Free Republic

(NEXSTAR) — Roughly 300 additional Big Lots stores are set to be closed as speculation that the company could file for bankruptcy looms. In early July, Big Lots warned in a U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that between 35 and 40 locations could shutter this year. In a new SEC filing, submitted on July 31, Big Lots said the total number of closures could reach 315, much higher than the originally agreed number of 150. Company leaders have pointed to inflation and difficulties in competing, saying they had “a substantial doubt” in their ability to continue. Between the...

A Coopersville kindergarten teacher who resigned from the Michigan Education Association under the state's worker freedom law says she is glad her ordeal is over, but is concerned for her colleagues, according to a story in The Grand Rapids Press. "I am very thankful that the MEA has finally recognized my right to opt out, but my settlement doesn't bring justice to the thousands of other teachers in my position in West Michigan and across the state of Michigan," Miriam Chanski, who along with Petoskey teacher Ray Arthur is now free from the MEA, told The Press. "This is not...

Unions are finding sneaky ways to exact dues — but workers are fighting back. Two Michigan teachers will finally be allowed to end their union membership in the Michigan Education Association and will be refunded any dues they paid during this school year, according to a settlement agreement signed this week. William “Ray” Arthur, a teacher and wrestling coach at Petoskey Senior High School, and Miriam Chanski, a Coopersville kindergarten teacher, tried to quit the teachers’ union after Michigan adopted legislation to become the 24th right-to-work state in the U.S. Both Arthur and Chanski wrote letters informing the MEA that...

End of nursing strike may be near Tuesday, December 14, 2004 2:56 PM EST The end of the more than 2-year-long registered nurses' strike at Northern Michigan Hospital could be near. Today, Tuesday, hospital officials said they received an employee petition, signed by the majority of the nurses in the union bargaining unit, stating: "We Š no longer wish to be represented by, or be members of, the Teamsters Local 406." The petition, legally termed a "self-help petition," was received Monday, according to hospital president and chief executive officer, Tom Mroczkowski. He would not release specific numbers of petition signatories,...