@LRToday Morning Round-Up: March 8, 2012
"Blumenthal, Durbin, Harkin introduce bill protecting union rights" -- NorwalkPlus.com
...Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT) Act. This legislation would modify present law to ensure workers are not stripped of their union protection.
“The RESPECT Act is a crucial step toward ensuring hardworking men and women are not unjustly denied the right to join a labor union,” said Blumenthal. “This legislation corrects flaws in current statute that would otherwise unfairly prevent millions of workers from joining together in setting key terms of their employment. Without these rights, they could experience lower wages, fewer benefits, and deteriorating working conditions. Protecting the rights of workers in Connecticut and across the country to join together in good faith is central to the growth of the middle-class, and this bill protects those rights.”
"CEOs urge legislators not to put off tough issues until election" -- Washington Times
One day after a face-to-face meeting with President Obama, a group of some of the nation’s most powerful business leaders challenged Washington lawmakers not to wait until after the fall election to take action on immigration, tax reform and the government’s fiscal woes.
“[America’s economic competitors] are not waiting until after the November elections before making meaningful policy changes and we shouldn’t either,” said W. James McNerney Jr., Boeing CEO.
"Nursing home workers to picket Friday" -- Connecticut Post
Workers at HealthBridge Management LLC-owned nursing homes in Danbury and Westport plan to picket Friday afternoon in support of colleagues who have been locked out at a Milford facility also owned by HealthBridge.
Caregivers from four other nursing homes operated by the New Jersey-based company will join the picket lines protesting what union leaders have called an "unlawful" lockout of employees at the West River Health Care Center.
"United Airlines passenger service workers vote for union in big win for IAM" -- Washington Post
One of the biggest groups of workers at United Airlines voted on Wednesday to stay in a union.
The vote by 16,720 reservations workers and gate agents means an all-union frontline workforce at United, which is the biggest airline in the world after its 2010 merger with Continental. At No. 2 Delta Air Lines Inc., pilots are the only large unionized group.
"AMR’s American will freeze pensions, not kill them" -- Boston.com
American Airlines will freeze pensions for most workers and back away from a threat to terminate the plans, as the company tries to cut costs while in bankruptcy protection.
The freeze will apply to flight attendants and ground workers but not yet to pilots.
The decision to freeze instead of terminate pensions was a surprise. American hoped that the gesture would push labor unions to go along with other cost-cutting steps.
