation that says the hotel fired all employees and ordered them to reapply for jobs. The union alleges this was an illegal firing aimed at union activity. The hotel will respond to the allegations during a November 4 hearing. The charges date back to January of 2007.

By Doug Cunningham

Police raids that targeted activists and journalists at the Republican National Convention – and resulted in the arrest of Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman - are expected to trigger lawsuits. Anticipating that, a special deal was cut that required the Republican Party’s host committee to buy insurance covering police liability up to $10 million. Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police Brutality says this special insurance agreement means there’s nothing to hold police back from using excessive force, since they won’t be liable. Democracy Now host Amy Goodman was arrested as she tried to question police about earlier arrests of Democracy Now journalists. Here’s what it sounded like when Goodman was cuffed.

Nearly 100 million workers don't have paid sick days to care for a sick child.

When workers took time off for illness or to care for a sick family member, one in six say they were fired, disciplined or threatened by their employer, according to a new national survey. Also, a new report finds the United States ranks at the bottom of 21 high-income nations in providing parental leave for workers.

The survey, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago, also found that 86 percent of those polled say employers should be required to provide paid sick leave, and more than 80 percent say paid sick leave should be a basic workplace right on par with the minimum wage, overtime laws and other workplace standards.

Workers and supporters argue that the Employee Free Choice Act is necessary to balance the coercive tactics employers use to thwart employees’ freedom to form unions and bargain. Now comes support for that argument from the bastion of pro-business journalism, The Wall Street Journal.

Writing in today’s Journal, columnist Thomas Frank calls the Chamber of Commerce’s and corporations’ “venomous backlash” against the Employee Free Choice Act one of the “yawning hypocrisies that make up the very substance of political life.”

On Labor Day, the workers’ advocacy group American Rights at Work launched a national TV ad campaign to inform the public about the critical issues facing America’s struggling middle class. The ads build on the broad public support for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would level the playing field and allow workers to freely decide how to choose unions so they can bargain for a better life.

The ads are part of a huge, new coordinated effort among workers' rights advocates, progressives and the union movement to make passage of the legislation a major issue in the 2008 election. The new ads will run on national cable outlets and in states throughout the country, including Oregon, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Maine. The state ads urge viewers to call the state’s lawmakers and express support for the legislation. (See the national video.)

As the Republican Convention gets under way in Minnesota this week and delegates recharge after the Democratic Convention in Denver, both parties’ platforms are now available, and they illuminate key differences as the election approaches.

When Sen. John McCain accepts the Republican nomination on Thursday, he’ll also be signing on to a platform that tilts far away from working families and toward the corporate interests that have been the beneficiaries of the Bush administration. It stands in contrast to a Democratic platform that reflects Sen. Barack Obama’s strong commitment to making the economy work for all.