Celebrate the Bread & Roses Centennial!

mbtc2 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:22:59 -0500

This is the central website for the Bread & Roses Centennial Committee. The intent of the centennial is to tell the fascinating story of the strike while also using it as a lens with which we can discuss pertinent issues facing our society today and in the future. Visit the site for information on events.

‘Bread And Roses’ Still Resonates

mbtc2 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:15:35 -0500

ONE HUNDRED years ago tomorrow, thousands of angry textile workers abandoned their looms and poured into the frigid streets of Lawrence. Like Occupy Wall Street in our own gilded age, this unexpected grassroots protest cast a dramatic spotlight on the problem of social and economic inequality. In all of US labor history, there are few better examples of the synergy between radical activism and indigenous militancy.

Falling Behind

mbtc2 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:39:40 -0500

NYT Editorial: The Federal Minimum Wage Is $2.60 Below What It Should Be

NLRB Finalizes Union Election Rule

mbtc2 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:25:40 -0500

The chairman of the NLRB said, “This rule is about giving all employees who have petitioned for an election the right to vote in a timely manner and without the impediment of needless litigation,” Mark Pearce, a Democrat, said in a statement.

TRIPLE JEOPARDY: Misclassification Costs Workers Wages, Robs Government of Revenue and Local Business of a Chance To Compete

mbtc2 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:28:15 -0500

There is an epidemic in the United States, a disease coursing through the veins of the American workforce. It has not been contracted by neglect, but by willful deception. It is worker misclassification.

How Some Employers Skirt Paying Benefits

mbtc2 — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:34:57 -0500

The U.S. Labor Department is cracking down on businesses that call their workers "independent contractors" in order to deny them wages or benefits. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says this hurts more than just employees, "These have astronomical impacts on local governments, state governments and federal government and also hurts good, legitimate businesses that are playing by the rules and for employees that are being ripped off,"

Big Win For Workers in NH as Right-To-Work Veto Override Fails

mbtc2 — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:28:27 -0500

A veto of a so-called Right-To-Work bill that would bar unions from collecting a share of costs from nonmembers was sustained Wednesday. New Hampshire workers rallied at the Statehouse to support Gov. Lynch's veto. The gallery and the hallways surrounding the House chambers were packed.

Richard Trumka Profile - Esquire Magazine's Americans of the Year 2011

mbtc2 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:49:31 -0500

The American worker has been getting thrashed for thirty years. Jobs leaving the country, wages flat, his boss getting rich. One coal miner from Pennsylvania knows exactly what to do about it.

At 12:01 A.M. Wisconsin Workers Launched Walker Recall

mbtc2 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:52:28 -0500

Thousands of Wisconsin volunteers kicked off the official signature gathering period to put Walker’s recall before the voters next year. Recall forces now have 60 days to gather some 540,000 signatures.

Thousands Rally Against Possible Social Security Cuts - Boston Globe

mbtc2 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:17:40 -0500

About 3,200 seniors and labor union members from Massachusetts and other Northeast states filled the Wang Theatre downtown yesterday to protest potential cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs being considered in the drive to reduce the federal deficit.

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