“White underclass” is a term I’ve used often in my writing, and most American readers seem to know what I mean. They’ve got eyes and live in the same nation I do. But in a sudden burst of journalistic responsibility, I decided that if I am going to throw around the word underclass, then I …
America’s White Underclass: When Seeing Ain’t Believing Then Somebody is Blind Read More »
Public employees’ constitutional rights are important. Recent figures suggest that sixteen million Americans — more than 10 percent of the nation’s workforce — are employed by a state or local government, with another two million, approximately, employed by the federal government. With the economic downturn, even more workers are moving from the private sector to …
People do odd things when they enter into a new relationship. I call it the honeymoon period. It’s a time when it is all good, your vision is clouded by optimism that overlooks faults or problems that are visible to everyone else. Words of caution from well meaning friends have the sound of crazy alarmist …
Non-Competition Agreements: Ten Cautionary Thoughts Read More »
I had the rare privilege of meeting one of my heroes, Paul Wellstone, shortly before his death in 2002 when I visited Washington as part of a conference for high school students interested in politics. We had the opportunity to meet several senators during our time in Washington, but Paul Wellstone treated us differently — …
Honoring Paul Wellstone’s Legacy: Fighting Like Hell for Health Care Reform Read More »
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley gets a pretty sweet deal as Senator on health care. He pays $356.59 per month, and the most he pays when visiting a doctor or hospital is $300. Compare that to your average Iowan family, who would pay almost $600 a month and be on the hook for $5,000 or more …
Why Can’t We Have Health Benefits As Good As Chuck Grassley? Read More »
People want to join unions because it enables them to negotiate for better wages, better working conditions, and, ultimately, a better standard of living. As I’ve argued in the past, the U.S. needs to reform the arduous course of forming unions in order to rebuild the American middle class. But we also need to focus …
Yesterday, three committees in the House – Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce – came together to release a health reform bill that goes far in fixing American’s broken health care system. The robust bill (America’s Affordable Health Choices Act) guarantees that everyone is covered and it promotes shared responsibility among …
Members of Congress soon will cast votes that show us where they stand on the Employee Free Choice Act. As key senators engage in negotiations over the bill, supporters of workers’ freedom to form unions aren’t backing down on three key principles: * Workers need to have a real choice to form a union and …
The Employee Free Choice Act: From 2003 to Today Read More »
The so-called “green shoots” of recovery are turning brown in the scorching summer sun. In fact, the whole debate about when and how a recovery will begin is wrongly framed. On one side are the V-shapers who look back at prior recessions and conclude that the faster an economy drops, the faster it gets back …
Thousands of longshore workers, truck drivers and other workers at ports across the nation are out of work, not because of a staggering economy, but because they are caught up in a backlogged, inefficient and often inaccurate screening process for background security checks. According to a new report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP), …
Report: Security Screening Process Flawed, Leaves Dockworkers Jobless Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
