AFL-CIO forum

Now this is a story all about how Mitt Romney’s education policy got flipped, turned upside down.  And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how Mitt became... Hit up Keystone Politics for the full story.  

Nikki Haley took to Twitter Wednesday to urge followers to support her political operation after a Palmetto State labor leader walloped a pinata featuring the face of the Tea Party darling at a reception last week. “Stand with me and help ...  

This is a cross-post from the New Jersey State AFL-CIO. The 1 million-member New Jersey State AFL-CIO joined with its local affiliates and community allies from the statewide grassroots coalition Working Families United for New Jersey Inc. to kick off an unprecedented statewide voter registration effort in New Jersey that will register union and community members to vote and ensure that working families speak with one united voice at the...  

Craig Becker, the controversial labor attorney who served on the National Labor Relations Board thanks to a recess appointment by President Obama, has returned to the world of outright activism. From Politico: Craig Becker will become general counsel for the AFL-CIO, president Richard Trumka announced today, joining General Counsel Lynn Rhinehart in the role. Becker was recess appointed to the National Labor Relations Board by President...  

It’s been five months since Barack Obama’s recess appointee to the National Labor Relations Board, SEIU and AFL-CIO attorney Craig Becker, stepped away from the union-controlled agency. Now, after a brief stint at Georgetown University ...  

A video posted to YouTube shows South Carolina AFL-CIO President Donna Dewitt beating a pinata with a photo attachment of Governor Nikki Haley. Whoever posted this version of the video justified the beating in the video description box.  

WASHINGTON -- The AFL-CIO announced Tuesday that Craig Becker, a former appointee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), will be returning to the labor federation as co-general counsel, helping guide the AFL-CIO's legal strategies on ...  

A labor official in South Carolina found a unique way of taking out her frustration with the state’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley: She put her face on a piñata and gave it a whack. “It’s a child’s game, and as anybody can see, I’m ...  

A YouTube video showing the retiring president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO hitting a piñata of Gov. Nikki Haley's face prompted the national union Tuesday to distance itself from what it called an "inappropriate joke."  

Donna Dewitt, the outgoing president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, is seen in this video bashing a piñata of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s face while Dewitt and her colleagues were at a retreat in Columbia, S.C. Saturday afternoon.  

Mike HallMay 22, 2012AFL-CIOCraig Becker, who recently served on the National Labor Relations Board, has been hired as the AFL-CIO's top lawyer. Federation President Richard Trumka calls Becker "a brilliant lawyer and creative thinker with deep experience in labor law."  

ABC News sets the scene: Donna Dewitt, the outgoing president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, is seen in this video bashing a piñata of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s face while Dewitt and her colleagues were at a retreat in Columbia, S.C. Saturday afternoon. “Well I will say, she looks like a tough old girl [...]  

Old tone: South Carolina AFL-CIO president beats pinata with Nikki Haley's face on it. ... Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand.  

Donna Dewitt, the outgoing president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, is seen in this video bashing a piñata of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s face while Dewitt and her colleagues were at a retreat in Columbia, S.C. Saturday afternoon.  

It was a piñata." – Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker Video of Dewitt, president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, dealing nine intense blows to the piñata was posted online, drawing rebuke from the national AFL-CIO and comment ...  

WASHINGTON — A former member of the National Labor Relations Board is returning to work at the AFL-CIO, where he will serve as co-general counsel. Craig Becker spent nearly two years on the board after President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate to make ...  

Craig Becker, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board, has been named AFL-CIO general counsel, joining General Counsel Lynn Rhinehart in leading the federation’s legal work on behalf of working people. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:The strengths of these two extraordinary lawyers, Becker and Rhinehart, are a perfect complement, and together they will lead a powerhouse legal program to protect and promote the interests of...  

Craig Becker spent nearly two years on the board after President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate to make him a recess appointee in 2010. Republicans had blocked Becker's confirmation for months, saying he had had a radical, pro-union agenda that was ...  

In a video posted on YouTube May 20 by a woman named Bex Mix and tweeted by Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey, Donna DeWitt swings at the purple and black piñata with a baseball bat during a retirement party in her honor. The video has disabled ...  

Follow stories by David Weigel. MySlate is a new tool that you track your favorite parts Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads you're interested in, and more. Is there no Yahoo! Answers page for minor political figures?  

President Barack Obama nominated Becker to the NLRB, but Republicans in the U.S. Senate refused to confirm him, calling him too liberal and too pro-union. Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona who placed a “hold” on Becker’s ...  

(Randy Barnett) This is pretty shocking:   From ABC News: Dewitt told ABC News she has no regrets about the incident and said there was “no ill intent” in what she was doing.  Dewitt said her colleagues brought the pinata and were using it as a “memoir” of Haley’s words and actions towards unions in her time [...]  

or "BANG, ZOOM! Straight to the moon ... The picnic, she notes, was not an AFL-CIO gathering, but instead a powwow for the South Carolina Progressive Network, a coalition of several dozen left-of-center groups. The Washington-based AFL-CIO ...  

As Steven Greenhouse describes the opposition at the time: Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, wrote a letter opposing Mr. Becker, calling him “probably the most controversial nominee that I have seen in a long time.” In opposing the ...  

Republicans hate the National Labor Relations Board. But they're not the only ones. In speeches to workers and testimony in Congress in the '80s and '90s, then-AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland repeatedly declared that union members would be better served by "the law of the jungle." Some union presidents agreed, including Richard Trumka, who now heads the AFL-CIO. In 1987, Trumka called for abolishing both the law's "provisions that hamstring...  

A video posted online that shows a former union leader in South Carolina smashing a piñata effigy of Gov. Nikki Haley has riled the national office of the AFL-CIO, which wants it taken down. “Do you think we can get this video pulled,” asked a national AFL-CIO official in an email to Palmetto State union sources. The author of the email also worried the video might get “picked up by tea partiers, maybe even Haley herself, to attack labor again...  

Although Indonesia's economy is growing and poverty decreasing, the average worker is not reaping the benefits of a booming economy, according to Jamie Davis, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's country program director in Jakarta. At a well-attended brown-bag discussion at the AFL-CIO last week, Davis discussed the progress of Indonesian workers since the end of the oppressive Suharto dictatorship in 1998 and their opportunities for forming...  

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale joined other State and Local AFL-CIO leaders in supporting the proposal by three affiliated labor unions to achieve labor peace and a fair ...  

The future of the union movement, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told some 600 members of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee (LCC), depends on showing the public that through our actions on the ground we are a:broad, inclusive, innovative worker-driven organization....We need to build a broader, stronger, more effective movement for all working people—union and nonunion. That means organizing. It means advocacy. It means...  

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Joins Neighboring State Labor Federations, Local Labor ...MarketWatch (press release)HARRISBURG, Pa., May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Today, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale joined other State and Local AFL-CIO leaders in supporting the proposal by three affiliated labor unions to achieve labor peace and a fair ...and more »  

Sares Regis Group of Northern California and the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust are teaming to co-develop a $68.9 million luxury apartment community in San Mateo. AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT) closed escrow on 888 N. San Mateo Drive on May 15 ...  

Join the thousands of real estate professionals that subscribe to the California AM Alert. Each and every morning, we deliver the important stories, data, analysis…as well as the opinions and insights of industry thought leaders to provide you with ...  

Demonstration in front of Bank of America in downtown Detroit demanding a moratorium on debt service payments by the city government. Detroit taxpayers turn over $597 million annually to the banks. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe), a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.May 16, 2012Commentary: Follow the money in Detroit consent agreementBy KARLA SWIFT Follow the money. It's good advice in politics. In the case of Detroit's fiscal...  

Sares Regis Group of Northern California Sares Regis Group of Northern California Latest from The Business Journals SPUR, part of San Jose’s formula to develop regional growth Peninsula’s hot spot moves north to Redwood City Tech firms soak ...  

Changes Will Put Nuclear Workers, Public Health and Safety at Risk WASHINGTON, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Metal Trades Department and its affiliated unions strongly oppose HR 4310 House Armed Services Committee's 2013 National Defense Authorization...  

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka talks with Bloomberg's Al Hunt about JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s $2 billion trading loss, the outlook for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in a June 5 recall election and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's claims that he shares credit for the auto industry's recovery. Bloomberg's Julianna Goldman and Julie Davis discuss President Barack Obama's support of same-sex marriage and the...  

Richard Trumka marching on Wall Street in 2010 (Mike Segar/Reuters) With the Securities and Exchange Commission launching an investigation into JPMorgan's accounting practices, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that the nation's biggest bank's $2 billion in trading losses, show "that financial regulation is more needed now than it ever was."   Trumka continued: And [Jamie Dimon] been one of the chief opponents trying to lobby against it...  

As the polls closed in Wisconsin, the AFL-CIO started to flex their Super PAC muscles by firing up their Workers’ Voice campaign across the state.  With the PA AFL-CIO already testing... Hit up Keystone Politics for the full story.  

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka talks with Bloomberg's Al Hunt about JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s $2 billion trading loss, the outlook for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in a June 5 recall election and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's claims that he shares credit for the auto industry's recovery.  

There are wonks, then there are “Top Wonks,” and our very own Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO policy director, has been named a “Top Wonk” on the economy. Top Wonks is a directory of experts in a broad range of public policy issues. It is widely used by journalists, researchers, public officials and others to find top policy experts.  

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s $2 billion trading loss shows that left unchecked, Wall Street will lead the U.S. economy “off a cliff, just like they tried to the last time.” “It says ...  

New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech voiced his support for the proposal of three affiliated labor unions to achieve labor peace and a fair process for unionization at the new Revel Casino in Atlantic City. The coalition of unions included ...  

A partnership between the the Crawford/Richland County Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO and Ashland University is increasing access to the Black Fork Wetlands for student research and other community members in north-central Ohio. As a new feature in the AFL-CIO In Our Communities notes, the council, made up of 3,500 members in two counties, is raising funds to build an Environmental Studies Center at the wetlands site, a project that has...  

So why then did the union take the side of Citizens United and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in its brief to the court? "You have to come in on one side or the other," said Lynn Rhinehart, AFL-CIO general counsel. "It just so happened that the entity at the ...  

MICHIGAN CITY — State Sen. Jim Arnold announced Wednesday that he has received the endorsement of the Indiana AFL-CIO for the primary election. After working together the AFL-CIO during the Right-to-Work debates in the Statehouse this past session, Arnold said he is honored to receive the endorsement.  

Emmelle IsraelMay 9, 2012AFL-CIOSaying he admired the AFL-CIO building as one of the most beautiful in D.C., Fox Business correspondent John Stossel showed up there unexpectedly last week, and has turned up at other union offices allegedly to film their "beautiful buildings." "We weren't buying it," the AFL-CIO says, well aware of Stossel's union-bashing reports.  

Workers' Voice, the super PAC of the AFL-CIO, announced on Monday that it was making a "hyper-targeted," half-million-dollar online ad buy aimed at pulling progressive activists into its 2012 efforts. The largest union-affiliated super PAC ...  

After several years of deep disappointments, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said America’s largest labor organization is shifting away from blanket campaign spending on Democrats to target “friends,” including President Obama. “We’re going to put together a permanent campaign structure,” Trumka said Sunday on C-SPAN’s Newsmakers. “I’d say there’s a couple of kind of candidates....there’s real friends, there’s acquaintances and there’s...  

Carlton coach Brett Ratten has accused his players of putting themselves above the team as the Blues' AFL flat patch turned into a slump with their biggest loss since 2009. Carlton were ripped apart 19.10 (124) to 8.7 (55) by a ferocious Adelaide at Etihad ...  

Workers' Voice, the super PAC of the AFL-CIO, announced on Monday that it was making a "hyper-targeted," half-million-dollar online ad buy aimed at pulling progressive activists into its 2012 efforts.  

These important facets of union workers are the backbone of the middle class in America. Congressman John Conyers has been endorsed by the UAW, AFL-CIO Metro Detroit CLC, AFL-CIO Michigan Maritime Trades Port Council, AFSCME Michigan Council 25 ...  

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) ’s $2 billion trading loss shows that left unchecked, Wall Street will lead the U.S. economy “off a cliff, just like they tried to the last time.”  

Chief executives at some of the nation's largest companies earned an average of $12.9 million in total pay last year -- 380 times more than a typical American worker, according to the AFL-CIO.