Labor Notes
By 1. I know we all took the words of charter school advocates very, very seriously. It was all about the students and not about busting the teacher unions at all. Or not.
Teachers and staff at a Chicago charter school for troubled youths have filed an unfair labor complaint that claims the network that runs the school announced plans to close it a day after teachers voted to form a union.
I’m sure Michelle Rhee approves.
2. Yesterday, I talked about how Honeywell CEO and Catfood Commission member David Cote wants a corporate tax rate of 0%. Well, Cote was on Capitol Hill yesterday for what was supposed to be a lively discussion of economic policy. And that was fine so long as the attendees praised him. But when labor reporter Mike Elk tried to ask him a question about Honeywell labor practices, specifically busting a union at a uranium plant it owns, the mike was stripped from him. When Elk followed up, he was detained by guards. Video here.
3. Machinists at a Caterpillar plant in Illinois overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer that would have froze wages, doubled health care premiums, and eliminated many pension and seniority rights. Meanwhile, Caterpillar is an incredibly profitable corporation whose CEO made $17 million last year. They have been on strike since May 1.
4. Chris Hamby of the Center for Public Integrity has an outstanding if depressing story on the huge number of preventable accidents on the job that kill American workers.