By Jesse Russell

Amnesty International and Humans Rights Watch have accused the United States of being the only country that severely punishes juveniles on a regular basis. According to the organizations 2,225 child offenders are in prison for life in 42 American states. Worldwide, only one dozen other cases were found in three countries - Israel, South Africa and Tanzania. One-sixth of those that committed their offense were under 16, nearly sixty percent were given a life sentence for their first offense. In a quarter of he cases the offenders were found guilty of being present at the scene of a murder, but not actually committing the murder.

Today in St. Louis, a new federation of unions representing more than five million workers is holding its founding convention. The Change to Win Coalition's focus is on improving the living conditions of working people and organizing the 9 in 10 American workers not yet in union. The coalition consists of major unions that are dissatisfied with that organization's inability to combat slipping membership, including five that left the AFL-CIO this summer.

Participants include the the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers, UNITE HERE, the Un

By Doug Cunningham

At the national annual meeting of Jobs With Justice this coming weekend The National Worker's Rights Board will draw more than a thousand workers and community activists to hear testimony from workers about
Wal-Mart's policies. Jobs With Justice's Erica Smiley says the National Worker's Rights Board was formed in response to a National Labor Relations Board that's not protecting workers' rights.

[Erica Smiley 1] : "We're expecting it to unite a variety of workers and community members from many perspectives around what's proven to be the common cause of the 21st century."

76 people were arrested this afternoon in an act of civil disobedience
held at a rally outside of New York University’s Bobst Library.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney was among the arrested.
Abraham Riesman has more:

The crowd of students, faculty, and union members were protesting the
University’s refusal to negotiate with the UAW Local 2110, which
represents graduate students at NYU. Among those arrested was
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who spoke earlier at the rally.

[Sweeney]: "Union busting is for corporate criminals, not an education
institution."

The union’s contract with the University expires today. Previously, it

Jockeys who sued and won the right to wear their union patch during the Kentucky Derby filed in US District court this week to have the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority pay their attorney fees - totaling more than $93,000. In April of this year members of the Jockeys Guild threatened to defy state law prohibiting the display of promotional symbols during races. Kentucky Derby jockeys threatened to wear their union's patches anyway, saying the Racing Authority was violating their First Amendment rights. But the labor action wasn't necessary after a district judge ruled on May 1st that jockeys could wear their union logos.

By Jesse Russell

Workers in California now have extra protection when it comes to resisting orders they deem discriminatory. The California Supreme Court ruled last week that a supervisor at a cosmetics company who refused to follow her bosses order to fire an employee who wasn't "good enough looking" and replace her with someone "hot" was completely in her rights. The supervisor alleged that the company retaliated by giving her poor evaluations and changing her duties. The court ruled 4 to 2 that she could sue. Labor law experts said the ruling will give California employees stronger rights then any other state.

By Doug Cunningham

Nathan Newman of the Agenda for Social Justice says Democrats should be taken to task for lionizing Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day 'O'Connor as moderate when the reality is that she's been right wing and anti-labor in her decisions on the court.

[Nathan Newman 1] : "In a string of decisions over her career whenever there was an issue up on whether workers were gonna have the rights under the labor law she always sided with the business community in stripping workers of those rights."

Newman, a labor activist with a PhD from UC-Berkeley and a law degree from Yale, says working families should pay close attention to the Supreme Court nominee fight.

By Jesse Russell

Reorganization of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was approved on Friday regardless of opposition from lawmakers and a commissioner. According to the website Government Executive the new plan will save the EEOC $4.8 million over eight years by downsizing eight district offices. In addition, some higher salaried executives will be replaced with lower-paid workers. EEOC Commissioner Stuart Ishimaru voted against the change. In the past he was said that the reorganization fails to address the lack of substantial race discrimination cases being brought by the agency. Thirty Senate Democrats sent a letter asking the EEOC to holdout for further examination into implications out of concern that the restructuring could "undermine the commission's work."

By Doug Cunningham

Newspaper Guild President Linda Foley says the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller should make all Americans very concerned about a reporter's right not to reveal confidential sources - something that's critical to doing the work of a reporter. Foley is calling for a national reporter's shield law to make that would protect journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources.

By Jesse Russell

American Rights at Work was founded to inform the public about struggles for workplace democracy. Kim Freeman is the organizations communications director who says one of the main problems is labor laws protecting workers aren't strong enough.

[Freeman:] A lot of employers are finding that it's cheaper to just go ahead and break the law when it comes to violating workers rights because it has such a chilling effect on a union organizing campaign that it's worth it.

The organization recently commissioned a study that concludes union elections fall alarmingly short of living up to the most fundamental tenets of democracy. The report, "Free and Fair? How Labor Law Fails U.S. Democratic Election Standards" was written by Prof. Gordon Lafer of the University of Oregon.

Jobs With Justice is a national campaign for workers rights and for social justice with active chapters in 40 cities across the United States. As it gears up for its annual national meeting later this summer, Jobs With Justice is more focused than ever on providing a way for people to come together around a common agenda with concrete actions. JWJ's Fred Azcarate says the rights of workers to organize and health care are among the organization's top priorities.

[Fred Azcarate 1] : "It's really hard times for working people. I think we're seeing with Jobs and Justice, you know, in our coalitions, that more and more organizations and individual activists who care about the issues that affect working families are trying to figure out ways to come together."

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 yesterday that municipalities have the right to take homes or businesses for private development. Essentially the court chose to keep with a long standing tradition of deffering best interest decisions to the state. In the case, the city of New London, Connecticut is seeking to seize a number of homes to make way for an Oceanside hotel, a business building and a park for the purpose of revitalizing the city. Jeff Finkle of the International Economic Development Council argues the benefits of allowing a city to seize homes for such a purpose:

[Finkle]: We're trying to create jobs. We're trying to get a tax base that can make cities safer and more economically friendly to rich and poor alike, but the better beneficiaries are the poor.

Workers at the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are deeply concerned that EEOC administration is on a 'self-destruction' course - a reorganization that will make it impossible for workers to have their discrimination cases fairly heard. Gabriel Martin, President of EEOC Local 216 says workers facing discrimination nationwide will be squeezed by the three step reorganization now in the works.

[Gabriel Martin] : "EEOC is the only agency out there that Congress says you are to enforce civil rights in employment. And so if we're not here they have nowhere else to go. Nowhere else to get the cases investigated.

Six unions walked out of congressionally mandated meetings with Defense Department management and union leaders on Monday. They are asking Congress to reverse new civil service rules put in place by the Department that affect 650,000 civilian workers. The NFFE, International Association of Machinists, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Association of Government Employees, the National Association of Independent Labor and the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department all walked out in solidarity. The new rules would restrict union bargaining rights, eliminate seniority raise system in exchange for a rewards system and create strict disciplinary rules. The unions have begun to lobby Congress and expect a heated battle.

Nearly half of U.S. workers in the private sector - 47 percent - have no paid sick days. Legislation introduced in the U,S, Senate by Senator Ted Kennedy would require employers with more than 15 employees to provide seven paid sick days a year for both private and public sector workers.
Debra Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women and Families,
says this is pro-family legislation that Republicans and Democrats should support.

[Debra Ness] : "It cuts across all demographic groups. It's really an issue that affects every working family in America. And so our hope is that all

Republicans in Pennsylvania's legislature are pushing bills introduced March 30th that in effect would transform Pennsylvania into an anti-union so called "right to work state". Called the Open Workforce Initiative, the bills would end closed shops where new employees coming into a union shop are required to join the union. Unions say workers under these proposed laws would have less bargaining power and the result would be lower wages.

An important neutrality agreement has been recognized by the labor relations board. An unfair labor practice charge filed by a group called the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation against the United Auto Workers and auto parts maker Dana Corporation was thrown out by the NLRB late last week. The UAW and Dana have a neutrality agreement that allows workers to decide whether or not they are in favor of union representation. If the majority of workers in a Dana facility sign union cards, then the company will recognize the UAW. The Right to Work attorneys claimed Dana illegally bargained with the union before workers had a chance to vote. The board said it found no instances of illegal bargaining.

A bill creating the freedom for workers to join unions by a simple majority signup is being introduced in Congress. AFL-CIO Voice at Work Director Andy Levin says some Republicans are co-sponsors.

The bill has more than 30 sponsors in the U.S. Senate, more than 120 in the House. It includes meaningful penalties when workers rights are violated.

Thousands of workers and their families are expected in the streets of San Francisco today to protest what they say are the anti-worker policies of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tim Paulson is Executive Director of the San Francisco Central Labor Council.

[Tim Paulson 1] : "He's traveling the state right now and he's collecting money from corporate interests to basically attack workers' rights."

If you ever needed a self-defense manual on the job to assert your rights against abuses by the boss, Labor Notes can supply it. A Troublemaker¹s Handbook 2, How to Fight Back Where You Work and Win! is designed to empower workers looking for tactics to win justice on the job. Editor Jane Slaughter says more than seventy authors tell their stories and share their expertise on collective tactics workers anywhere can use.