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President Obama on Monday announced his selection of Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Speaking at an AFL-CIO picnic in Cincinnati, the president introduced Bloom, who has been a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner as part of the auto industry task force since February. Bloom, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an investment banker. "As my new point person on manufacturing, he's going to help us craft the policies that will create the next generation of great manufacturing jobs and ensure American competitiveness in the 21st century,"...

In a speech to the AFL-CIO, the president accuses critics and special interests of using scare tactics and spreading 'lies' in healthcare debate. Reporting from Cincinnati - In a combative Labor Day speech, President Obama said that the healthcare debate had gone on too long and accused opponents of spreading "lies" meant to persuade Americans that his proposed overhaul would cruelly deny care to the elderly. The president, speaking at an AFL-CIO picnic, said that "special interests" were determined to "scare the heck out of people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KonFRhqbj2I Very hard to watch.

    Happy Labor Day! September 7, 2009        HISTORY Labor Day is a national legal holiday that is over 100 years old. Over the years, it has evolved from a purely labor union celebration into a general "last fling of summer" festival. It grew out of a celebration and parade in honor of the working class by the Knights of Labor in 1882 in New York. In 1884, the Knights held a large parade in New York City celebrating the working class. The parade was held on the first Monday in September. The Knights passed a...

Here is video showing the sights and sounds of the Tea Party Express arriving in President Barack Obama's own backyard, New Lenox, Illinois, which is not far from Chicago. An enormous crowd of 10,000 people showed up today, as the Express continues to make its way to Washington D.C. on September 12. . . . (VIDEO)

Obama credits Unions with creating modern benefits like paid leave and minimum wage . The facts are that unions had nothing to do with the federal laws that created both. In fact Unions opposed the passage of federal laws that provided such benefits. At a federal level FMLA passed in 1993 provides provides for only 12 weeks of unpaid family leave to workers that work at a business with 50 or more employees. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paid_Family_Leave. At the time of the law's passage about 30% of workers nationwide received such benefits, and today about the same number do so. FMLA did not...

Conservative movement traveling toward Washington, D.C.Conservative roadshow The Tea Party Express rolled into suburban New Lenox this Labor Day, drawing an expectation-breaking crowd of thousands who decried President Barack Obama, his health care initiative and stimulus spending. Organizers said they expected 200-400 people to attend the rally, but were blown away when a crowd -- which some claimed was north of 10,000 -- gathered with American flags and signs denouncing big government. New Lenox's Chief of Police, Bob Sterba, guessed the crowd was likely around 8,000 strong. A precise count was not available. Sterba said that one event organizer even...

Tea Party Patriots gathered to protest various Obama policies today as President Obama gave a speech to union members at Riverbend/ Coney Island in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nearly 200 people gathered along Kellogg Ave. as Obama came and went today. Enclosed find photos by timestax.

Under a rainy sky, Vice President Joe Biden appeared at today's annual Pittsburgh Labor Day parade, joined by U.S. Sen Arlen Specter and Jack Shea, president of the Allegheny County Labor Council. Mr. Biden joked that the parade organizers would never invite him back, noting that his appearance last year was also weather-challenged -- then with the threat to the Gulf Coast of Hurricane Gustav, which prompted him to cancel his visit. While noting that "people are hurting" across the country, he boasted of the effects of the administration's economic stimulus package. Mr. Biden praised Mr. Specter's role in supporting...

CINCINNATI -- President Barack Obama shifted into campaign mode Monday, declaring that the time for debate on health care is over and vowing to move fast to enact a sweeping overhaul of the system this year. Speaking at a boisterous Labor Day rally of AFL-CIO members, Mr. Obama led the first "fired up, ready to go" chant of his presidency, reaching back to a hallmark of his presidential campaign. He recounted a low moment from his quest for the White House to try to seize control of a health-care debate that strayed from his grasp this summer. "Every debate at...

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 27, 2009 – Fire up the barbies, and the flat screen TVs and join comedy legend Jerry Lewis for his 44th annual Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon this Labor Day weekend, Sept. 6-7. “I’m determined to keep fighting for a cure for muscular dystrophy because my kids deserve to live long and healthy lives,” said Lewis, MDA’s national chairman and Telethon star.

Real, as in, the people who are actually out of work: the recently unemployed. the ones who have given up, and the marginally employed … folks who work just a part time job just so they can eat. Not good.

Happy Labor Day, hope you got the day off because chances are, you've really earned it. Productivity, the amount of output per hours worked is at a six-year high in America--it was up 6.6% in the second quarter and shows no signs of abating. It's the direct result of all the cost-cutting that brought the pleasant earnings news and helped fuel the summer's low-volume stock rally. Profits are up because companies have cut jobs, and for those who remain employed, wages have fallen. Sometimes productivity comes from technology, and sometimes it comes from clever new management techniques that help people...

Hello Cincinnati. Hello Ohio. I can't think of a better place to be on Labor Day than at America's biggest Labor Day picnic-with the workers and families of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO. First, give a big round of applause to Charlie. Charlie reminds us that in these tough times, America's working men and women are ready to roll up their sleeves and get back to work.

Many of us join Secretary Gates in condemning the Associated Press for its heartless and selfish decision to turn its back on the wishes of a grieving family in order to exploit the tragic death of a true American hero. Lance Corporal Joshua 'Bernie' Bernard was a selfless young American who sacrificed everything for our freedom. Shame on the AP for purposely adding to the grieving family's pain. Ignoring the family's wishes by publishing a sacred image of their loved one proved a despicable and heartless act by the AP. The family said they didn't want the photo published. AP,...

Barack Obama declared Monday that modern benefits like paid leave, minimum wage and Social Security "all bear the union label," as he appealed to unions to help him win the health care fight in Congress. "It was labor that helped build the largest middle class in history. So, even if you're not a union member, every American owes something to America's labor movement," said Obama, whose run for the presidency was energized in no small part by unions. Obama asserted that "our recovery plan is working," but repeated that he won't be satisfied until jobs are much more plentiful. Shortly...

Coal entrepreneur Don Blankenship put on a shindig at a reclaimed strip-mine site near Holden, West Virginia, for a Labor day picnic for 100,000 of his closest friends. Sean Hannity is there, so I suppose he will yak about it on his show tomorrow. Hank Williams Jr. is the main draw. Ted Nugent is the emcee. Nugent gave ‘em hell and told the crowd to fight back: “We have the perfect president for a nation that doesn’t care.�

<p>President Barack Obama told thousands of cheering union members and activists gathered at Cincinnati's Coney Island park Monday that his economic recovery plan is working.</p> <p>"We're on the road to recovery, Ohio, don't let anybody tell you otherwise," said Obama, who took the stage as the sky cleared following a morning that threatened rain.</p>

"We continue to lose manufacturing jobs, government jobs, retail jobs, financial services jobs. The economy continues to contract," Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland More than 2.3 million Americans have lost their jobs since the stimulus went into effect, and that's a big chunk of the 6.9 million jobs that have been lost since the recession started last year. Many economists believe unemployment is a lagging indicator during a recession and is often the last part of the economy to recover. Vice President Joe Biden said last week the stimulus is working better than the administration had...

LOGAN -- 100,000 people are expected for the rally, and as you can imagine getting that many people in and out of one location takes a lot of preparation. Hours before the Friends of America Rally begins, crews continue to unload the needed equipment, putting the finishing touches on stage preparations that began 5 weeks ago. "It's a continuous show. There's no stopping. That's why we have 2 stages, so there's something constantly being prepared. While someone is performing, something is being torn down while something is being set up," says David Dodd, Event Production Manager for the "Friends of...

"Thank you Cincinnati. Thank you, Ohio. Thank you labor," yelled President Barack Obama over the cheers of roughly 4,000 as he took the stage at the PNC Pavilion next to Coney Island moments ago. This followed fiery speeches by labor organizers at today'a annual AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati. This is the first time a sitting president has addressed the annual picnic, the largest of its kind in the nation. White House officials estimate roughly 10,000 tickets were distributed to the speech, which was moved to the pavilion from the park grounds because of rain. "This is a unique...

This Labor Day brings word of a new Gallup poll showing that American public support for labor unions has taken a sharp dive in the last year and is at its lowest point since Gallup began polling in 1936. In response to the question, "Do you approve or disapprove of labor unions?" just 48 percent of respondents said they approve, while 45 percent said they disapprove. That's a steep fall from August 2008, when the numbers were 59 percent approve, 31 percent disapprove, and it's the first time approval of unions has ever fallen below 50 percent. Before this year,...

The president is getting a lot of flack these days for a cardinal sin of politics — overreach. Yes, he spent too much and tried to aggrandize too much federal power. But he’s not alone, of course. Lots of groups and politicians are guilty of overreach and it’s gotten them, like the president, in a heap of trouble. Chief among them is Big Labor. Big Labor contributed tens of millions (hundreds of millions if your count state and local races and all that phone banking help) to elect Barack Obama and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. At the...

This is not a celebratory Labor Day for California's workers, and that includes government employees who believed that labor contracts and civil service rules gave them bulletproof job protection. California is mired in one of its worst economic recessions, with unemployment approaching 12 percent and likely to rise higher, but even those with jobs are often pinched by wage freezes and reductions, furloughs and cuts in fringe benefits. The jobless rate is twice as high as it was a year ago, the California Budget Project points out, and the recession has wiped out the state's employment gains in the last...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is tapping a member of his auto industry task force to advise him on manufacturing. Obama chose a Labor Day union picnic as the backdrop to announce his selection of Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Bloom planned to travel to Cincinnati with Obama for an afternoon announcement at the AFL-CIO event. Bloom was senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as part of the auto industry task force since February. Bloom, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an investment banker. Bloom will work with...

President Barack Obama is tapping a member of his auto industry task force to advise him on manufacturing. Obama chose a Labor Day union picnic on Monday as the backdrop to announce his selection of Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Bloom planned to travel to Cincinnati with Obama for an afternoon announcement at the AFL-CIO event.

Consider Your Work The VALUE placed upon LABOR is a element in a society because it reflects the social structure as well as the scale of social values. One’ society, even globally, is in a state of change making for difficulties. Thus it is needful to maintain a good attitude toward work and tiol which affects not only society but one’s own soul. It is Almighty God’s MERCY and GRACE which sets the right conditions - "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for...

Monday will be a nice day off. The kids will enjoy it and we can have some family time. Whether I work or don't work, however, the day is not for me. It is not for most of us. It is a holiday to celebrate unions. For me I guess it will be like it is for an atheist on Christmas Day. For most Americans it is just a day off. Union membership in the private sector is so low that we are unlikely to even think about it. (Again, it is like Christmas - a lot of people celebrate,...

Labor Day has changed dramatically. Massive marches in Detroit, Pittsburgh and New York City on this day once marked the power of organized labor. This year, union members will be marching in much smaller parades and enjoying slimmed- down picnics. Some parades and picnics have been canceled. Those are signs of the times. Here are a few more: More than 9.1 million Americans — union and nonunion alike — are categorized by the Labor Department as involuntary part-time workers. They're the lucky ones. They still have a job but are working fewer hours each week. Their reduced paychecks reflect that...

President Barack Obama is addressing one of his key constituencies — organized labor — on Monday as union members gather to celebrate the holiday named for their movement. As Obama prepares for a critical speech Wednesday to Congress and the nation about his efforts to overhaul health care, a supportive audience at the AFL-CIO’s annual Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati should provide welcome relief from the highly charged partisan atmosphere surrounding the issue. Besides addressing health care, Obama will tell the assembled union members he has named Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Bloom has served since February...

A century ago, Labor Day in Bell County was more about brotherhood and less about barbecue. The first Monday in September began 127 years ago as a "working man's holiday," but, in reality, in Bell County, the day emphasized more "working" than "holiday." Far from being the "last day of summer vacation," most Bell Countians anticipated Labor Day for a bountiful cotton harvest. Although the observance is 118 years old in Texas, not until 1909 did Bell County's Labor Day celebrations swell to widespread celebration. Before then, 12-hour shifts were common; worker conditions perilous. Railroads, Temple's major employer, were the...

Well, since we're heading into a 3 day weekend (for most), I thought I'd give you options for fun.... Sept 3rd is Skyscraper Day Sept 4th is Newspaper Carrier Day"I want my $2 dollars!! Sept 5 is Be Late for Something Day Or Cheese Pizza Day Sept 6th is Fight Procrastination Day Or Read a Book Day And of course, Sept 7th is Labor Day ENJOY!!!!

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden came to Pittsburgh today, but decided not to march in the Labor Day Parade. He said Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf Coast made it inappropriate for him to campaign in the festive setting of the parade. "This is just not a day for national politics. Our focus should be what's happening in the Gulf," Mr. Biden said during a Downtown news conference while the parade was under way a few blocks away. Gov. Ed Rendell, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and numerous Allegheny County politicians marched at the front of the parade.

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryAugust 30, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: EconomyTHE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  This weekend, millions of Americans will celebrate Labor Day.  This holiday marks the traditional end of the summer season.  It is also an opportunity to reflect on the contributions of hardworking Americans all across our country - from teachers, farmers, and health care professionals, to firefighters, police officers, small business owners, and workers on the assembly line.   The American workforce continues to be the marvel of the world.  Yet many working families have been weathering tough...

Members of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and Tyson Foods workers at the poultry processing plant in Shelbyville overwhelmingly voted to overturn a union contract provision that replaced Labor Day as a paid holiday with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, it was announced this morning. The new agreement will increase the number of paid days off for workers in the current calendar year to include both Labor Day and the Muslim observance as paid holidays for workers in the Shelbyville plant. The agreement amends the existing contract negotiated last year, according to a press release from...

Tyson Foods backed down on it’s contract with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) to recognize Eid al-Fitr rather than Labor Day.

Press Release Labor Day Reinstated as Paid Holiday at Shelbyville, TN, Plant; Tyson Foods Requested Change from Union Springdale, Arkansas – August 8, 2008 - Tyson Foods, Inc. announced today it has reached a new agreement with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), an American union, reinstating Labor Day as one of the designated paid holidays under the contract for covered employees in the Shelbyville, Tennessee, plant. Tyson made this request on behalf of its Shelbyville plant employees, some of whom had expressed concern about the new contract provisions relative to paid holidays. In an effort to be...

Labor Day Still Recognized at Tyson Foods Union Contract Provision only at Shelbyville, TN Plant Springdale, Arkansas – August 4, 2008 – Contrary to recent reports, Labor Day is still a holiday at Tyson Foods. This issue concerns only the plant at Shelbyville, TN. The majority of employees at the Tyson plant in Shelbyville, TN, are represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union (RWDSU), an American union that asked for and received Eid al-Fitr, as one of their eight paid holidays, in place of Labor Day. This applies only to the Shelbyville plant and resulted as part of...

Tyson Foods says that Labor Day is still a holiday, but not for the union employees at the Shelbyville poultry processing facility, who will be taking off the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr instead. Meanwhile, the union that negotiated the controversial contract at the Shelbyville plant has removed the original press release announcing the holiday change from its web site, and the union president has described the backlash to the decision as "bigotry." The union had stated in a June 19 press release that 700 Muslims worked at the plant, while Tyson repeated Tuesday that there are only 250 Somalis...

Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be granted the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. According to a news release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, a new five-year contract at the plant included the change to accommodate Muslim workers at the plant. [SNIP] Tyson's director of media relations Gary Mickelson said the contract includes eight paid holidays -- the same number as the old contract. Eid al-Fitr -- which falls on Oct. 1 this year -- marks the end of Ramadan,...

I sent an email to Tyson regarding my thoughts on the celebration of a Muslim holiday and the following is their response..... as a liberal once told me you vote with your dollars, I won't be buying Tyson.... "Contrary to recent reports, Labor Day has not been done away with at the Tyson plant in Shelbyville, TN. Recent RWDSU (Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union) contract negotiations resulted in a different holiday for workers covered by the contract, for which the union bargained. Employees not covered by the contract will still have Labor Day as a paid holiday. The union...

Well, folks, here it is--the beginning (or maybe the middle) of the end of America as we know it. Tyson Foods is now ending employees' paid day off for Labor Day and, instead, giving 'em the paid day off for the Muslim festival, Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. It is the most important holiday in Islam. It will be interesting to see how Tyson calculates which day it is, since Muslims are never really sure on which day or two it falls until right before--and since Shi'ites and Sunnis frequently feud about when it falls. Since I...

Food workers at the Shelbyville, Tenn., plant for Tyson Foods, which boasts on its corporate website that it strives "to honor God," will have time off for Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday closing the month of Ramadan, instead of the American tradition Labor Day. Officials with the company told WND the labor union representing the 1,200 plant workers, including about 700 immigrants from Somalia who largely are Muslim, sought the holiday change in the new five-year contract, and the company agreed.

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be given the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr as a holiday...

Food workers at the Shelbyville, Tenn., plant for Tyson Foods, which boasts on its corporate website that it strives "to honor God," will have time off for Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday closing the month of Ramadan, instead of the American tradition Labor Day. Officials with the company told WND the labor union representing the 1,200 plant workers, including about 700 immigrants from Somalia who largely are Muslim, sought the holiday change in the new five-year contract, and the company agreed. Officials with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union issue a press statement about the new "contract [that] creates...

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), a union that endorses Barack Obama in his 2008 Presidential candidacy, has negotiated with Tyson Foods to recognize Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr instead of the traditional American Labor Day Holiday. Employees are not happy with this stunt. Workers at Tyson Foods’ poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day, but will instead take the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the fall.

Workers at Tyson Foods' poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day, but will instead take the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the fall. A recent press release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) stated that a new contract at the Shelbyville facility "implements a new holiday to accommodate the ... Muslim workers at the plant." The RWDSU stated that "the five-year contract creates an additional paid holiday, Iidal Fitil, a Muslim holiday that occurs toward the end of Ramadan." read full article at Times-Gazette

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. -- Some workers at a local plant will no longer to be able to take their Labor Day holiday because of religious reasons. Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be granted the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. According to a news release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, a new five-year contract at the plant included the change to accommodate Muslim workers at the plant. Tyson's director of media relations Gary Mickelson said the contract includes eight paid holidays...

American workers once looked to the Motor City to see their future. That's no longer the case, in part, because of the influence of low-wage retail giant Wal-Mart and other workplace forces. This year's contract talks, under way between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit's Big Three automakers, may decide the fate of the domestic auto industry. But economists and labor historians agree that UAW contract talks no longer set the nationwide agenda for the broader American work force as they once did. Dana Johnson, chief economist of Comerica Inc., said Detroit's influence on the U.S. economy has waned...

Showman Jerry Lewis sets a goal for his annual Labor Day Telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association of $1 more than the previous year. He met that mark, plus almost $3 million on Monday. "We did it. We did it. I got my buck more. And more. We can go shopping," a jubilant Lewis said as the tote board topped $63.7 million for his 42nd telethon. Last year's record was $61 million. As in the past, the International Association of Fire Fighters anchored the donations from local fill-the-boot drives with $25.2 million, eclipsing last year's $23.5 million. "Whoa, whoa...