Labor

The premiere lobby group representing the private equity industry has surprised many observers by staying neutral in the epic battle between business and labor over the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would dramatically alter the rules for forming a union.
Unions support the bill because it would make union organizing easier. Big business opposes [...]

One in five union activists gets illegally fired in the run-up to unionization elections, economist Dean Baker said at an event held at the National Press Club, Tuesday. Baker’s estimate is based on data compiled by the National Labor Relations Board and analyzed by Baker’s colleagues at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) [...]

In his fifth press conference in as many days this week, President-elect Obama completed his cabinet appointments, tapping Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as secretary of labor and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as secretary of transportation. He also named former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as the U.S. trade representative, a cabinet-level post, and selected Karen Mills [...]

Saying the Democrats’ Detroit bailout plan “guarantees failure at taxpayer expense,” House Republicans on Wednesday introduced an alternative blueprint asking union workers to take a pay cut and give up benefits.
The current powers that be — both in Washington and Detroit — can’t be trusted to fix a problem they created, the Republicans say. From [...]

Among the many ad-libbed lines during President-elect Barack Obama’s remarks this morning at the National Governor’s Association was one that may raise the eyebrows of environmental and labor activists.