May 17, 2008
Last week security guards working at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California went on strike to protest illegal anti-union activities on the part of their employer, Inter-Con Security. Instead of hiring security guards directly in California, or using a union-friendly security contractor, Kaiser contracts with Inter-Con. The strike lasted three days.
...Stephen Elliott | Posted May 13, 2008 | Politics
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has failed to come out against Proposition 98, the landlord scheme to end rent control in California. The proposition, which would take away municipalities' ability to make their own housing policies based on their own specific needs, is hidden behind the fake title of...
Dave Johnson | Posted May 10, 2008 | Business
This week I wrote about the Kaiser Permanente / Inter-Con Security Security Guard strike.
The post Security Guards Striking for the Right to Have Our Laws Enforced discussed why the guards are striking. They are employees of Inter-Con Security, Inc., which contracts services to Kaiser Permanente facilities in California....
Dave Johnson | Posted May 9, 2008 | Business
I have been writing about the strike by California Kaiser Permanente security guards working for contractor Inter-Con Security, who are demanding that laws be enforced and their rights be honored.
SEIU sent out a press release on the situation, titled, Workers With No Healthcare Protecting Kaiser Facilities, Security...
Dave Johnson | Posted May 7, 2008 | Business
Yesterday I wrote about the security guards who are striking at Kaiser Permanente because their contractor-employer is engaging in illegal tactics while trying to block them from forming a union. The guards work for Inter-Con Security Inc., which is contracted by Kaiser to provide security services.
You can read...
Dave Johnson | Posted May 6, 2008 | Business
There is a three-day strike starting today at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in California. 1800 security guards are striking for three days in an "unfair labor practice" action. This strike is not against Kaiser and is not to ask for money or benefits; it is not even to form a...
Andy Stern | Posted April 25, 2008 | Politics
There is a real and important debate being held in both the labor movement and in our country right now about how to best serve workers' interests.
We believe it is both healthy and a sign of a vibrant democracy for people to stand up -- in both their...
Kelly Candaele | Posted April 17, 2008 | Off The Bus
By Peter Dreier and Kelly Candaele
Just as we are on the precipice of a major political realignment, a possible resurgence of progressive politics in Washington, the backbone of that movement -- organized labor -- is engaged in a self-destructive internal battle. This could not only...
Peter Dreier | Posted April 17, 2008 | Off The Bus
By Peter Dreier and Kelly Candaele
Just as we are on the precipice of a major political realignment, a possible resurgence of progressive politics in Washington, the backbone of that movement -- organized labor -- is engaged in a self-destructive internal battle. This could not only...
Dr. Karen Stephen | Posted April 16, 2008 | Politics
I've had a number of brief flirtations in my life. One was in 1993. I decided to become a manager. The experience was earmarked by all the characteristics of brief flirtations: heady anticipation followed by heaps of disappointment. As with all ill-fated assignations, a singular moment in time marked its...
Raquel Mack | Posted April 16, 2008 | Living
Last weekend, I joined with 1500 of my colleagues to sign the first ever union contract for private security officers in Washington, D.C. It was a big deal. Even the Washington Post wrote about our win -- how we secured a significant hourly pay increase, minimum annual raises, paid sick...
Jamie Court | Posted April 15, 2008 | Politics
Hundreds of Service Employee International Union (SEIU) staff and members stormed a progressive union gathering in Dearborn, Michigan this Saturday -- dispensing injuries, bruises and split heads to conference-goers at a Labor Notes magazine strategy session. Today AFL-CIO President John Sweeney spoke out against the violence and called...
Deborah Burger | Posted April 13, 2008 | Politics
In its latest deplorable action, the Service Employees International Union bused in hundreds of its purple clad staff to break up a conference of union members and activists Saturday night in Dearborn, Mich.
Ironically enough, union democracy and empowering workers was one of the themes of the conference, sponsored by...
Deborah Burger | Posted April 11, 2008 | Politics
Roving bands of Service Employee International Union staff showed up on the home doorsteps of leaders of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Association Thursday, harassing and verbally threatening them in a disgraceful escalation of SEIU International's campaign against CNA/NNOC.
Notably, the attacks focused on women leaders forced to confront squads...
Scott Hanson | Posted March 27, 2008 | Politics
Last week, I read in the New York Times how the "unusually militant" California Nurses Association (CNA) swarmed into Ohio hospitals and broke up a scheduled union vote for some 8,300 Ohio hospital workers to join with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
It didn't make much sense...
Stephanie Taylor | Posted March 25, 2008 | Politics
There are 8,000 hospital workers in Ohio who should have joined the union last week but did not -- because of the union-busting tactics of the California Nurses Association. I used to work for SEIU District 1199 in Ohio, working for years on this very campaign to unionize nurses,...
Chicago Tribune | Stephen Franklin | March 13, 2008 12:50 AM
The Atlantic | Marc Ambinder | February 25, 2008 01:28 PM
Lynn Radcliffe | Posted February 15, 2008 | Politics
Today, when my union--the Service Employees International Union--endorsed Barack Obama for President--I felt that same surge of excitement that has been sweeping the nation: the time to reclaim the American Dream for workers is now, and Barack Obama is our ticket.
I work for the Cleveland Municipal School...
AP | JESSE J. HOLLAND | February 15, 2008
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Dave Johnson | Posted May 16, 2008 | Media