December 2007 Archives

December 31, 2007

Looking Back on 2007

Well, we've come to the end of 2007 so it's a good time to look back. Here's a few of the moments that stand out in my mind... In May, the newly Democratic Congress passed the first increase in the...

December 23, 2007

Bob Herbert is Making Sense

... in his column in Saturday's New York Times: Christmastime is bonus time on Wall Street, and the Gucci set has been blessed with another record harvest. Forget the turbulence in the financial markets and the subprime debacle. Forget the...

FedEx Fined Millions by IRS For Misclassifying Workers

You may remember that back in October we called out FedEx Ground for scamming the workers who make it a success by misclassifying them as "independent contractors". Any five year-old can tell you that there is only one individual out...

December 21, 2007

Report Roundup!

The last few weeks have seen a slew of interesting new reports that speak directly to the prospects workers have of achieving the American Dream. Here's just a few: "Beyond Justice" by Scott Lilly at the Center for American Progress...

December 17, 2007

Nobody Could Have Seen THIS Coming. Right?

Back in March, in a truly boneheaded cost-cutting maneuver, Circuit City decided to lay off 3,400 of their highest-performing salespeople, filling their slots with "replacements willing to work for less". Here's what we said about the move at the...

December 13, 2007

UNITE HERE Worker Testifies on NLRB Failures

Members of Congress heard firsthand today how real workers are affected by the Bush-appointed National Labor Relations Board’s failure to protect worker rights. Feliza Ryland, a hospitality worker and UNITE HERE member, testified before a joint hearing of the...

December 12, 2007

The ICE Raids: One Year Later

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s (ICE) raids of Swift and Co. meatpacking plants in six cities in Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota and Utah. In all, 1,282 Swift employees were arrested. Photojournalist David...

December 11, 2007

Swing Voters, 2008, and the American Dream

Today we released the latest in our continuing series of public opinion surveys about the future of the American Dream. This one focuses on the attitudes of swing voters -- the uncommitted voters who will likely cast the deciding votes...

Keeping an "Eye on the NLRB"

Good news today from American Rights at Work -- they've expanded their monthly newsletter, "Eye on the NLRB", into a daily blog to provide closer coverage of the ever-more-unaccountable Bush Labor Board. I've added it to our blogroll over there...

December 6, 2007

How Many Mansions Does One Guy Need, Anyway?

We've written before in this space about the towering greed of billionaire Henry Kravis. Now filmmaker Robert Greenwald has put together a video that shows just how towering Kravis' greed truly is: At WarOnGreed.org, Greenwald is asking what you would...