Labor

The “Big Three” U.S. automakers lie, cheat and steal. Something to keep in mind as we watch GM, Ford and Chrysler negotiate with the United Auto Workers union. Let’s take the lies first.

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” — Abraham Lincoln’s Message to Congress, Dec. 3, 1861.

Back in the 1950s, Charles Wilson, then GM’s president, declared, “What’s good for General Motors is good for America.” Reeking with more arrogance than corporate benevolence, the quote certainly doesn’t apply anymore, if it ever did.

NEW YORK — In June the New York Legislature passed a measure sponsored by the Transport Workers Union designed to enhance the safety of union members and all workers who toil in proximity to the moving trains in New York City’s subway system.

Talk of union is running high in the world’s largest casino located in southeastern Connecticut. Since opening 15 years ago, Foxwoods, which employs 12,000, has become the biggest private employer in the state.

NEW YORK — Yellow taxicab drivers here are prepared to strike if the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) continues to refuse to negotiate with them about sweeping changes they are imposing on the city’s 44,000 drivers. The TLC is mandating that all the city’s 13,000 yellow medallion taxicabs be equipped with GPS hardware.

Mine safety expert Jack Spadaro charges Crandall Canyon, Utah, mine owner Robert Murray with murder and the Bush administration’s Mine Safety and Health Agency (MSHA) with aiding and abetting.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. — After over a year of struggle, workers at the Woodfin Suites hotel here won a big victory Aug. 27 in their struggle to be paid according to the city’s 2005 living wage law.

High-quality health care for all Americans moved closer to reality this Labor Day with the 13-million-member AFL-CIO unveiling a major drive to achieve universal health care by 2009.

On Labor Day, Sept. 3, tens of thousands of Southland union members, their families and supporters representing over 50 unions will march together on the streets of Wilmington, Calif., to honor Labor Day, and call attention to current labor disputes and issues that affect all working people in the United States.