by Kevin Sharkey [courtesy of Blog for America]

AFL-CIO Weblog | Pay Discrimination OK by McCain 

District may have to cut jobs | floridatoday.comFLORIDA TODAY

Report alleges abuse in Asia shrimp industry – CNN.com

 TBRC sends $9.5 billion tax swap to voters by Aaron Deslatte Orlando Sentinel -

 More on Les Miller v. Haridopolos by Aaron Deslatte Orlando Sentinel -

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

This is fantastic.

Senator John McCain does not plan to make any public statements during today's brief visit to The Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach.

But union families, organized through the Monterey Bay Labor Council, intend to make some of their own.

A union demonstration against the senator's economic policies will take place at noon at the Highway 1 entrance to Pebble Beach during McCain's $2,300-per-person fundraising luncheon. The demonstration is part of the AFL-CIO's recently launched $53 million "McCain Revealed" campaign, which focuses on McCain's support of President George W. Bush's economic policies, which the AFL-CIO claims have hurt working Americans.

McCain's spent three days here in California, giving speeches that show he's as out of touch with America's domestic and foreign policy challenges as he is unsuccessful with a teleprompter.  Please come back, John, we'll leave the light on for ya.  Between this labor muscle and a general distaste for Republicans, the more McSame wastes his time arguing for a third Bush term in California, the better.

by Susan Rowe [courtesy of Blog for America]

Job Announcement

Political Director

Central Labor Council of Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings Counties

The Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings Counties Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO is the chartered Central Labor Council of the national AFL-CIO in the four County area and is compromised of 60 affiliated Local Unions, made up of AFL-CIO , Change to Win, Public and Private sector and Trades Locals, representing over 65,000 union members. We represent working men and women by forming coalitions with community partners and serve as the center for labor’s political activity. Our mission is to build a more just, equitable and democratic society and to improve the economic well being of working families.Duties and Responsibilities of the Labor Council Political Director.

See Job Description and Employment Qualifications under the fold...

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Matt Ortega [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

(Note: I am an online organizer with It's OUR Healthcare!, a coalition of over 100 member organizations that includes the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.)

Art Pulaski, the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, posted a statement featured on the California Progress Report outlining the labor organization's "support if amended" stance on ABx1 1, the recently released healthcare proposal from Democratic leadership in the State Legislature.

In the statement, Pulaski voiced strong support for creating a baseline on employer contributions towards healthcare for all employees and the creation of a statewide purchasing pool which he says "allows millions of Californians to pool their risk and resources in order to negotiate for more affordable healthcare." Pulaski also noted support for the expansion of public programs and accompanying tax credits under ABx1 1.

However, Pulaski writes that "[d]espite these important advances, ABx1 1 still falls short." Find out where and his recommendations on how to fix it below the fold.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Today I had the high honor of taking over the Fire Dog Lake weekly labor issues blog post. Here is was was published thanks to Tula over at the AFL-CIO. It is an update to an earlier piece. Go read the comments!

The Daily News is well known for being virulently anti-worker. Basically, the paper takes the position that everyone should be making poor wages and grateful for having a job, no matter how dangerous. The paper supports privatization and job outsourcing and routinely editorializes against workers’ rights issues.

The other week, the paper published a breathless report about the salaries of Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) employees, publishing the name, job title and corresponding salary of all employees in a searchable online database, in tandem with an article about how much they make.