Free Republic

The push to unionize Amazon, Starbucks and other major U.S. companies is spreading to another employment sector that historically has resisted worker efforts to organize: America's colleges. Students employed as residential advisers, assistant instructors and in campus dining halls are uniting to demand better pay and working conditions, as well as pushing more broadly for a seat at the table in setting policies that affect their lives.

FedEx Corp faces a new charge of conspiring to launder money in a U.S. criminal case over the company's drug deliveries for rogue online pharmacies despite warnings from law enforcement. The latest indictment, filed in court on Friday, said FedEx accepted payment from several pharmacies when it knew the revenue was the product of invalid prescriptions. If convicted, FedEx could face fines of up to roughly $1.6 billion.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez has given American businesses a short reprieve from a controversial proposed rule that, if promulgated, will restrict business’ ability to obtain legal counsel and other labor relations advice potentially leading to a dearth in labor counseling. Perez told an audience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week that the new rule was “not going to happen” this November, as the Department of Labor had originally planned. While the Department has received over 9,000 comments on its proposal and considering the negative impact it will have on American businesses, it surprisingly hasn’t received much media...

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused House Republicans of “hostage taking” for not passing a “clean” short-term extension to fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with no cuts, comparing the situation to “a gun held” by the GOP to the heads of Democrats. “The issue is not essential air service. It’s not even a labor issue. It’s the issue of hostage taking. It’s as if someone puts a gun to your head and says ‘give me your money’ and then you say, ‘why won’t you give them their money?’

While business leaders rail at Gov. Bill Ritter's partnership push, workers are making gains - some even when unionizing fails. Meanwhile, a fight to make Colorado a right-to-work state looms. When Gov. Bill Ritter eased the path for organizing state workers in November, he set off just one of the high-profile fights destined to take place here in 2008. "We are seeing the next generation of union members coming along," said Mark Schwane, Colorado director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Ritter upended the business-labor balance by handing unions huge new resources to organize... "You have...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the Transportation Security Administration sought to quash efforts to unionize 56,000 federal airport security workers, saying Thursday that collective bargaining is not allowed and is incompatible with the war on terrorism.</p> <p>Passenger and baggage screeners at New York's LaGuardia and Baltimore-Washington International airports have petitioned to be represented by the American Federation of Government Employees.</p>