Free Republic

'Down with the Despot!" That's the slogan chanted in the last few days by thousands of Iranian industrial workers and miners. Reports from more than 30 cities across Iran indicate a nationwide protest movement with a mix of economic and political demands that could threaten the Khomeinist regime. On Wednesday, a delegation of workers gathered in front of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office in Tehran to demand "an urgent meeting" to discuss "an explosive situation." The standoff with security agents ended when a presidential aide informed the protestors that Ahmadinejad had flown to Istanbul for a regional summit. A few miles...

Never take investment advice from a union leader. As usual, organized labor emptied its pockets for Democrats in the recent midterm elections, spending at least $171.5 million in an attempt to keep the electoral map blue. Ninety-three percent of that astonishing figure went to elect Democratic politicians. Half of those union donations came from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents government workers. Unsurprisingly, 99.5 percent of their contributions went to Democratic candidates. That money didn't come from the wallets of union leaders. It came from their

A group of up to 400 workers in India allegedly used iron rods and heavy factory equipment to beat an auto company executive to death on the weekend, the Indian Express reports. Joginder Choudhary, an assistant general manager at auto parts manufacturer Allied Nippon, was reportedly eating lunch when he was attacked by hundreds of his employees (400 people according to some accounts). He and two other senior managers had to be hospitalized and some members of the HR staff were also attacked. Workers reportedly "attacked and chased the human resources staff and those on the board of directors" in...

City mulls stripping workers' health careBy Linda Metz, Staff writer 11/2/2010 3:33 AM Washington city employees eventually could find themselves shopping for their own health care plan. At council's agenda meeting Monday morning, Councilman Joe Manning introduced the concept of the city not offering health care benefits to its employees by taking advantage of The Affordable Care Act that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. "If we, as an employer, do not provide health care, our employees would be eligible for federal government subsidies" to purchase their own, Manning said. He also...

The number of people working part-time hours rose by 143,000 in the three months to August to reach 7.96m, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992, the figures by the Office for National Statistics have revealed. Part-time working accounted for 27.3pc of total employment, with the number of people in working rising by 178,000 on the quarter to 29.16m. A record 1.14m employees and self-employed people were working part-time because they could not find a full job, up 65,000 on the quarter, the ONS said.

199 L.A. County workers made at least $250,000 last yearThe list comprises mostly medical personnel and department heads, but also includes firefighters, the sheriff and district attorney. Thirty employees made more than $80,000 in overtime. By Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times October 5, 2010 **SNIP** The Times requested the base salary, overtime and "other earnings" for county employees whose total annual pay exceeded $250,000. "Other earnings" can include bonuses for special skills or responsibilities or unused benefits cashed out as taxable income, among other things. County officials were not immediately able to detail what types of additional payments went...

Workers resist ND switch from pension to 401KPosted in: Valley News Live Facebook, By the AP Sep 22, 2010 - 6:03:30 AM BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ Spokesmen for North Dakota school teachers and government workers are resisting proposals to put new employees into a 401(k)-style retirement savings plan. Both teachers and government workers now have pension plans with guaranteed retirement benefits. The pension funds are in financial trouble and North Dakota lawmakers are looking for solutions. A legislative committee is considering proposals to ease the state out of the pension business and put new workers into 401(k) type plans that...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- In this bloody free-for-all of a recession, Americans in their 50s are really taking it hard on the chin. Their 401(k)s have been cut down to 201(k)s. Their pensions have been frozen, or worse. Their home equity has evaporated just as their kids' college bills come due. And while younger workers may have been hit harder by unemployment, 50-something Americans who get laid off are stuck in jobless limbo longer than any other age group.

There were fewer federal civilian workers in 2009 than in 1990, 1980 and 1970. It helps to understand what tax dollars are paying for so that people have some perspective of what they are buying - as in this case homeland security and wars. After 9/11, the public was demanding the federal government do something. It did -- and it took people to manage it. That puts much of the criticism leveled at the federal government into perspective.

Workers' compensation insurance, a hot issue in the debate over California's business climate, is about to get more expensive again. But it's not clear by how much. An influential insurance-industry group said Wednesday that workers' comp premiums should rise 29.6 percent, effective next January. The group's findings are purely advisory, and experts doubt rate increases will be that dramatic. Nevertheless, the recommendation makes it obvious that companies will begin charging more for workers' comp – putting more pressure on employers struggling in a weak economic recovery. Workers' comp is a significant cost of doing business, and premiums reached something of...

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Hundreds of people who work in the space shuttle program now know who's losing jobs. Tuesday, United Space Alliance (USA) told 902 workers at Kennedy Space Center that they have two months left on the job and there are many more layoffs to come. When workers showed up Tuesday to prepare the space shuttle fleet for its final missions, nearly a thousand were told to meet with their managers and handed notices that their positions and their careers at the Space Center were almost over.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama and congressional Republicans went to war yesterday over extending unemployment benefits for millions of out-of-work Americans. "It's time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to Washington politics," Obama said. "It's time to do what's right, not for the next election, but for the middle class." Obama's hot rhetoric in the Rose Garden sought to divert voters' anger over the sputtering economy to Senate Republicans, who don't want the government to borrow $34 billion for another extension of benefits. Republicans support extending jobless benefits only if the bill is paid for, which goes...

SC small businesses must verify workers' legalitySmall businesses must now comply with SC's anti-illegal immigration law; audits to increase Seanna Adcox, Associated Press Writer Thursday July 1, 2010, 5:11 pm EDT COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A last major piece of South Carolina's anti-illegal immigration law took effect Thursday as all small businesses became subject to fines and potential shutdowns for employing illegal workers. All businesses in the state must now check their new hires' legal status and fire any existing workers known to be in the country illegally. The law is one of the toughest in the nation and had...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-president-medvedev-russia-us-russia-business-summit Home • Briefing Room • Speeches & Remarks The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 24, 2010 Remarks by President Obama and President Medvedev of Russia at the U.S.-Russia Business Summit U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 3:08 P.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, good afternoon, everybody. It is a pleasure to be here with my friend and partner, President Medvedev, and I want to thank him again for his leadership, especially his vision for an innovative Russia that’s modernizing its economy, including deeper economic ties between our...

Atlanta Resort Chateau Elan fired its staffing agency after an Atlanta news channel discovered that the staffing agency was sending illegals to work at the resort.

VIDEO HERE.

President Obama went to the groundbreaking of a road project in Columbus, Ohio, Friday to show that his massive stimulus package is still churning out jobs -- a "good news" story that was anything but for some construction workers who were trying to figure out how to make up for the payday they lost due to the president's visit. The workers were told not to report to their construction project at a nearby hospital Friday, because the Secret Service was shutting it down for security reasons. They also were told that they would not get paid for the forced day...

Once all promised benefits are included, government employees at all levels—local, state, and federal—receive significantly greater total compensation than private-sector workers. A recent research paper released by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence argues that employees of state and local governments earn salaries and benefits significantly less than similar private-sector workers. But this study omits unfunded pension and retiree health benefits for public-sector workers. Once unfunded promises are included, state and local employees may receive significantly greater total compensation than private-sector workers. Study authors Keith Bender and John Heywood of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee analyzed differences in salaries...

Sparrows Point to idle portion of steel plant, lay off workers About 600 employees work in areas to be affected June 04, 2010|By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun Several hundred workers at the Sparrows Point steel mill are in danger of temporarily losing their jobs as the plant prepares to shut down for 30 days because of low demand. The primary steelmaking facilities at the Baltimore County plant — three main divisions at the sprawling facility — will be shut down by July 1, company spokeswoman Elizabeth Kovach confirmed Friday. Union leaders had notified workers of the temporary layoffs...

(Reuters) - The U.S. Census said on Wednesday it had 573,779 workers on its payroll in mid-May, suggesting a huge boost in Friday's U.S. employment report. The agency hired hundreds of thousands of temporary workers to help with the once-a-decade Census, and economists have been expecting that to provide a large, if short-lived, lift to the still-suffering U.S. job market. It was not clear exactly how those jobs would be counted in Friday's closely watched U.S. employment report for May. Economists polled by Reuters forecast an overall gain of 513,000, including a sizable contribution from Census hiring.