“When you can’t get justice in the courthouse, or the state house, or the capitol, there’s only one place to get justice in this country, and that’s in the streets…The message today is, don’t make us come back”
By Rachel Feintzeig, The Wall Street Journal
The company that bought the Twinkie, HoHo and Ding Dong brands out of bankruptcy is gearing up to reopen plants and hire workers, but it won’t be using union labor.
By Bryce G. Hoffman, The Detroit News
A federal judge in Delaware is scheduled to hold a hearing today in the ongoing dispute between Fiat SpA and a United Auto Workers-run trust over the pricing of shares in Chrysler Group LLC. But a ruling is still not expected for another two months.
By Mackenzie Yang, TIME
Analyzing numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and other government agencies, Careercast.com has published its 25th annual rankings of 200 common jobs throughout the United States. The rankings are calculated based on work income, stress, hiring outlook and environment (including minimal physical demands). The top spot this year goes to actuaries — analysts who apply statistics and financial theory to help companies, particularly insurance firms, manage future financial risk.
By Congressman Doc Hastings, The Star
Last summer, news reports broke that the U.S. Department of Labor was effectively holding hostage the crops of blueberry farmers in Oregon until they signed documents agreeing to alleged violations to federal labor laws. Since then, similar cases have popped up on the west side of our own state of Washington.
PoliticalNews.me
U.S. Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the Public Employee Pension Transparency Act, legislation that will enhance transparency for state and local pensions and establish a clear federal prohibition on any future public pension bailouts by the federal government.
By Kerry Young, Roll Call
This may be small solace to airline passengers waiting out delays at airports in Los Angeles and New York, but the general consensus in Washington is that the real pain from budget cuts under the sequester may not be felt until the end of the summer or even next year. That’s because managers of federal agencies are using whatever flexibility they can, according to officials at agencies and unions representing workers, to cut down on furloughs to minimize disruptions in services.
By Josh Barro, Bloomberg
One of the reasons that pension crises sneaked up on state and local governments over the past few years is that pensions are complicated and their finances are easily misunderstood. If I promise to pay you $100 in 20 years, what sort of expense should I say I incurred this year? Governments have been allowed to come up with all sorts of answers to that question, including “zero.” Two developments this spring push us toward more honest accounting — but will they matter?
By Bill McMorris, The Washington Free Beacon
A vote on President Barack Obama’s controversial labor secretary nominee was postponed after Republican Senators summoned a whistleblower to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee.
By Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times
For more than half of my 38 years in the news business, I’ve been a member of a union, though I’m not currently. And my late father was a proud Teamster for decades.