WEATHER ALERT
Coal miners have long faced risk of black lung disease. Now they're getting new protections
Read full article: Coal miners have long faced risk of black lung disease. Now they're getting new protectionsThe Labor Department has issued a new rule intended to protect coal miners from poisonous silica dust that has contributed to the premature deaths of thousands of mine workers from a respiratory ailment known as “black lung” disease.
Biden renominates Julie Su for labor secretary after Senate declined to confirm her for ten months
Read full article: Biden renominates Julie Su for labor secretary after Senate declined to confirm her for ten monthsThe White House says that President Joe Biden has renominated Julie Su to serve as labor secretary, whose confirmation languished in the Senate for more than 10 months.
Proposed DCPS property tax increase would generate $81M, address historic teacher shortage
Read full article: Proposed DCPS property tax increase would generate $81M, address historic teacher shortageThe Duval County School Board is poised to discuss an official proposal to ask voters for a one-mill increase to the county’s property tax rate in order to fund salary increases for teachers and reduce the record number of vacant staffing positions.
Israeli voters poised to send first Reform rabbi to Knesset
Read full article: Israeli voters poised to send first Reform rabbi to KnessetGilad Kariv is poised to make history this month as the first Reform rabbi to win a seat in Israel's parliament. He first encountered Reform Judaism during a high school trip to the United States. He’s at the lectern, wearing a kippah as an Israeli," said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Reform movement in the U.S. who has lobbied the Knesset with Kariv, his Israeli counterpart, for nine years. They see Reform Judaism as a threat unlike secularism, said one expert. “Reform Judaism conveys an alternative interpretation of Judaism," said Shmuel Rosner, senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute in Jerusalem.
Mexico's ex-oil boss quits; Fuel oil burn to increase
Read full article: Mexico's ex-oil boss quits; Fuel oil burn to increaseRomero Deschamps will finally be resigning from his symbolic post as a worker at Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex, President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador announced Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Ismael Rojas, File)MEXICO CITY – The former leader of Mexico’s oil workers’ union will finally be resigning from his symbolic post as a worker at the state-owned oil company Pemex, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Tuesday. The resignation marks an end to the decades-long career of Carlos Romero Deschamps, once considered one of the most powerful and corrupt figures in Mexico. AdThis week, the beleaguered oil company has reportedly reached a deal with the state-owned electrical power utility to offload stocks of fuel oil that Pemex can't get rid of. The utility will take the heavily polluting fuel oil to burn at power plants, and return natural gas that Pemex cannot produce enough of.
5 reasons why the Delano grape strike was so impactful
Read full article: 5 reasons why the Delano grape strike was so impactfulIt might have been more than a half-century ago, but the impact of the Delano grape strike will always be felt -- not only in Hispanic history, but labor history in general.
Georgia: $300-a-week jobless boost to be paid next week
Read full article: Georgia: $300-a-week jobless boost to be paid next weekThere were 526,000 people collecting state benefits as of Aug. 29, and another 260,000 collecting the special pandemic assistance. Georgia was approved for the federal money on Aug. 23, but had to program its computer system to pay the money. Those who have filed individually for regular state unemployment benefits will have to certify that they are unemployed or on reduced hours because of the pandemic. Because Georgia allows someone to earn up to $300 a week, plus $365 a week in state benefits, people getting the full $300 could make up to $965 a week with the extra federal money. Michelle Evermore, who tracks unemployment benefits for the National Employment Law Project, said she anticipates most states will have to borrow.
Frustration mounts as unemployment website crashes during COVID-19
Read full article: Frustration mounts as unemployment website crashes during COVID-19The consequences of state officials failing to fix Florida’s unemployment website are being felt by possibly hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in the wake of an unprecedented wave of unemployment claims. Due to coronavirus-related job losses, more people than ever are filing for unemployment benefits. The State Department of Labor will release new numbers today and is expected to break the record. The Tampa Bay Times reported if the state can’t fix the website hundreds of thousands of Floridians thrown out of work could, at the least, be forced to wait weeks for unemployment relief. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has this warning when you go to its website:Important: The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is currently experiencing higher than average wait times when contacting the Reemployment Assistance Program.
Alex Acosta defends handling of 2008 Epstein plea deal
Read full article: Alex Acosta defends handling of 2008 Epstein plea dealPool via CNN(CNN) - Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who as US Attorney in Miami oversaw a 2008 plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein, defended on Tuesday his handling of the case and tweeted he is pleased "prosecutors are moving forward." "The crimes committed by Epstein are horrific, and I am pleased that NY prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence," Acosta wrote in a series of tweets on Tuesday. Acosta's handling of the 2008 plea deal has come under intense scrutiny in recent months after a Miami Herald investigation. The non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors allowed the hedge fund manager to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges and serve just 13 months in prison. The Herald investigation said Acosta gave Epstein the "deal of a lifetime" despite a federal investigation identifying 36 underage victims.