Forum Post: Happy May Day

Join May Day Celebrations for Workers' and Immigrant Rights

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Global-Action/Join-May-Day-Celebrations-for-Workers-and-Immigrant-Rights

The Future of Work, Unions? Tune into the AFL-CIO Tweet Chat with President Trumka

05/01/2013

We need to talk—about the future of workers and the union movement. We've all seen the numbers: People are working harder (and have longer hours) and still can't get ahead. Staggering inequality is on the rise and fewer workers have a voice on the job. So we're asking the tough questions:

• What's the future going to be for working people? • How can we build a real movement for broadly shared prosperity? • What should unions look like tomorrow?

That's where you come in.

The AFL-CIO is calling on everyone: Affiliate unions, worker centers, community and faith groups, students and young workers, civil and human rights activists, DREAMers—everyone—to weigh in on these big questions.

On Monday, May 6, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will kick off the conversation with a Twitter chat around these questions. We hope you join us at 3:30 p.m. ET by following @RichardTrumka and the hashtag #1uFuture.

Starting on Monday and leading up to the AFL-CIO 2013 convention in September, we're also gathering ideas from you on our new website, which will highlight specific questions about the future of work each week, facilitated by leading academics, reporters and innovative organizers.

The website will go live May 6 at www.aflcio2013.org.

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Organizing-Bargaining/The-Future-of-Work-Unions-Tune-into-the-AFL-CIO-Tweet-Chat-with-President-Trumka

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Global May Day Marches Boil With Frustration, Fury Over A Brutal Year For Workers

...The Bangladesh tragedy drew a denunciation from Pope Francis as he addressed worshippers at a private Mass at the Vatican. He blasted what he called the “slave” wages of those who died, many of whom were being buried Wednesday as other bodies were still being pulled from the rubble. Francis criticized the focus on “balance books” and personal profit that he said are tied to the failure to pay workers fair wages...

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/this-may-day-factory-workers-a-lot-to-rally-for.php?ref=fpb

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May Day protests: From Bangladesh to Europe, angry workers rally in the tens of thousands

But this year's May Day demonstrations come on the heels of the tragic Bangladesh factory collapse, a potent symbol for many of the importance of workers' rights.

...May 1 is a national holiday in some 80 countries around the world, and its ties to labor advocacy date back to 1886, when American police killed 10 protestors at a rally for an eight-hour workday in Chicago’s Haymarket Square. International socialist organization and labor unions declared it a day of commemoration and action soon after.

Ironically, however, May Day is not celebrated in the United States. In the early 1890s, fearing the “socialist” overtones of the holiday, President Grover Cleveland quickly declared an alternate holiday, beginning the American tradition of celebrating Labor Day on the first Monday of September [to sell mattresses and cars]...

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2013/0501/May-Day-protests-From-Bangladesh-to-Europe-angry-workers-rally-in-the-tens-of-thousands?nav=87-frontpage-entryInsideMonitor

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When Your Boss Steals Your Wages: The Invisible Epidemic That’s Sweeping America

Wage theft is fast becoming a top trend of the 21st-century labor market.

April 25, 2013 |

Editor's note: This article is part of an ongoing AlterNet series, "The Age of Fraud."

Imagine you’ve just landed a job with a big-time retailer. Your task is to load and unload boxes from trucks and containers. It’s back-breaking work. You toil 12 to 16 hours a day, often without a lunch break. Sweat drenches your clothes in the 90-degree heat, but you keep going: your kids need their dinner. One day, your supervisor tells you that instead of being paid an hourly wage, you will now get paid for the number of containers you load or unload. This will be great for you, your supervisor says: More money! But you open your next paycheck to find it shrunken to the point that you are no longer even making minimum wage. You complain to your supervisor, who promptly sends you home without pay for the day. If you pipe up again, you’ll be looking for another job.

(Continued:) http://www.alternet.org/labor/when-your-boss-steals-your-wages-invisible-epidemic-thats-sweeping-america

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Why Economic Criminals View Bangladesh as a Model for Workers Everywhere

Low wages and horrible conditions are just dandy in the neoclassical economic textbook.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/why-economic-criminals-view-bangladesh-model-workers-everywhere

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Michigan Moms and Workers vs. Restaurant Industry and ALEC

Austin Taxi Drivers Affiliate with AFL-CIO, Gain Voice on the Job

Oregon Unions Work Together to Help Head Start Workers Win a Voice on the Job

http://blog.workingamerica.org/

http://www.workingamerica.org/

Unite and Win, People!