I don’t think the President gets enough credit for revitalizing the NLRB. This was an example of Obama doing the right thing without worrying about the political consequences. NLRB commissioners were stuck and the board was unable to operate with less than a quorum. Republicans were holding up the commissioners, including one of their own [...]

The President is at Johnson Controls in Holland, Michigan today, touring a high-tech battery production plant. It’s the kind of project that has engendered a revitalization in Michigan in manufacturing, where jobs with a living wage are popping up, jobs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as promote economic expansion. One of the other [...]

Since the 2010 election, conservative legislatures in practically every state have almost immediately plunked down a spate of bills with a very unified focus, attacking unions, Planned Parenthood, and cherished social programs. If you have wondered about the shelf where all this legislation sits and waits for conservatives to marshal their numbers, it’s located at [...]

You could make an argument that this is a great time for the labor movement, energized by the battle in Wisconsin and ready to re-establish themselves in the American consciousness as part of what builds and protects the middle class. And to an extent that’s true. But the wave of labor protests sweeping the country [...]

I can’t think of a more petty move than what Paul LePage, the Governor of Maine, came out with today. Maine Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting the state’s labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Augusta. In addition, the LePage administration is [...]

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. A documentary on HBO tonight will remember the event, where 146 garment workers died in a fire at their factory. The managers of the factory had locked the doors to the exits, a typical tactic to force long workdays in a time before [...]

Scott Walker has lost the thread in Wisconsin. This documenting of 20 lies he’s told in the past couple weeks is going viral. A new poll from a conservative-leaning think tank in Wisconsin shows that voters want Walker to compromise by a 2-1 margin. Commentators from across the political spectrum have come to the conclusion [...]

MADISON, WI (FDL) – Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) appeared this morning on MSNBC, and was asked about the protests in the Capitol. He dismissed them. “Most of them are college students who are always up for a demonstration,” he sniffed. It’s a common refrain from supporters of Walker, marginalizing their opponents by calling them hippie [...]

By now, I think we understand that the standoff in Wisconsin is not about a budget. There’s no correlation between budget deficits and union membership, and on fiscal matters the unions have generally agreed to various concessions on their pension and health care benefits. No this standoff, and the subsequent ones in Indiana and Ohio [...]

Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) is one of 14 Democrats hiding out in Illinois, participating in a “filibuster with our feet” to slow down the budget repair bill, which would strip collective bargaining rights from public employees, among other things. By walking out of the state, Senate Democrats have denied Republicans the 3/5 quorum [...]

In a move typical of the sideshow that characterizes California politics, Hollywood attorney Gloria Allred delivered a press conference today, broadcast live on TMZ, with Nikki Diaz Santion, the former housekeeper of California gubernatorial candidate of nine years, asserting that the woman was exploited and mistreated in the former eBay CEO’s employ. Allred stated that [...]