AltWeeklies Wire
Employers Skim $26.2 Million Per Week from Lower-Income Workers Paychecksnew

Ruth Milkman should have moved this statistic from the 53rd page of her study to the front, where it might have been read by local media: Every week, employers in Los Angeles County pilfer $26.2 million from the paychecks of the poorest 17 percent of workers.
L.A. Weekly |
Max Taves |
02-19-2010 |
Business & Labor
Baristas Say the Fight for Better Conditions is Uphill but Necessarynew

In December, Starbucks employees blocked the drive-through window at the company's coffee shop at Rosedale Street and 8th Avenue for about 20 minutes, in protest of the rising cost of their healthcare insurance, low wages, and a litany of other issues.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Eric Griffey |
02-09-2010 |
Business & Labor
Lobster Loot: Chinese New Year and Weather Contribute to Record Pricesnew
Even as the specter of new and improved Marine Protected Areas threatens to impact their way of life, Santa Barbara-based lobstermen are enjoying one of their most economically successful seasons in memory.
Santa Barbara Independent |
Ethan Stewart |
02-08-2010 |
Business & Labor
Pasadena Labor Talks Hit the Skidsnew
Roughly 250 of the city staff’s supervisors and middle managers returned to work with shortened schedules, under a furlough city officials imposed on members of the Pasadena Management Association following a breakdown in labor talks with the union’s representatives.
Pasadena Weekly |
Jake Armstrong |
02-08-2010 |
Business & Labor
High-Paying Government Work is Coming to Albemarle County, Eventuallynew

Have you heard about those wages? Average salaries of $80,000! That’s $64 million on its way. Sixty four million dollars! And now they’re finally here. Well, about 50 of them. The rest are coming and all of them have to be here by September 2011.
C-Ville Weekly |
Will Goldsmith |
01-27-2010 |
Business & Labor
A New, Last-Minute Proposal for Former Navy Basenew
This "Plan B" to Measure B, the controversial 288-page mishmash of amendments and entitlements for what SunCal wants to build, contains the same basic plan as the increasingly unpopular ballot measure but strips out some of the city's objections to the initiative and seeks to bypass Alameda's tough density restrictions by different means.
East Bay Express |
Rin Kelly |
01-27-2010 |
Business & Labor
Workplace Labor Practices Have Become a Subspecialty for Labor Law Firmsnew

In a previous assignment, working at a wastewater facility in West Oakland, Watson kept a jar near his station so that he could urinate while on duty, rather than walk several blocks to the bathroom.
East Bay Express |
Michelle Quinn |
01-27-2010 |
Business & Labor
Seattle's Program for Handling Injured Workers is in a World of Hurtnew

Employers complain that Washington's workers'-comp system is generous to the point of crippling employers. They believe rates are being raised to support ever-expanding benefits that are too easily obtained, and a bloated bureaucracy.
Seattle Weekly |
Laura Onstot |
01-25-2010 |
Business & Labor
Atlanta Airport Bond Deal Raises Questions, Sparks Investigationnew
C.T. Martin says he’s fighting to get Grigsby & Associates and Rice Financial Products, two out-of-state and minority-owned bond underwriters, a bigger chunk of the airport bond deal because minority companies have historically been shut out of Wall Street paydays.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Scott Henry, Thomas Wheatley |
01-12-2010 |
Business & Labor
Cash-Strapped Atlanta Mulls Later Bar Hoursnew
On Nov. 16, Councilman Kwanza Hall shook party-loving Atlantans out of a six-year slumber announcing at a City Council meeting that he wanted the city's next mayor to study whether extending bar hours from 2:30 to 4 a.m. would increase revenue and spark the city's moribund – and once booming – nightlife scene.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Thomas Wheatley |
01-12-2010 |
Business & Labor
Released From Prison Today? Expect a New Set of Locked Doors Tomorrownew

The 29 days since Jason Horn left jail have been a blur of bus rides, AA meetings and rejections. Today, with a cold snap tugging the temperature into the single digits, he's taking the No. 3 bus to continue his job search in Old Colorado City.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
01-07-2010 |
Business & Labor
Does Greek Cusina Owner Really Have a Legal Case Against the City?new
THE EMBATTLED Greek Cusina closed its doors on January 1, after a year and a half of paying more than $200,000 for near-constant city-imposed fire inspections. Now, Ted Papas is now seriously considering filing a lawsuit in federal court against the person he squarely blames for the closure: City Commissioner Randy Leonard.
The Portland Mercury |
Amanda Waldroupe |
01-07-2010 |
Business & Labor
New Haven Non-Profit Leaders Saw Big Raises Just Before the Market Crashed in 2008new

Sciulli was the bottom rung on the Advocate's last biennial salary survey, published in 2007. Now, the Solar Youth founder and director has moved up a notch. Nationally and statewide, experts predict there won't be as much good news to report on in fiscal year 2009.
New Haven Advocate |
Betsy Yagla |
12-21-2009 |
Business & Labor
Colorado Bus Drivers Prepare to Lose Their Jobs and the Heart of the Union They Builtnew
As part of massive budget cuts, Colorado Springs is eliminating its transit contractor, First Transit, resulting in the loss of weekend and evening bus service — and the layoffs of 73 workers, including 47 bus drivers once paid with general-fund dollars. The savings will amount to about $5.7 million in 2010.
Colorado Springs Independent |
J. Adrian Stanley |
12-08-2009 |
Business & Labor
Can a Mild-mannered Bakery Clerk Solve Grocery Workers' Labor Strife?new

Kim Cordova's termination, and the filing of a slander lawsuit against her and two other union members, convinced her to make a play for the top job at one of the largest unions in Colorado. She'll be the first woman to head Local 7.
Westword |
Melanie Asmar |
12-07-2009 |
Business & Labor