Capt. Sully to Retire From US Airways

US Airways Group Inc.'s high-profile captain who guided Flight 1549 to an emergency water landing in January 2009 with no loss of life is retiring, the company said.

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, 59 years old, is retiring Wednesday after 30 years with US Airways and a predecessor company. Doreen Welsh, 59, one of the flight attendants on board who helped the 150 passengers evacuate the sinking plane, also is retiring Wednesday after 39 years with the airline, US Airways said.

HPWO Partnerships

“We like to think that, as a union, we are smart enough to recognize the need for change, and to make change work for us,” stated IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger in describing the IAM’s proactive response to globalization—the High Performance Work Organization (HPWO) Partnerships process.

The global market place affects the way companies, nations, and entire blocks of nations engage in international trade. These pressures also affect the way we work. That is why the IAM has developed an alternative process to traditional labor-management practices to help save and create jobs and grow workplaces where IAM members are employed.

Book Salon: 'Can They Do That? Retaking Our Fundamental Rights in the Workplace'

by Tula Connell, Mar 3, 2010

Lynn Gobbell was fired because her boss didn’t like the John Kerry bumper sticker on her car.

In Colorado, teacher Meg Spohn got the pink slip from DeVry University for complaining about her job on her personal blog.

At Best Lock Company in Indiana, workers are axed for social drinking because the company president believes it’s a sin.

Chavez-Thompson Wins Texas Lt. Governor Primary

by James Parks, Mar 3, 2010

Congratulations to AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Emerita Linda Chavez-Thompson, who yesterday won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor of Texas. Chavez-Thompson won with 53 percent of the vote.

Sign the Bunning Petition: Throw The Bum Out!

On the floor of the U.S. Senate, Kentucky GOP Senator Jim Bunning declared aloud it was “tough sh*t” if Senators disagreed with his efforts to block an extension of unemployment benefits for jobless Americans.

New Push to Organize the South Focuses on Jobs

Steve Stallone is president of International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) and secretary/editor of the California Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521.

Leaders of the South Carolina union movement unveiled a bold new initiative, “Jobs with Rights Now,” to bring employment and union membership to their state and the South. The announcement came last Friday at the 10-year anniversary of the campaign to free the Charleston Five.

Executive Council: Central Falls Students Deserve Better Than Mass Teacher Firing

by James Parks, Mar 2, 2010

The AFL-CIO Executive Council today condemned the firings of the entire education staff at Central Falls (R.I.) High School and called on the Obama administration and the local school superintendent to work together with the teachers to create an environment that allows students and teachers to succeed.

(You can tell the Central Falls school administration that the students deserve better and to work with teachers to build on improvements at the high school by signing an AFT petition here.)

Boland, Smith Join Executive Council

by James Parks, Mar 2, 2010

Far left, Bruce Smith and at left James Boland.


The AFL-CIO Executive Council welcomed two new members at its meeting in Orlando today: Bricklayers (BAC President James Boland and Bruce Smith, president of the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers (GMP).

The council also honored retiring council members John Ryan,, John Flynn and UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn.

New council member Boland served as BAC’s secretary-treasurer before taking over from Flynn, who recently retired. In its statement honoring Flynn’s service, the council says;

Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2009 Edition)

U.S. Department of Labor
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
September 2009
Report 1018 (PDF, 101 printed pages)

Links to PDF files of individual sections and tables from the report are listed below.

Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination involves treating a woman (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth.