LABOR
The Moral Test of Government Romney and Ryan and their corporate backers know this, and both candidates have challenged the very idea of a worker’s right to stick together and bargain for basic rights — including fair pay, health care and retirement benefits.
Mid-Level Jobs Squeezed in Economic Forecast “The big story is there’s a lot of jobs at the top end and bottom end, but not a lot of jobs in the middle,” said Drew Digby, the region’s labor analyst for DEED. “There is a continuing squeeze for manufacturing and government jobs while classic middle class jobs, like teachers, will be harder and harder to get.”
Steelworkers Reach Tentative Agreement U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers of America announced Sunday they have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year labor contract covering 16,000 workers across the country, including those at two Iron Range mines.
GOP Platform Seeks to Weaken Power of Unions The platform — saying it would promote “greater economic liberty” — calls for enacting a nationwide “right-to-work” law. Such a law would prohibit union contracts at private-sector workplaces from requiring employees to pay any dues or other fees to a union.
HEALTH CARE
A Prairie Vision In Minnesota, officials from 12 southwest counties boldly believe they’ve found one solution for reining in the program’s soaring costs without compromising care. Their plan: joining up with local providers to run the program themselves, at least in that corner of the state.
NOTES ON NURSING
BC Nurses Union Pres.: Flu Shots for Nurses Should be Voluntary They [nurses] need to be able to draw their own conclusions from the research and literature and make their own choice on that. I have made my choice. I understand the importance of vaccines and herd immunity and I am willing to take my chances because of that. Other people may not get to that place.
Nurses Cleaning Hospital Toilets The survey of 1,000 NHS nurses and health assistants revealed a third had cleaned toilets or mopped floors in the last year. Some also reported cleaning corridors, computers, nursing stations and offices, according to the Nursing Times, which conducted the survey.