AltWeeklies Wire
Ad Campaign Latest Effort to take Smithfield Foods to Tasknew
Faith leaders, elected officials and Smithfield workers will gather in D.C. to unveil a series of advertisements decrying working conditions at the company's sprawling hog processing plant in North Carolina. The ads will soon begin appearing on the sides of buses and metro station walls across the D.C. metropolitan area.
Port Folio Weekly |
Vernal Coleman |
06-18-2008 |
Business & Labor
Did Microsoft Conspire to Charge People for MSN Service They Didn't Want?new
We'll find out -- as soon as the court sorts through a few trillion more bytes of data.
Seattle Weekly |
Rick Anderson |
06-17-2008 |
Business & Labor
Will Dredging the Delaware River Mean More Jobs for Philly's Longshoremen?new
At the union's peak 50 years ago, there were more than 6,000 laborers in the local International Longshoreman's Association (ILA). Now it has around 700 members who jockey for jobs unloading every boat as though it might be the last ship to ever make call in Philadelphia. But things might improve once the Delaware River gets dredged 5 feet deeper.
Philadelphia Weekly |
G.W. Miller III |
06-16-2008 |
Business & Labor
Seeds of a Portland Immigration Battle are Sproutingnew
One year after a federal immigration raid at Del Monte Fresh Produce, three ex-workers at the North Portland food-processing plant are trying to lead a class-action lawsuit against the fruit company and the staffing agency that hired them.
Willamette Week |
Beth Slovic |
06-11-2008 |
Immigration
Meet a Professional Rat Catchernew
Tim TenBrink has run Critter Control in Portland for 10 years. He moved here from Michigan, after deciding he didn't want to teach high school science there any more because the job wasn't as fulfilling as he'd expected. So he got a part-time job in Portland doing pest control, and stayed.
The Portland Mercury |
Matt Davis |
05-29-2008 |
Business & Labor
Proposed Federal Laws Could Sweep Away Low-Wage Workersnew
The Shuler-Tancredo SAVE Act would require all employers to use E-Verify to check the legal status of their employees. Presently E-Verify is a free system that employers voluntarily use to check new hires. Critics point out that it has been shown to have serious shortcomings, the most problematic being the tendency to deliver "false positive" matches, declaring citizens in good standing to be illegal.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Diane Solomon |
05-29-2008 |
Business & Labor
Green-Collar Job Programs Address Two Urban Ills at Oncenew
"We were doing debris removal and giving disenfranchised people a segue into the work force. For those part-timers who really got involved, there was a sense of ownership and pride -- they could do this for their own neighborhood."
Philadelphia City Paper |
Dana Henry |
05-27-2008 |
Business & Labor
Help Wanted: The Next Generation of Nannies for the Super-Richnew
At the English Nanny & Governess School, they're finding it hard to recruit workers for the next generation of Ivy League child care.
Cleveland Scene |
Lisa Rab |
05-27-2008 |
Business & Labor
Delta Employees Fear Benefits Will Get Lost in the Merger Shufflenew
While federal antitrust regulators may be satisfied with the Delta-Northwest merger, some critics are starting to speak out -- including the 35,000 Delta nonpilot retirees, who have no written guarantees that their pensions and retirement benefits will make a safe landing after the merge.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Eric S. Peterson |
05-23-2008 |
Business & Labor
Real Estate 'Guru' Mark Bosworth is in Crash Modenew
Anybody reading a recent Better Business Bureau report can sum up Mark Bosworth pretty quickly: a big shot with baggage. The report lists him as the CEO of Mark Bosworth and Associates LLC. It states he also does business as Property Masters of America, Home America Property Management, GoRenter.com, and other LLCs. And it lists 52 complaints against him and his companies in the past three years.
Phoenix New Times |
Ray Stern |
05-21-2008 |
Business & Labor
Hallmark Cares Enough to Send the Very Best ... Jobs to Chinanew
How did Kansas City's card maker bank $4.4 billion in revenue last year? Partly by sending hometown jobs to China.
The Pitch |
Eric Barton |
05-21-2008 |
Business & Labor
A Welding Program for Refugees Sparks Job Opportunitiesnew
Before next spring, the welding program run by Association of Africans Living in Vermont will have provided 30 individuals with 80 hours of welding training and 40 hours of English as a Second Language instruction.
Seven Days |
Mike Ives |
05-19-2008 |
Business & Labor
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the People Who Work on Charleston's Waterwaysnew
Shrimpers, crabbers, fishermen, and a wide variety of tradesmen rely on the ocean, harbor, and rivers to raise families and to make a living for themselves. Long hours, changing weather patterns, fluctuating market prices, and rising fuel costs all take their toll.
Charleston City Paper |
Joshua Curry |
05-14-2008 |
Business & Labor
How to Stiff Immigrant Workers in Constructionnew
Because he called his workers "business partners," Contractor Shawn Campbell was able to avoid over $1 million in payments to the state workers' compensation fund and keep his employees working up to 46 hours a week with no overtime, a judge found. He slid through undetected for more than two years, until a disgruntled employee blew the whistle.
Seattle Weekly |
Laura Onstot |
05-12-2008 |
Business & Labor
Costco's Shadow Workforcenew
Justifiably lauded for its employment practices when compared with other big box retailers, Costco employs a massive workforce that enjoys none of the retailer's fabled benefits. It's not a life you'd like to sample.
North Bay Bohemian |
P. Joseph Potocki |
05-09-2008 |
Business & Labor
