Labor/Unions

My favorite progressive group, Citizen Action-IL, had its annual dinner. It's always a great event. This year, SOS Jesse White was honored.

Thought of the day

From a recent mailing from Senator Durbin (IL-D):

Stand with the Wisconsin 14

An assault on unions anywhere is an assault on working families everywhere.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed.

Linda Kaboolian in a blog post for the NY Times appropriately titled, 'It's Not About Money':

More fear-mongering in order to achieve partisan ends this time (not surprisingly) in Wisconsin from Brian Beutler at TPM:

Wisconsin Gov. Walker Ginned Up Budget Shortfall To Undercut Worker Rights

Wisconsin's new Republican governor has framed his assault on public worker's collective bargaining rights as a needed measure of fiscal austerity during tough times.

h/t Barry Ritholtz

Here's an interesting question:

Walmart is trying to bust into the Chicago market with a 2nd store, thus dragging down the wages and working conditions of employees at competitor companies, many of whom are represented by the good people at UFCW.

So, in order for them to grease the way so to speak, this monster corporation has flooded the airwaves with testimonials supposedly from employees of how awesome Walmart as an employer is.

I've heard the same commercial over and over again on the CBS affiliate WBBM the whole week.

I think Matt Yglesias has been going to the wrong protests:

"Getting people to come out every once in a while hold a 'protest' is, by contrast, pretty easy. And in the right frame of mind, it’s even fun. I’ve had fun doing it. But it doesn’t really change anything."

Picketing and other forms of protest are routine ways that progressives can make their voices heard.

Just about the best endorsement the Dems could get. From the WSJ:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

[h/t ThinkProgress]