The National Priorities Project has put together a chart titled “Competing Visions” that looks at the 2016 budget proposals from President Obama, the House Budget Committee, the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Guess which ones align with what Americans say are their priorities?
Lawrence Mishel and Rep. Jan Schakowsky also write about the issue on the Economic Policy Institute blog.
A GROUP OF TEACHERS and staffers at Olney Charter High School yesterday filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board requesting the federal
agency conduct an election that would allow employees to become
unionized.
The filing included signed union authorization cards from Olney
employees and stated that the new union would be part of the Alliance of
Charter School Employees, an affiliate of the American Federation of
Teachers, according to the petition.
More than 70 percent of the 150-person staff signed on to the
effort, which may face a challenge from Olney’s charter operator, ASPIRA
Inc. of Pennsylvania.
The federal filing came one day after ASPIRA officials met, for the
first time, with Olney teachers who began the organizing effort three
years ago, organizers and teachers said. The ASPIRA officials - CEO
Alfredo Calderon, COO Thomas Darden and newly-hired superintendent
Andrea Gonzalez-Kerwin - told the teachers that they would not
voluntarily recognize the union, but would respect the results of an
election, participants said.
Darden did not respond to an email seeking comment.
An election could be held as soon as 30 days if no challenges are made by ASPIRA.
Calderon “said he would respect the wishes of the majority and I
asked him to recognize the union and he said no, he would respect the
outcome of an election,” said Hanako Franz, a freshman history teacher
who has been at Olney for four years.
English as a Second Language teacher Hannah Myers, who has been at
Olney for four years, said she believes Calderon and the others want to
drag out the process.
“It’s very hard for me to believe that he’s willing to work with us,”
she said. “If he really wanted to allocate resources to support our
community, they would voluntarily recognize the union, which has been
the majority for three years.”
The petition requests that a future union include “all full-time and
regular part-time professional and non-professional instructional and
student service support employees, including teachers, co-teachers,
psychologists” and other employees, according to the filing.
As Seattle prepares for the April launch of the highest minimum wage law in America, conservatives are warning that businesses are already shuttering under the pressure of higher labor costs and pointing to a recent report of a rash of restaurant closures as evidence. The problem is, the actual owners of those restaurants say that they’re not closing because of wages, and the city seems to be enjoying robust growth in that industry.
Hoffman Construction , a major road building and mining company is abandoning Wisconsin because of the Right to Work legislation just passed. According to Duluth News Tribune “Hoffman said Monday …
“It’s no coincidence that the rise of the middle class in America coincided in large part with the rise of unions—workers who organized together for higher wages, better working conditions, and the benefits and protections that most workers take for granted today. So it’s inexcusable that, over the past several years, just when middle-class families and workers need that kind of security the most, there’s been a sustained, coordinated assault on unions, led by powerful interests and their allies in government. So I’m deeply disappointed that a new anti-worker law in Wisconsin will weaken, rather than strengthen workers in the new economy. Wisconsin is a state built by labor, with a proud pro-worker past. So even as its governor claims victory over working Americans, I’d encourage him to try and score a victory for working Americans—by taking meaningful action to raise their wages and offer them the security of paid leave. That’s how you give hardworking middle-class families a fair shot in the new economy—not by stripping their rights in the workplace, but by offering them all the tools they need to get ahead.”—President Obama on Gov. Scott Walker’s signing of right-to-work legislation in Wisconsin