When 1,338 Volkswagen factory workers in Tennessee voted to reject the union this past Valentine’s Day, folks across the country sensed that something important had just happened. Newspapers splashed it on their front pages. Every national newscast covered it. This was a big deal, not just for Chattanooga or the United Auto Workers but for…
Britain’s employment minister said she would introduce new regulations to make Jews who refuse to work on Shabbat eligible for welfare benefits. Employment Minister Esther McVey and Jobcentre National Director Neil Couling have told the Jewish employment charity JCom that rules would be “tweaked” to end the practice of denying job seekers’ allowance to observant…
Israel’s struggling opposition Labour party has elected a new leader seen as a potential moderate ally for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightist cabinet, results of a party poll showed on Friday. Isaac Herzog, a former minister, defeated Labour incumbent Shelly Yachimovich in a nationwide poll of party members held on Thursday. Yachimovich conceded early on…
As Congress stalls yet again on measures to raise the unconscionably low federal minimum wage, states are instead leading the charge. In New Jersey, even as voters overwhelmingly gave Governor Chris Christie a second term, they disregarded his position on the issue and approved an increase to $8.25 an hour. This year alone, four other…
Sandy Anniversary West End Temple from Viola Gad on Vimeo. A large, empty space looms behind the makeshift wooden stage at the West End Temple in the Rockaways section of Queens, N.Y. A year after Sandy struck, there is still no heat. Electrical cables protrude from the raw unfinished walls and a plastic sheet covers…
You may have noticed, if you follow this sort of thing, that unemployment declined in August. The jobless rate was 7.3%, according to the monthly report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s down from 7.4% in July. For context, it peaked at 10% in October 2009, at the height of the financial meltdown,…
Jewish community leaders in Australia have virtually abandoned support for the governing Labor Party, with most privately hoping the conservative Liberal Party wins the federal election next weekend. The near consensus in favor of Tony Abbott to replace Kevin Rudd as the nation’s next PM comes as the Liberal Party reportedly plans to upgrade relations…
There are many icons of American labor: the Haymarket martyrs, Cesar Chavez, Joe Hill. But often overlooked are a cartoon pair who taught us a lot about resisting the wage system: Beavis and Butthead. In an episode titled “On Strike,” America’s favorite chuckleheads get inspired by the ongoing baseball strike to start their own work…
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