UWUA News
Charity Golf Outting Helps Those in Need Share
17th Annual Birdie Fore Warmth, hosted by UWUA Gas Division Local 223 and DTE Energy-MichCon was a successful event. Read More
2016 UWUA Scholarship Program - Arrange Now to Take the PSAT/NMSQT on October 15 or 18. Share
Entry forms are now being accepted for the 2016 UWUA Scholarship Program. This program is open to the children of active members who will be graduating from high school and starting college in 2016. In order to compete in the program, the student must take the Preliminary SAT/NMSQT in fall of his/her junior year of high school. Contact your high school counselor now and make arrangements to take the test on October 15 or October 18, 2014. Read More
Labor News
Hobby Lobby: A New Tool For Crushing Workplace Unionization? Share
A little-known religious exemption to United States labor law may have just become extremely important, thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hobby Lobby. Read More
Michigan Burger King Caught Retaliating Against Pro-Union Workers Share
Workers who talked about unions and protests on the job at a Detroit-area Burger King got disciplined and threatened in retaliation, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge ruled. Read More
Utility Industry News
Infrastructure Investments Are A Pathway To Creating Jobs Share
Repairing America’s infrastructure will create quality jobs. These investments are vital to our economic and environmental future but, as importantly, we must also modernize it to ensure it is ready to protect our communities and families for years to come. Read More
COPE (Political Education)
A Grand Design For Greater Gridlock At National Labor Relations Board Share
Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee thinks he has the solution to perceived problems at the National Labor Relations Board: Make the five-member body just as deadlocked as Congress. Read More
How To Talk To Your Friends And Family About...Voting Rights Share
This is the first installment in a new series in which we give you advice on how to talk to your friends and family about key issues for working families. Read More
Forget The Jobs Numbers, America Needs To Focus On Its Income Problem Share
The total number of jobs created, which had been a good enough metric to estimate the state of the economy, just isn’t cutting it anymore. Read More
Right-to-Work For Less
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Defends Education Funding, "Right-To-Work" Law In First Town Hall Share
Snyder, speaking to a crowd of roughly 150 inside the Bernhard Center at Western Michigan University, spent about a third of the hour-long town hall describing his political philosophy before turning things over to the audience. Read More
More Hurdles For Home Care Unions Share
In an attempt to build on a recent antiunion victory in the Supreme Court, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has filed another antiunion lawsuit in federal court in Minnesota. Read More
Human Rights
Koch Group Faces Investigation In N.C. Over Bogus Voting Info Share
The far-right organization provided voters with contradictory information about the registration schedule, mislabeled envelopes, incorrect contact information for the state Board of Elections, and incorrect information about county-clerk notifications. Read More
New ‘Yelp’ For Guest Workers In U.S. Challenges The Employer Power Dynamic Share
A flawed U.S. immigration system means workers are losing. Employers and recruiters of guest workers almost always hold all the power while workers themselves have very little information about future employment and living situations. But, now there is a new online tool for migrant workers that will allow them to challenge this dynamic and make more informed decisions about migrating for work. Read More
Veterans Affairs and Information
New VA Funds Will Help 70,000 Homeless Veterans And Their Families Share
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that $207 million will be allocated in grants to help fight veteran homelessness across America. Read More
Despite Scrutiny, Whistleblowers Say Problems Persist At Phoenix VA Share
Employees of the beleaguered Phoenix VA health care system say many of the problems that led to a nationwide scandal still plague the system five months after revelations of patients dying on secret wait lists, falsified data and a toxic culture. Read More
Retirement Today
7 Tips For Retirement Readiness Share
Preparing for retirement, or retirement readiness, can be daunting for many people. Read More
Labor’s Day in History
October 8, 1871 Share
The Great Chicago Fire begins, a fire that would burn through the early morning hours of October 10. The fire injured 30 of the city’s 185 firefighters, claimed the lives of hundreds of people, left nearly a third of the city homeless, and destroyed almost 20,000 buildings. Read More
October 10, 1933 Share
20,000 cotton pickers in southern California’s San Joaquin Valley go on strike earlier in the month over wages, working conditions, and union recognition. Striking workers who had assembled at their union’s office in Pixley to hear an organizer speak were shot at by growers who drove up in their pickup trucks. Read More