Bloomberg: Labor Gains Obama Policies Cooper Tire-to-Walmart Companies Rue

[Omaha Steve]

I just got this in an email. Jordan Barab used to run the AFSCME safety dept. in DC.


Below is a graf from a long Bloomberg piece in which Corporations are
lamenting the handful of gains workers have made under the Obama admin.

Reading it just awes me:

OSHA’s acting director, Jordan Barab, signaled a new tone at the
agency in a speech to the Wisconsin AFL-CIO last month. One of the first
things he did when he arrived, Barab said, was to replace pictures of
OSHA managers displayed in a conference room with photos of workers who
had been killed on the job.



Here is the article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aZ0E8Blqc82Y

By Holly Rosenkrantz

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is paying tariffs on imported tires. Free-trade agreements sought by Caterpillar Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are on hold. Delta Air Lines Inc. flight attendants may join a union.

There’s a common thread running through these developments. Organized labor is gaining momentum under the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama.

Though reaching their most-publicized goals -- legislation making it easier to organize and a government-run health insurance program -- remains in doubt, unions are making other gains through executive orders, rule changes and appointments. More advances may be ahead as regulatory nominees are confirmed.

“You absolutely know something is going to happen to you, you just don’t know when,” said Michael Lotito, a San Francisco attorney at Jackson Lewis LLP who handles labor issues for companies. “There is going to be a flurry of labor action down the pike.”

Their status is a change for labor officials, who say the Republican administration of George W. Bush was hostile to their agenda. “Welcome back to the White House!” Vice President Joe Biden said to union leaders who met with the president at the White House 10 days after his inauguration.

John Sweeney, 75, who headed the AFL-CIO for 14 years before stepping aside last month, says he was invited to the White House once during Bush’s eight years in office. That was at the request of visiting Pope Benedict XVI, he says. The AFL- CIO is the nation’s largest union group.

FULL story at link.

[Canuckistanian]

1. OK, that has to be the most confusing headline ever

I still can't figure it out.

[hvn_nbr_2]

2. I was just about to say the same thing.

I have no idea what the headline says. I can't even begin to parse it.