Unions return to Democratic fold for 2012 election
After a falling out with the party, labor is back with
cash and other support, driven largely by Republican
attacks on collective bargaining.
By Matea Gold and Melanie Mason
The Los Angeles Times
February 19, 2012
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/19/nation/la-na-labor-politics-20120220
Reporting from Washington

Last May, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka stood a few
blocks from the White House and issued a stern warning:
Union members could not be counted on as the Democrats'
foot soldiers anymore. [...]

America's Last Hope: A Strong Labor Movement
To achieve economic justice in the 21st century, we
need to fight for democracy in the workplace

By Dorian Warren
February 19, 2012
Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/writer/dorian_warren/

The 99 Percent Plan is a joint Roosevelt Institute-
Salon series that explores how progressives can shape
a new vision for the economy. This is the third essay
in the series. [...]

1) Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice
2) Judicial Developments in Lockout Rights

1) Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice

Posted By admin On February 9, 2012

http://blog.aflcio.org/2012/02/09/locked-out-workers-to-embark-on-journey-for-justice/#more-69201

Amy Masciola, a union campaign consultant, sends us
this.

More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co.
locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the
Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two
months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more
than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week,
Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in
Ontario, just over one [...]

WEDNESDAY FEB 15, 2012 3:14 PM
Leadership Challenges Could Shake Up Nation's Biggest
Unions This Summer
BY MIKE ELK
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12747/leadership_challenges_could_shake_up_nation_biggest_unions_this_summer/

AFSCME showdown certain and SEIU challengers rumored, as
union conventions approach

This summer could offer some of the biggest union
leadership shake-ups in the recent history of the labor
movement. The incumbent leadership teams of two of the
nation's largest and most politically active unions--the
Service Employees International union (SEIU) and the
public employees union (AFSCME)--could see challenges at
their conventions in May and June, respectively. [...]

Wisconsin:Twenty-Two Faces of an American Uprising
By John Nichols
The Nation (blog)
February 14, 2012
http://www.thenation.com/blog/166229/twenty-faces-american-uprising

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
announced on February 11, 2011, that he would use a
bureaucratic "budget repair bill" as a vehicle to
attack collective-bargaining rights, civil-service
protections and local democracy, he expected a
reaction.

The governor went so far as threaten to call
out the National Guard to prevent protests from getting
out of hand. But Walker and his aides were certain that
they would be done with the fight in a week. Now, a
year later, Walker faces ongoing demonstrations,
increasing legislative [...]

Reader Response: Indiana and Right-to-Work

Dear Portside Labor,

Professor Fink's article [originally from Salon.com]
significantly misrepresents the numbers, militancy, and
ongoing fightback of unionized workers and Occupy
groups in reference to the effort to defeat the
recently passed right-to-work legislation. Below is
just one essay I wrote on the subject (of many). He can
also consult various reports on Democracy Now. In
addition, there were thousands of workers assembling
daily at the State House last spring, and 19 Democrats
in the state legislature who absented themselves then
and for a shorter time this winter. He is correct to
suggest that [...]

What's the Matter with Indiana?
The state's union busting provokes little opposition
compared to what went on in Wisconsin

by Leon Fink

Salon.com

February 7, 2012

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/07/whats_the_matter_with_indiana/

I, for one, felt there was one thing missing from an
otherwise exciting Super Bowl Sunday in my hometown of
Indianapolis. There was nary a public peep from union
workers about the twin hammer blows - the second delivered
only days before the big game - brought upon their heads by
the state's conservative Republican lawmakers. [...]

Labor's 1%

by Mark Zimmerman

Published by Portside
February 3, 2012

The staggering level of wealth and income inequality has
finally become a focal point of political discussion and
action in the United States. While the major problem is
clearly the enormous increase in the concentration of wealth
among the extremely wealthy, perhaps best described as the
"top tenth of the one percent," those in the lower tiers of
the one percent have benefited as well. [...]

Walker, ALEC take war on workers national
JOHN NICHOLS | Cap Times associate editor |
jnichols@madison.com
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/john_nichols/john-nichols-walker-alec-take-war-on-workers-national/article_c73b91a0-11a1-5280-8979-08c7d444157a.html

Two days after Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected Gov.
John Kasich's anti-labor agenda by 61 percent to 39
percent in a referendum, the nation's primary proponent
of the war on worker rights opened a new front.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker jetted to Arizona, where he
huddled with policymakers at the Phoenician Resort in
Scottsdale. After a series of closed-door sessions, he
briefed a thousand Arizona conservatives on how they
could attack "the big-government union bosses."
"We need to make big, fundamental, permanent structural
changes. [...]

American Labor Activist Just Does It for Indonesia
Workers
By Ulma Haryanto
The Jakarta Globe
February 06, 2012
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/american-labor-activist-just-does-it-for-the-workers/496258

A towering blond, 40-year old Jim Keady's presence is a
stark contrast to the group he has fervently defended
for the past decade.

Thousands of workers from a Nike plant in Serang,
Banten province, have Keady to thank for a victory
against their employer, who withheld overtime pay worth
nearly $1 million. [...]

CAW Threatens Electro-Motive Plant Occupation
Union says it won't accept minimum severance payment
CBC News
Feb 6, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2012/02/06/wdr-caw-electro-motive-occupy.html

The Canadian Auto Workers union is threatening to
occupy the Electro-Motive plant in London, Ont., if
parent company Caterpillar doesn't offer the out-of-
work employees a severance package it deems reasonable.

Progress Rail, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Caterpillar, announced the closure of the plant last
Friday, putting nearly 500 workers out of a job. [...]

1. Why Black Union Workers Matter In This Year’s Super
Bowl Showdown by Jamilah King, Colorlines

2. NFL Players Opposed To Right-to-work, Lockout Taught
Us Power Of The Team by Demaurice Smith, Concord
Monitor

Why Black Union Workers Matter In This Year’s Super
Bowl Showdown

by Jamilah King
Thursday, February 2 2012, 9:51 AM EST

http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/02/super_bowl_2012.html

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was not supposed to be among
this year’s Super Bowl story lines. This year’s
contenders, the New England Patriots and the New York
Giants, should instead be taking center stage. Yet less
than a week before America’s biggest sporting event [...]

Two on CAT Closing of Locomotive Plant

CAW Outraged at Closure Announcement at Electro-Motive
in London

February 3, 2012, 11:30 AM EST

http://caw.ca/en/10929.htm

Canadian Auto Workers Union

CAW President Ken Lewenza is expressing his anger and
frustration at what is he calling the "callous move" by
Caterpillar to suddenly close its London Electro-Motive
Diesel plant, announced this morning.

Sadly, the closure doesn't come as a total surprise to
the union. [...]

Three Kaiser Unions Walk Out Again in California, while
SEIU Stays Put
Steve Early
February 1, 2012
http://labornotes.org/2012/02/three-kaiser-unions-walk-out-again-california-hospitals-while-seiu-stays-put

As three unions at the Kaiser Permanente health care
chain in California pulled a one-day statewide walkout
yesterday, their solidarity went unmatched by the
company's largest union, the Service Employees.

In Modesto, Shawna Stewart, a steward and board member
for SEIU's United Healthcare Workers West (UHW), began
receiving calls from members asking whether it was OK to
honor the picket lines of 22,000 members of the National
Union of Healthcare Workers, the California Nurses
Association, and the Operating Engineers. [...]

Occupy the Super Bowl: Now More Than Just a Slogan.
By Dave Zirin
The Nation Blogs
Jan. 31, 2012
http://www.thenation.com/blog/165952/occupy-super-bowl-605222222222now-more-just-slogan

"Upsetting the Super Bowl-- I couldn't care less.
This is about my life and my family."
--Lou Feldman, IBEW local 668

The sheer volume of the Super Bowl is overpowering:
the corporate branding, the sexist beer ads, the miasma
of Madison Avenue-produced militarism, the two-hour
pre-game show. [...]

Egypt’s New Labor Movement Comes of Age
Ben Moxham
Stronger Unions, via LabourStart
January 30th, 2012

http://strongerunions.org/2012/01/30/egypt%E2%80%99s-new-labour-movement-comes-of-age/?utm_source=dlvr.itutm_medium=twitter

On the desert-battered outskirts of Cairo, in a kitsch
marble convention centre, the Egyptian Federation
of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU) has just
announced to Egypt and the world that it has come
of age. EFITU was born in the inspiration and chaos
of Tahrir square, exactly 12 months to the day. Since
then they have been organising, organising and
organising. Today was a chance to show the results
and I was blown away. [...]

Kaiser Permanente Caregivers To Strike Statewide
Tuesday

By Rachel Raskin Zrihen
Posted: 01/25/2012 01:01:58 AM PST

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_19816422

Thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees, including
hundreds in Vallejo, will walk off the job Tuesday in
what organizers say is the largest such action in the
HMO's history.

While recognizing their right to do so, Kaiser
officials expressed "disappointment and concern"
Tuesday over next week's work stoppage, particularly
among its nurses who promise a sympathy strike. [...]

Labour And Globalization: As Conflicts Go International, Unions Follow Suit

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/27/labour-globalization-unions-international_n_1236103.html

On any battleground, common wisdom has long held that
defeating an adversary often owes a great deal to one's
ability to think like the enemy.

So it comes as little surprise that as transnational
corporations use their global reach to cut costs -- and
workers' pay -- the labour movement has begun to take a
similar tack. From picket lines to backroom
discussions, big labour is banding together across
sectoral, national and international borders in an
attempt to capitalize on the very forces that for years
have been employed [...]

Labor Takes Early Shots At Romney, Republicans--On and
Off Air
WEDNESDAY JAN 25, 2012 6:27 PM
DAVID MOBERG
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12621/labor_takes_early_shots_at_romney_republicans--on_and_off_air/

Without a Democratic presidential primary contest,
unions this year are taking early potshots at Republican
primary candidates--especially Mitt Romney--and other GOP
leaders through radio and TV ads, as well as other
means.

The aim seems less to influence Republican primary
voters than to define Romney, who until this week
following Newt Gingrich's South Carolina primary victory
was the front-runner in the race, and to gain leverage
on other labor issues by tying them to high-profile
Republicans vulnerable to bad publicity. [...]

Not all jobs are equal
A lower unemployment rate isn't enough.
Americans need work that pays the bills.
By Jonathan Tasini
Los Angeles Times
January 24, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-tasini-high-unemployment-is-just-part-of-the-20120124,0,4204870.story

Politicians bickering over private equity's impact on
jobs and how to bring down the high unemployment rate
are entirely missing the point about the crisis facing
working Americans. The predicament we face isn't simply
that there are too few jobs; it's also that an
increasing number of workers don't have the kind of job
that can pay the bills. [...]