Labor

MALANG CITY, East Java, Indonesia (ILO Online) — The global economic and social crisis has shuttered the dreams of a better life and income of many migrant workers. But ...

More than 5,000 workers at the world’s largest pork processing plant, Smithfield Packing in Tar Heel, N.C., approved their first-ever union contract in voting that ended this morning.

The unemployment rate soared to 9.5 percent in June, a 26-year high, and up a fraction from 9.4 percent in May. The Department of Labor said 467,000 jobs were lost in June.

U.S. Senator Al Franken and his supporters gathered Wednesday on the steps of the state Capitol in St. Paul to celebrate the close of a difficult election process.

“How many senators does Minnesota have?” shouted U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum of St. Paul, holding up two fingers.

“America’s workers congratulate Al Franken,” declared John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, in a statement.

It’s Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. Finally.

Minnesota’s Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Franken won last fall’s U.S. Senate race.

The IUE-CWA says busloads of its GM retirees will picket the GM bankruptcy hearing today in New York.

The retirees are angry over GM attempts to terminate their retiree health benefits, according to the union.

Television and Radio Artists is mourning the sudden death of longtime AFTRA recording artist Michael Jackson.

Jackson, who died June 25 at age 50, joined AFTRA in September 1969 when he was just 11 years old, as a member of The Jackson 5. He created one of the most successful solo careers in history and earned recognition as the “King of Pop.”

DES PLAINES, Ill. — In an unprecedented display of hope, struggle and unity, more than 600 workers at the Hart Schaffner & Marx factory here joined with union leaders and elected officials in a rally June 29 to celebrate a major victory that will save nearly 4,000 jobs nationwide and keep the Chicago-based company open for business.

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the New York City-based Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), in an exclusive interview, told Gay City News that his decision in May to openly affirm his gay identity within the American labor movement means, “I am defining myself publicly, and not just defining myself privately. That’s what makes a difference. I wanted to make my public role not just as a labor leader or Jewish labor leader, but as a gay Jewish labor leader.”