Homeowner Protests Continue at Law Firm

Homeowners supported by the Home Defenders League (HDL) and Occupy Our Homes participated in a third day of protest Wednesday, this time at the law firm Covington & Burling, which represents several major U.S. banks and is the former workplace of Attorney General Eric Holder, a key target of the week's protests. Eight more protesters were arrested, bringing the total for the three days to 34. A message on the HDL Facebook page Thursday said that all of those arrested were released and will not face charges stemming from the protests.

Teachers, Students and Parents Fight Chicago School Closures

After the Chicago Board of Education approved a proposal from Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) to close 50 of the city's public schools, the Chicago Teachers Union vowed to take legal action to stop the closures and to challenge supporters of the mayor's plan with grassroots mobilization. The closures come despite widespread opposition to the plan and five days of rallies, sit-ins and other efforts.

Social Media Can Open Doors to Latino Workers

New technologies and social media are increasingly important and effective ways to communicate and they can open doors for the labor movement to build stronger relationships with the Latino community. But, says Elianne Ramos, there are several key points to keep in mind when using tech to reach Latino workers—the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. workforce—and the community.

In the third of the AFL-CIO's series of live online discussions on how we build the movement for the future of working people, Ramos, principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM), outlines several of those points.

NLRB Nominees Head to Senate Floor....Filibuster Next?

The fight over President Obama’s five nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is headed to the U.S. Senate floor after the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee voted today to send the five to the full Senate. Now the question is, will Senate Republicans filibuster?

In the States Roundup for May 22

Here's a look at some of the key battles in the states over the past week.

From Housekeeper to City Council: Help Tell Carmen’s Story

Carmen Castillo is a UNITE HERE union steward, immigrant and 19-year veteran hotel housekeeper. In November 2011, the single mother of three from the Dominican Republic won election to the Providence, R.I., City Council. Since then filmmaker Margo Guernsey and her crew have been following Castillo at home, work, on the council and in the community.

 

Black Students Flock to STEM Fields, Yet Business Lobby Pushes for More Temporary Workers

Over the weekend, young people watched or read about President Obama speaking at Morehouse College and first lady Michelle Obama addressing the graduates of Bowie State University. Hopefully they were inspired by seeing so many young and gifted people finishing the course they chose to follow. Well, here is a little known set of facts. 

San Diego Labor Leader Wins State Assembly Race in a Landslide

Lorena Gonzalez, 41, secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, defeated rival Steve Castaneda on Tuesday in a special election to fill the vacant 80th Assembly District in California, the U-T San Diego reports.

Today: Tell Us How to Open More Doors to Latino Workers

Be sure to join Elianne Ramos today from 3–4 p.m. EDT for a live online discussion on how to build a stronger movement for working people, with today’s chat spotlighting Latino workers. Ramos, principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media, poses this question:

Trumka: Senate Judiciary Committee Immigration Bill an 'Enormous Step' Toward Healing an Injustice

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following statement in response to the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration bill: 

Today brings to mind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s wise and hopeful words, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” More than 11 million aspiring Americans took a big step toward becoming citizens today with the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee vote. That reflects an enormous step toward healing an injustice, the deportation crisis that has wrecked families, communities and workplaces for far too long.