Unions

In the Ozark Mountain town of Rogers, Ark., more than 250 business owners gathered for lunch at a construction company last month to focus on what they saw as a major threat -- a proposal in Congress to make it easier to form labor unions. At each place setting, attendees found pre-stamped postcards and pre-written letters to be sent to Arkansas' U.S. senators, Democrats Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, who had supported the labor bill in the past.

Whether you label it the "card check" bill or the Employee Free Choice Act, you can also call it something else -- in deep trouble. Key senators this week appeared to cripple prospects for passing the highly polarizing measure, the labor movement's top priority in Congress, which is aimed at making it easier for workers to join unions. The latest hurdle came Friday, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she would seek alternative legislation that was less divisive.

Starbucks a hub of union-busting and worker exploitation? Say it ain't so, Howard Schultz! The Starbucks chief executive, who actively cultivates a socially progressive image, is in the cross hairs of a new-media campaign designed to bolster union representation at the retail giant and beyond. For five years, Starbucks has been the target of a limited but sometimes nasty unionization drive that has tarnished its reputation for high-minded benevolence.

A chilly, high desert dawn was breaking as the workers trickled onto the sprawling grounds of Rite Aid Corp.'s distribution warehouse, a behemoth box at the edge of the Mojave. Awaiting them outside was a makeshift table set with hot coffee and doughnuts, courtesy of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union. Employees donning yellow union T-shirts briefly savored a hard-won triumph as they continue a bitter, three-year-plus campaign. "I'm glad to be back.

A union representing deputy district attorneys filed a lawsuit last week against Los Angeles County and Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley alleging the department's senior managers retaliated against employees for unionizing last year. The complaint accuses Los Angeles County's top law enforcer of using "19th century thuggery commonly employed against union organizers," including punitive work transfers. The Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys, which began representing about 1,000 Los Angeles County prosecutors in March 2008, is currently in the midst of contract negotiations with the district attorney's office and the county.

A teacher-driven effort to unionize a celebrated Los Angeles charter school has, for the first time, extended the reach of the powerful local teachers union into schools that have largely -- and purposely -- operated without representation. Nearly 80% of teachers and other qualified staff members at The Accelerated School south of downtown have turned in pro-union signature cards, organizers said last week.

Southern California Gas Co. and the union representing its workers are running out of negotiating time on a labor contract that expires this weekend. A strike could begin as early as midnight Saturday against the company that serves more than 20.3 million consumers in Southern California. On Sunday, Local 132 of the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, asked its members for an authorization vote that would give the union the right to call a walkout if negotiations fail.

The ousted leaders of Oakland-based United Healthcare Workers West on Wednesday announced that they have formed a new union and intend to begin recruiting their former members, a continuation of brinkmanship between UHW and the Service Employees International Union. The new group is called the National Union of Healthcare Workers, and organizers are busily collecting union cards from UHW members, the first step toward recognition in workplaces.

A judge has ruled that the Santa Barbara News-Press committed flagrant violations of federal labor laws when it fired eight journalists for engaging in union activities, and he ordered that the newspaper rehire the former employees. Evidence presented during a 17-day hearing last summer shows "the News-Press' widespread, general disregard for the fundamental rights of the employees," Administrative Law Judge William G. Kocol wrote in a 75-page decision issued last week.

The tight race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has opened surprisingly deep and bitter divisions in the ranks of organized labor, as rival union leaders fly planeloads of last-minute volunteers into key states, accuse each other of trying to disenfranchise members, and even launch open attacks on rival Democratic candidates.