Workplace Fairness

Teamsters, SEIU bolt AFL-CIO federation

Ron Fournier, Associated Press | Chicago Tribune

The Teamsters and a major service employees union on Monday bolted from the AFL-CIO, a stinging exodus for an embattled movement struggling to stop membership losses and adjust to a rapidly changing working environment. In a decision that AFL-CIO President John Sweeney labeled a "grievous insult" to labor's rank-and-file, the Teamsters union and the Service Employees International Union, two major federation affiliates, said they decided to leave. They said they were forming a competing labor coalition designed to reverse labor's long decline in union membership. The joint announcement, the largest schism in

labor's ranks since 1930, came as no surprise since weeks of publicly-aired dissension within the ranks preceded it. Read the full story.

More stories for July 25, 2005:

Jury to hear case of company accused of pregnancy discrimination

ID-theft services added to workplace benefits

Victim's family say Lockheed ruling hurts

Love the job? What about your boss?

A plea for pro athletes to help stop sweatshops

Friday's most popular story:

After she sued Merrill, it's back to the job

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Blog roundup: Supreme Court nominee John Roberts

Jury to hear case of company accused of pregnancy discrimination

Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press | Boston Globe

Cynthia Papageorge claims she was fired because of her pregnancy. Her former employer? A maternity clothing retailer. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Papageorge's discrimination suit against Mothers Work Inc., a Philadelphia-based company with more than 1,100 stores. Papageorge was approaching her due date when [a] company vice president, Frank Mullay, made a surprise inspection. She claims Mullay questioned whether she was capable of doing her job in her "condition" and in her "state." Days later, Mullay allegedly directed Papageorge's supervisor to fire her. Read the full story.

ID-theft services added to workplace benefits

Russ Wiles | Arizona Republic

A few forward-looking companies are starting to add identity-theft services as a workplace benefit. They're doing it to keep employees happy--and productive. ID theft can exert a big drag on productivity if employees spend time at work trying to put their good names and financial records back in order--not to mention the stress and distractions from having accounts tampered with and personal information violated. Compared with workplace benefits such as pension plans or health insurance, ID-theft services are inexpensive. It's too early to tell whether this will catch on in the workplace, but the cost-benefit trade-off seems highly positive. Read the full story.

Victim's family say Lockheed ruling hurts

Associated Press | New York Times

Lynette McCall was so scared that Doug Williams would eventually make good on threats to kill her and other co-workers that she increased her life insurance just before his 2003 shooting spree that left six people dead. Williams walked out of a mandatory diversity training class on July 8, 2003, and returned with a 12-gauge shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle. He shot 14 people then turned the gun on himself. The shooting victims and their families sued Lockheed, claiming the company knew Williams' racism had created a volatile work environment and did nothing to defuse the situation. Now, a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hold the case to workers' compensation standards could dramatically limit what the victims and their families can collect. Read the full story.

Love the job? What about your boss?

Mireya Navarro | New York Times

In a ruling that significantly expands the law on sexual harassment in the workplace, California's Supreme Court ruled that workers can sue when a colleague who is sleeping with the boss is shown repeated preferential treatment. Unions and lawyers who represent workers rejoiced, claiming a victory for a group some of them call "the unloved." But those charged with managing workers in California were reaching for the Tums. Not only will management have to worry about who is sleeping with whom, but about who among them gets a bigger office, a better assignment, a promotion. And who might be stewing in resentment over it. Read the full story.

A plea for pro athletes to help stop sweatshops

David Picker | New York Times

A human rights advocate concerned with sweatshop labor says some athletic apparel is made under dismal working conditions, and he is calling on professional athletes to help stop the practice. At a protest in Manhattan yesterday, the executive director of the National Labor Committee spoke specifically about a factory in rural Honduras where he said the athletic apparel company Reebok made some replica jerseys for the National Basketball Association and National Football League. Reebok said it was enlisting an independent agency to conduct a complete assessment of conditions at the factory. Read the full story.

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