Great Plains Laborers' District Council

April 23, 2018

Welcome

Iroquois Paving - a quality union contractor

A video from one of our fine union contractors...

MLK - Union rights are civil rights

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not murdered 50 years ago this week at a posh gathering of billionaire campaign donors or at retreat for corporate CEOs.

The cost of driving on Illinois roads

ILLINOIS MOTORISTS LOSE $16.4 BILLION ANNUALLY ON ROADS THAT ARE ROUGH, CONGESTED & LACK SOME SAFETY FEATURES- NEARLY $2,500 PER DRIVER IN SOME AREAS.

No CEO should earn 1000 times more than their average worker

The CEO of Marathon Petroleum, Gary Heminger, took home an astonishing 935 times more pay than his typical employee in 2017. In other words, one of Marathon’s gas station workers would have to toil more than nine centuries to make as much as Heminger grabbed in just one year.

What is a labor union? (from Teen Vogue)

On February 26, the United States Supreme Court began hearing arguments on the Mark Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Council 31 case, which will stand as one of the most significant labor rulings in recent history.

A political history of economic inequality

In December 2013, a year into his second term, Barack Obama identified “dangerous and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility” as “the defining challenge of our time.

Illinois primary - vote March 20

LiUNA Endorsed candidates, March 20 Illinois primary J.B.

Union votes helped propel Pennsylvania victory

Over 200 coal miners, family members and local activists crowded into a hall at the Greene County fairgrounds Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania’s rural southwest corner.

Supreme Court "Janus" case - background and analysis

When the Supreme Court doesn’t care about facts Midway through Monday’s oral argument in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, “[H]ow much is there unionization in the general corporate sector … or private sector.

Child labor is not gone - a report on young miners

Reporter Podcast 'It Was Suffocating, and the Ground Was Shaking' Children are risking their lives in India's illegal mica mines. Journalist Marius Münstermann talks about what he saw and experienced while reporting on the mines -- and how the earth shook with every blow of the pickaxe.

Right-wing feud: Rauner reveals political agenda of Janus Supreme Court case

From the Springfield State Journal-Register Just days before U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a key labor relations case emanating from Illinois, the head of an organization representing the plaintiff is asking Gov. Bruce Rauner quit “falsely” taking credit for the case, and to quit making it a political issue.

Wage violations too often unenforced

As Democrats make raising the minimum wage a centerpiece of their 2018 campaigns, and Republicans call for states to handle the issue, both are missing an important problem: Wage laws are poorly enforced, with workers often unable to recover back pay even after the government rules in their favor.

231 Laborer completes Associates degree through apprenticeship

A Laborers’ apprenticeship is not only a decent career path, it’s also a higher education path. Tracy Coats, who completed her Laborers apprenticeship in November 2017, also completed an Associates degree at Heartland Community College in December. The community college recognized her Laborers training hours as equivalent to college credit.

The Laborers stand with immigrant workers

We are a nation of citizens. Citizenship unites us and can strengthen our unions. The Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) was founded more than a century ago by immigrants struggling for citizenship and to improve their lives. These proud men and women have helped build our nation, just as many immigrants do today. Our current immigration policy is failing both citizens and immigrants.

Union membership grows

Washington DC – Organized labor still provides the best way for workers to get ahead. While New York continues to have the highest percentage of workers in unions, at 23.8 percent union membership increased even in the South. Although South Carolina continued to have the lowest number of union members the number rose in the Palmetto State.


	Labor Headlines

US labour news headlines from LabourStart

UnionActive Newswire Headlines

5th Annual Care Giver Conference

FROM THE EBOARD - AN ADMISSION