Anti-austerity protests ignited again this week in Spain and Greece as the governments of the two countries prepared to implement new austerity measures. In Spain thousands of people on September 25 surrounded the country’s Congress in Madrid carrying signs reading, “NO” and demanding that the government, which has imposed a series of austerity measures that […]
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Archive | September, 2012
Quebec students declare victory as government cancels tuition increases
September 26, 2012 
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Higher education students in Quebec declared victory as newly elected provincial Premier Pauline Marois of the Parti Quebecois announced that she was cancelling a proposed tuition increase. Last spring hundreds of thousands of university and college students in Quebec went on strike to protest the tuition increase proposed by the outgoing Liberal Party government. Quebec has […]
Read moreTexans demand health care coverage for uninsured
September 25, 2012 1 Comment
About 500 people from all over Texas on Friday, September 21 converged on Austin and marched into the State Capitol to ask Gov. Rick Perry why he rejected federal funding that would have expanded Medicaid access to two million Texans. Before the demonstrators entered the Capitol, Durrel Douglas of the Texas Organizing Project, explained what they wanted to hear […]
Read moreGender discrimination suit against Walmart proceeds
September 24, 2012 0 Comments
A federal judge in California ruled that a gender discrimination suit against Walmart can proceed despite objections by the retail giant. US Judge Charles Breyer on September 21 handed down his decision in San Francisco and said that he would rule later on whether the suit would be certified as a class action. The US Supreme Court in June 2011 […]
Read moreBoeing engineers and technical workers protest contract offer
September 21, 2012 0 Comments
Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) on September 19 held a spontaneous lunch time march and rally at the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington to show their disgust with Boeing’s latest contract offer. About 1,500 engineers and technical workers took part in the demonstration. Since April, SPEEA and Boeing had […]
Read moreUnions and Verizon reach tentative agreement
September 20, 2012 0 Comments
Verizon and unions representing its 43,000 East Coast workers on September 19 reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. Union members over the next month will vote on whether to accept or reject the agreement. “We stood up to the most sweeping and intense attack on our standard of living and bargaining rights in the history […]
Read moreIn Chicago, organization + mobilization + education = victory
September 19, 2012 0 Comments
Students and teachers returned to Chicago public schools on Wednesday the day after the Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body, the House of Delegates, voted overwhelmingly to suspend their strike. Union members will now have the opportunity to review and vote on the tentative agreement that the Chicago Public Schools and the union reached over the weekend. […]
Read moreMore Walmart warehouse workers go on strike
September 18, 2012 0 Comments
Workers at another Walmart warehouse–this one in Elwood Illinois, near Chicago–have gone on strike to protest wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and employer retaliation. On Thursday, September 14, workers at the Elwood warehouse filed a wage theft lawsuit against their employer, Roadlink Workforce Solutions, a temporary staffing company that supplies and manages Walmart’s Elwood warehouse […]
Read moreChicago teachers consider tentative agreement; strike continues
September 17, 2012 0 Comments
Delegates to the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted to continue their strike for at least two more days, so that rank and file teachers can have a chance to review and discuss the tentative agreement worked out over the weekend during negotiations between the union and management of the Chicago Public Schools. “This […]
Read moreWalmart warehouse workers strike over inhumane conditions
September 14, 2012 0 Comments
Workers at a Walmart distribution center in Mira Loma, California walked off the job earlier this week to protest what the workers called inhumane working conditions. “They treat us like animals,” said one of the striking workers. “They treat us worse than animals.” “It gets really hot and we heat up really fast,” said another […]
Read moreTexas pension hearings make the case for maintaining public pensions
September 13, 2012 0 Comments
A Texas House committee recently wrapped up its hearing on design changes to the state’s public pensions. Expert testimony during the two-day hearing agreed that traditional defined benefit pension plans are the most cost-effective way to provide retirement security to public employees throughout the state, including teachers, state employees, and local government employees. The hearings were held […]
Read moreIn first Texas contract, Nurses win voice in patient care standards
September 11, 2012 0 Comments
Registered nurses at four Texas hospitals recently approved first-time contracts that give them a voice in establishing safe patient-care standards. The nurses belong to the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNU). They work at Las Palmas Medical Center and Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, the Corpus Christi Medical Center, and the Valley […]
Read moreChicago teachers, school staff on strike!
September 10, 2012 0 Comments
Chicago public school teachers, support staff, and other education professionals went on strike today. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said that some progress has been made at the bargaining table but not enough to avoid a strike. “Negotiations have been intense but productive,” Lewis said. ”However, we have failed to reach an agreement that can avoid a labor […]
Read moreChicago teachers file charges and prepare to strike
September 7, 2012 0 Comments
The Chicago Teachers Union(CTU) on September 6 filed unfair labor practice charges with the Illinois Labor Board against the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The union charged the school system with imposing contract changes while negotiations for a new contract are in progress. The union said that if the negotiations do not result in a fair […]
Read moreWarehouse workers to march for justice
September 6, 2012 0 Comments
Warehouse workers in Southern California announced yesterday that next week they will begin a 50-mile pilgrimage to end illegal and inhumane working conditions where they work and to demand that Walmart take responsibility for ending these conditions in warehouses operated by Walmart contractors. “Temperatures (at the warehouses) top 100 degrees,” said Limber Herrera, a warehouse […]
Read moreReport: Teachers’ pension is good for Texas
September 4, 2012 1 Comment
After an exhaustive study, the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS) last week presented a report to the state’s Legislative Budget Board showing that changing the state’s largest public pension plan could increase the state’s pension liability by as much as $11.7 billion, increase the state retirement costs, and possibly result in benefit cuts. Despite the potential costs and benefit reductions, opponents […]
Read moreCoalition urges gov. to reject Kerrville State Hospital privatization
September 3, 2012 0 Comments
A civil rights group is asking people to sign a petition urging Texas Governor Rick Perry to reject a proposal by GEO Care to privatize a state hospital in Kerrville. Grassroots Leadership, the group sponsoring the petition, also announced that a coalition of civil rights, faith-based organizations, mental health advocates, and the Texas State Employees Union […]
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