Work & the Economy
Evers and cabinet secretaries tour western Wisconsin touting economic recovery efforts
Gov. Tony Evers and a number of his cabinet secretaries spent Friday traveling across western Wisconsin to highlight the administration’s economic recovery efforts. Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, along with the secretaries of the Departments of Financial Institutions; Transportation; Tourism; Natural Resources; Administration; Revenue; Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; Children and Families; Workforce Development […]
Bernie Sanders at U.S. Senate hearing rips Amazon over union opposition
WASHINGTON — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took Amazon to task Thursday at a congressional hearing, bashing the online giant’s leadership for fighting union drives and questioning whether the federal government should continue contracting with the multibillion-dollar company. Amazon executives didn’t attend the hearing but U.S. senators did hear from labor unions and the U.S. Government […]
As women return to jobs, remote work could lock in gains
The pandemic “shecession” is fading as more women return to jobs across the country, aided by new workplace flexibility that could lock in future increases in female employment. Remote work, a loosening of 9-5 workday constraints and evolving ideas such as “returnships” to help women back to careers after extended absences all could make it […]
UAW, environmental group team up to challenge postal truck contract
A union that wants jobs returned to Wisconsin and an environmental group that wants to pressure the Post Office into committing to an all-electric fleet have made common cause in a lawsuit filed Thursday against the U.S. Postal Service. The federal suit charges that the postal service failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy […]
Oak Creek Starbucks employees choose union, first in Wisconsin
Employees at a Starbucks outlet in Oak Creek voted 15-8 to be represented by Starbucks Workers United, the union announced Wednesday after the ballots were tallied. The store is the first of seven Starbucks locations in Wisconsin to hold a union representation election. Employees have organized at three other outlets with Starbucks Workers United, a […]
Health risks for families in military private housing probed by U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel on Tuesday grilled officials running private housing for service members about reports of deplorable living conditions from military families. The hearing, led by Chairman Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, and top GOP member Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, followed a joint release of a […]
Finance committee gives OK to most of state’s plan for extra federal highway money
A $283 million boost in federal highway money that Wisconsin is getting from Washington got approval from the Legislature’s budget committee Tuesday, but only after the Republican majority rewrote some of the spending plan for the new funds. The discussion of the measure largely revolved around partisan jabs over credit for the plan and the […]
Grocery workers’ union joins wave of Starbucks organizing campaigns
A second union has organized to represent workers at three Starbucks locations in Wisconsin, all of them in Dane County. The United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) reported that it had filed petitions Monday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold union representation elections at Starbucks outlets in Fitchburg, Monona and Madison. Employees […]
Milwaukee activists pen fictional account of struggle for workers’ rights
“‘Good Lord almighty, what is that? What the hell is that?’ Eve’s screech was loud enough to reach the foremen’s office. She jumped three feet back from the sorting table as the two foremen came hurtling in. “‘That’s human flesh up in there!’ Eve pointed to the jumble of hospital linen. Sure enough, a gelatinous […]
Report: Wisconsin got less money than other states for pandemic relief
Wisconsin has received disproportionately less money than most other states from federal pandemic relief programs, according to a new report. It has also spent that money differently — focusing on pandemic economic aid rather than patching up holes in the state budget. The report, produced by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, says the pandemic funding allocations […]
Evers releases new plan to expand clean energy in Wisconsin
A new state plan issued Tuesday proposes expanding state incentives to use clean energy, funding more projects for generating energy from renewable sources, encouraging more energy efficiency, modernizing buildings and supporting greater use of electric vehicles and other forms of clean transportation. The State of Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan was developed by the Office of Sustainability […]
Advocates use Tax Day to push for progessive tax policy changes
Ahead of the midnight deadline Monday for Americans to file their state and federal income tax returns, advocates took the day to highlight how the current tax system favors the wealthy as well as corporate interests. “There’s a whole segment of our society that has largely been shifting the burden onto the rest of us,” […]