Why workers join unions

Los Angeles (CNN Business) On any given weekend night in North Hollywood, a group of dancers in outlandish costumes holds signs urging customers to stay away from the Star Garden topless bar. More than a dozen of the club's dancers say they've been locked out for four-plus months because they petitioned the owners to reinstate two of their fired colleagues, improve security and safety measures, and recognize their right to form a union. US strippers haven't successfully unionized since the effort at San Francisco's Lusty Lady in the 1990s, but the Star Garden workers are trying anyway — and they're doing so in an environment where more American workers are leveraging their own power . Dancers protesting in front of Star Garden topless bar in North Hollywood. (CNN has blurred a portion of this image to obscure expletives.) That's in large part because of successful unionization efforts at behemoths like Starbucks ( SBUX ) , … [Read more...] about Knights, queens and strippers are helping fuel the spike in US unionizing efforts

FUKUOKA, Japan — With more than three decades of work in media, first as television host of a pioneering public affairs program and then as Inquirer columnist, Randy David is not slowing down as a journalist. He soldiers on, reading and interpreting the signs of the times amid hot-button issues, like rising populism and inequality and climate emergency. David could have enjoyed more his retirement as professor emeritus of sociology at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman and his rather new “apostolate” — spending time with his “apo” (grandchildren). Instead, David, now in his 70s, is expanding into a new media platform and even conducting interviews to record the ideas of others to reach a bigger audience, the young. He recently started podcasting, turning his columns and interviews into digital audio files, which could be downloaded from the internet and listened to at one’s convenience. ” They told me, ‘Papa, if you want to reach the millennials, the young … [Read more...] about Randy David: To disturb, to be heard, to stay undeterred

RADICAL LEFT ANNOUNCES PLANS TO INTIMIDATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES… Left-Wing Group Targets Homes Of 6 Conservative SCOTUS Justices A left-wing group published its plans for protests outside of the six conservative Supreme Court justices’ homes, calling them “extremist.” The group, going by “Ruth Sent Us,” published what it claims are the addresses of Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and John Roberts, seemingly in response to the Monday SCOTUS draft opinion leak that signaled the majority of the court may vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. “ANNOUNCING: Walk-by Wednesday, May 11, 2022! At the homes of the six extremist justices, three in Virginia and three in Maryland. If you’d like to join or lead a peaceful protest, let us know,” the website of “Ruth Sent Us” states. “Our 6-3 extremist Supreme Court routinely issues rulings that hurt women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights. We must rise up to force … [Read more...] about Editor Daily Rundown: Feds Wall Off Supreme Court And Abortion Cash Flows To Dems

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin JetBlue and Spirit Airlines announced a merger, really the acquisition of Spirit by JetBlue, this week. The purchase price is $3.8 billion, with each Spirit shareholder to receive $33.50 per share. If the deal goes through (the U.S. Justice Department can say no) JetBlue will join a new “Big 5” of U.S. airlines. The news comes one day after Frontier Airlines, Spirit’s former suitor, terminated its bid for the airline. That concluded a love triangle….err, bidding war…that began with Frontier and Spirit first announcing a merger in February 2022. “Smells like merger Spirit,” wrote Helane Becker, Managing Director Industrials & Airlines & Airfreight Consumer at Cowen Inc, summing up the soap opera with a nod to Nirvana. “Spirit and Frontier agreed to merge in February. In April, JetBlue flew in with a better offer. Spirit continued to defend its decision to go with Frontier, assuming the transaction would receive … [Read more...] about JetBlue Wins Battle For Spirit Airlines, Now In Top 5 U.S. Airlines

Andy Jassy, CEO, Amazon (Reuters file image) When Jeff Bezos was CEO of Amazon, he took an arms-length stance toward the company’s affairs in Washington. He rarely lobbied lawmakers. He testified only once before Congress, under the threat of subpoena. Andy Jassy, Bezos’ successor, is trying a different approach. Since becoming Amazon’s CEO last July , Jassy, 54, has visited Washington at least three times to traverse Capitol Hill and visit the White House. In September, he met with Ron Klain, President Joe Biden’s chief of staff. He has called Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, to lobby against antitrust legislation and talked with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., about Amazon’s new corporate campus in the state. “He was very inquisitive,” said Kaine, who met with Jassy at the Capitol in September and spoke with him by phone last month. Jassy was diplomatic rather than out to “bowl you over” by “force of personality,” Kaine said, and came prepared with knowledge of … [Read more...] about Amazon CEO Andy Jassy breaks from the Bezos way