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<LI><STRONG><FONT size=4>Gingrich Challenge to Child-Labor Law Backed in State Capitals</FONT></STRONG></LI>
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<H2 class=ReadMsgSubject><FONT size=4>Tell Gov. Brown: We're serious about banning methyl iodide.þ</FONT></H2></LI>
<LI><STRONG><FONT size=4>Venezuelan Government Incorporates 1,723 Subcontracted Workers into Sidor, Nationalises Companiesþ</FONT></STRONG></LI>
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<H3 style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14px"><A style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/att-withdraws-39-bid-for-t-mobile/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha25" target=_blank><FONT size=4>AT&T Ends $39 Billion Bid for T-Mobile</FONT></A></H3></LI>
<LI><STRONG><FONT size=4>Must See YouTube, Not in my America by SEIUþ</FONT></STRONG></LI>
<LI><STRONG><FONT size=4>Jobs That Died in 2011þ</FONT></STRONG></LI>
<LI><STRONG><FONT size=4>U.S. Trade Union Research Delegation to Cuba: April 25-May 2, 2012þ</FONT></STRONG></LI>
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<P class=ecxheadline3 style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><FONT color=#0068cf size=4><A href="http://act.alternet.org/go/14109?akid=8015.16102.BP-zlU&t=24" target=_blank><STRONG>Good News for Low-Paid Home Health Care Workers: Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay On the Way</STRONG></A></FONT></P></LI></OL>
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<STRONG><FONT style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4>Gingrich Challenge to Child-Labor Law Backed in State Capitals<BR></FONT></STRONG> <BR>By Holly Rosenkrantz<BR>Bloomberg<BR>Dec 19, 2011<BR><A href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-12-19/gingrich-challenge-to-child-labor-law-backed-in-state-capitals.html" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-12-19/gingrich-challenge-to-child-labor-law-backed-in-state-capitals.html</FONT></A><BR> <BR>Newt Gingrich isn't the only Republican who wants<BR>to relax U.S. laws that have restricted work by<BR>children for more than seven decades.<BR> <BR>Republican governors and state lawmakers, who succeeded<BR>this year in curbing union powers, are pushing to<BR>revise their child-labor laws to help companies such as<BR>groceries get workers. Wisconsin will let employers<BR>treat teenagers as adults in pay and hours, and Maine<BR>lawmakers want to let companies keep teens working<BR>longer hours.<BR> <BR>The moves pose a challenge to child-labor laws,<BR>established at the federal level in 1938 to protect<BR>youths from working long hours on dangerous machinery<BR>instead of going to school. Republicans and businesses<BR>that share Gingrich's view see easing the restrictions<BR>as part of their effort to cut back government<BR>regulation while giving teenagers a chance to learn<BR>valuable work habits.<BR> <BR>"How come it's OK, even exemplary, for teenagers to<BR>spend 40 hours a week in sports, glee club, chorus,<BR>debate society, or any other select activity sanctioned<BR>by the social elite, but if you are a teenager who<BR>wants to work or needs to work, there are limits?" Dick<BR>Grotton, president of the Maine Restaurant Association,<BR>based in Augusta, said in an interview. "Kids working<BR>is not a bad thing."<BR> <BR>The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act sets a minimum age of<BR>14 for most work and bars children under 18 from<BR>hazardous jobs. The law remained intact after the<BR>Supreme Court knocked down a challenge in 1941, and its<BR>champions say Gingrich is leading an effort to<BR>undermine it. Some states such as Maine have laws that<BR>exceed federal requirements, and Republican legislators<BR>are targeting the state regulations.<BR> <BR>'Anti-Worker Policies'<BR> <BR>"This is part of a coordinated effort by conservatives<BR>across the country to use the economic crisis to shred<BR>critical worker protections," Anne Thompson, a policy<BR>analyst at the National Employment Law Project, a<BR>Washington-based group that advocates for worker<BR>rights, said in an interview.<BR> <BR>Gingrich, leading in polls among candidates for the<BR>2012 Republican presidential nomination, used a speech<BR>at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, last<BR>month to depict the restrictions as undermining<BR>opportunities for the poor.<BR> <BR>"It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods,<BR>entrapping children in, first of all, child laws, which<BR>are truly stupid," the former House speaker said.<BR> <BR>He reaffirmed the position during a Dec. 10 debate<BR>among the Republican candidates in Iowa, suggesting<BR>children replace union janitors in New York's public<BR>schools.<BR> <BR>(<A href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-12-19/gingrich-challenge-to-child-labor-law-backed-in-state-capitals.html" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-12-19/gingrich-challenge-to-child-labor-law-backed-in-state-capitals.html</FONT></A>)<BR><BR>
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<DIV align=center><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6be/1912894890/VEsH/" target=_blank><IMG height=85 alt=wrapper src="http://www.ufw.org/images/unitedfarmworkerswrapper.jpg" width=633 border=0 longDesc=http://www.ufw.org></A><BR><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bf/1912894890/VEsE/" target=_blank><IMG height=28 alt=donate src="http://www.ufw.org/images/donatebar.gif" width=633 border=0 longDesc=https://secure.ufw.org/page/contribute/holiday11></A><BR></DIV>
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<P><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bc/1912894890/VEsF/" target=_blank><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #000000">Tell Gov. Brown: We’re serious about banning methyl iodide.</SPAN></STRONG></SPAN></A><BR>
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<P align=center><STRONG><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bc/1912894890/VEsC/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>Let’s keep the pressure on.</FONT></A></STRONG></P>
<P align=center><FONT color=#0068cf><IMG height=81 src="http://action.ufw.org/page/-/JERRYBROWNMEI1.jpg" width=220><BR><BR><STRONG><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bc/1912894890/VEsD/" target=_blank>Together we have held the line on methyl iodide in California. Getting it banned there will be a first step to getting this chemical out of U.S. agriculture, period.</A></STRONG></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
We’ve pitched a long battle here in California to keep the cancer-causing pesticide methyl iodide out of strawberry fields because getting it banned here will make a national ban all the more likely. <STRONG>Some 90% of the nation’s strawberries are grown here. So without a CA market, methyl iodide just isn’t viable.</STRONG><BR>
Back in 2010, growers argued that without methyl iodide, California's billion-dollar agriculture industry would hemorrhage jobs and profits. Guess what? The cancer-causing pesticide has been approved for use in California’s strawberry fields for a year now. But farmers aren’t using it. Records show only six applications in the entire state, all on very small farms – by now there should have been hundreds.<BR>
<STRONG>Why only six?</STRONG> Because consumers like you have helped the UFW and our partners keep up the pressure. By writing e-mails, calling decision makers, passing local resolutions and more, <STRONG>you have helped us hold the line to stop growers using methyl iodide.</STRONG><BR>
According to a Dec 14 article in the <A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bd/1912894890/VEsA/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>Huffington Post</FONT></A>, <STRONG><EM>"some growers say methyl iodide is too politically risky to use. 'The people who oppose this particular chemical are really loud and effective,'</EM> </STRONG>said Liz Elwood Ponce, co-owner of Lassen Canyon Nursery in Redding.<EM> 'If no one said anything, I think the chemical would be used more widely. '"</EM><BR>
And according to our partner Pesticide Action Network, PR people at methyl iodide's manufacturer, Arysta, have told reporters that<STRONG> they <EM>“don’t call it methyl iodide anymore because the public thinks methyl iodide means poison.” </EM></STRONG><BR>
<A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bc/1912894890/VEsB/" target=_blank><STRONG><FONT color=#0068cf>Help us keep up the pressure.</FONT></STRONG></A> Last April, Brown said he’d “take a fresh look” at the methyl iodide decision. Since this time, memos have gone public showing that the decision to allow the use of this toxin was based on political calculations, not science.<BR>
<STRONG>We’re told that the new head of the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) will be appointed around the new year.</STRONG> This person will have the power to reverse the prior administration’s decision and ban this toxin once and for all.<BR>
<A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bc/1912894890/VEsO/" target=_blank><STRONG><FONT color=#0068cf>Please send an e-mail today</FONT></STRONG></A> and tell Governor Brown that whomever he appoints to head DPR should take swift action to reverse this bad decision and protect farm workers and local residents who live in agricultural areas. <STRONG>Keeping this carcinogenic chemical out of California <EM>must</EM> be a priority for the new year.</STRONG><BR>
<A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bc/1912894890/VEsP/" target=_blank><IMG height=25 alt="" src="http://www.ufw.org/images/takeaction_v.jpg" width=124></A><BR><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bc/1912894890/VEsHBQ/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>http://action.ufw.org/mei1211</FONT></A><BR>
<A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6ba/1912894890/VEsHBA/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf><IMG height=10 alt="" src="http://www.ufw.org/images/tellafriend.gif" width=32 border=0></FONT></A><B>After you take action please share this campaign with your friends and family. </B>You can send them an e-mail, post this campaign on your<EM><STRONG> Facebook</STRONG></EM> <STRONG>and/or </STRONG><EM><STRONG>Twitter</STRONG></EM> page by <STRONG><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6ba/1912894890/VEsHBw/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>clicking here</FONT></A></STRONG> or going to<STRONG> <A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6ba/1912894890/VEsHBg/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>http://action.ufw.org/page/share/mei1211</FONT></A></STRONG><BR></TD>
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<P class=ecxstyle1><FONT face=verdana,geneva color=#0068cf size=2><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bf/1912894890/VEsHAQ/" target=_blank><STRONG>Will You Make a Holiday Gift to Help Farm Workers?</STRONG></A></FONT></P>
<P class=ecxstyle1><FONT face=verdana,geneva size=2>The holiday season is when we share special memories and look forward to creating new ones in the coming year.</FONT><FONT face=verdana,geneva size=2> We've accomplished a lot, but there is still more to do. </FONT></P>
<P class=ecxstyle1><FONT face=verdana,geneva size=2><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bf/1912894890/VEsHAA/" target=_blank><B><FONT color=#0068cf>Please help us bring justice</FONT></B></A> to the fields by making a <STRONG><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bf/1912894890/VEsHAw/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>donation</FONT></A></STRONG> to help farm workers. O</FONT><FONT face=verdana,geneva size=2>r even make a New Year’s resolution that lasts all year long by <STRONG><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bb/1912894890/VEsHAg/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>joining our </FONT></A><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bb/1912894890/VEsHDQ/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>monthly pledge</FONT></A><A href="http://action.ufw.org/page/m/3bed9c23/14563619/46afb7b5/2b46a6bb/1912894890/VEsHDA/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf> program</FONT></A></STRONG>. </FONT><FONT face=verdana,geneva size=2>No amount is too much or too little. Even a few dollars will help us get stronger and take advantage of the opportunities ahead.</FONT></P>
<P class=ecxstyle1><FONT size=2><FONT face=verdana,geneva>Thank you again for your generosity. From our family to yours, Happy Holidays!</FONT></FONT></P>
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<H1 class=ecxprint-title>Venezuelan Government Incorporates 1,723 Subcontracted Workers into Sidor, Nationalises Companies</H1>
<P class=ecxprint-submitted>Dec 19th 2011, by Ewan Robertson - Venezuelanalysis.com</P>
<DIV id=ecxsidebox><IMG class="ecximagecache ecximagecache-medium" height=150 alt="Subcontracted Sidor workers greeted the announcement with jubilation (AVN)" src="http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/medium/images/2011/12/trabajadorescidor6ht1324066491.jpg" width=200>
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Subcontracted Sidor workers greeted the announcement with jubilation (AVN)<BR></DIV></DIV>
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Guyana City, December 19<SUP>th</SUP> 2011 (Venezuelanalysis.com) A further 1,723 subcontracted workers are to be incorporated onto the state payroll in Venezuela´s nationalised steel plant Sidor, Venezuelan Vice-president Elias Jaua announced on Friday. He further confirmed that two other companies, Grafitos del Orinoco and Sidetur, will be nationalised by the end of the year.<BR>
The announcement, made in the presence of a gathering of Sidor workers in Caracas, was greeted by applause and jubilation by the subcontracted workers.<BR>
Jaua stressed that the gains made by subcontracted workers in being included within the more generous collective contract with the state should not be attributed to one individual, but are “the achievement of a collective, of a people who know how to make a revolution and do it with a leader like [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez”.<BR>
Further, a central commission is to be established that will examine the incorporation of the remaining 2,200 subcontracted Sidor workers. Jaua explained that workers not directly linked to the production process may not be incorporated, but would be offered “dignified work” by Venezuela´s new Knowledge and Work mission to be launched next year.<BR>
Friday’s announcement means that a total of 6,370 subcontracted Sidor workers have now been incorporated onto the state payroll since 2008, with the majority of the remaining cases to be analysed by the new central commission in the first quarter of 2012.<BR>
<STRONG>Ending Subcontracted Labour</STRONG><BR>
Subcontracted workers are those contracted by private companies to work alongside state employees in nationalised enterprises such as Sidor, but enjoy less benefits and are paid up to four times less for performing the same work.<BR>
At the meeting on Friday, Jaua claimed that the creation of a double tier workforce is rooted in the neoliberal policy of privatising state companies in the 1990s, in which “the first victims were the poor and the workers”.<BR>
Sidor, situated in the Guayana region of heavy industries in the east of Venezuela, was privatised in 1997 by Venezuela President Rafael Caldera, the year before Hugo Chavez was elected to power. According to information supplied to Venezuelnalysis.com by Sidor union activist Jesus Pino, during the decade of privatisation 1997 2008 the number of workers enjoying the direct collective contract with Sidor was reduced from 11,000 to 5,000, while up to 9,000 subcontracted positions were created.<BR>
After a 14 month struggle between workers and management over collective contracts, Chavez responded to workers’ demands and announced the renationalisation of Sidor in April 2008. A key clause of the nationalisation agreement obliged the Sidor to gradually incorporate the subcontracted workers as full state employees, ending outsourced labour.<BR>
This process continued according to a set timetable, and by mid 2011 4,647 subcontracted workers had been reincorporated.<BR>
However, accusing Sidor management of incompliance with the stage of incorporation of workers in September this year, the subcontracted workers union, the Bolivarian Movement, launched a series of actions in protest, including seizing an administration building, and blocking the main highway to Guyana City for 32 hours in mid November.<BR>
These protests resulted in the formation of a commission to resolve the dispute, with representation from the Bolivarian Movement, Sidor president Carlos D' Oliveira, and Minister of Basic Industries and Mines José Salamat Khan. The commission agreed on the quickest possible incorporation of the September wave of subcontracted workers, and a revised timetable for the rest.<BR>
However, on 5 and 6 December a group of subcontracted workers closed down the section of the Sidor plant producing steel rods and bars to further increase pressure on Sidor management and the government. This was a particularly sensitive move because Sidor´s products are central to the government´s mass housing mission (GMV) launched in April this year, which aims to build over 2 million 700,000 homes by 2019.<BR>
Representative of the Bolivarian Movement Hugo Bastardo, who had organized the highway closure a few weeks before, claimed that the subcontracted workers behind the plant stoppage did not represent the union, and that the move was an act of “internal sabotage”. “The protesters demanded their insertion into the company without taking into account that a timetable exists”, he stated.<BR>
Meanwhile the head of marketing in Sidor, Nestor Astudillo, opined that the moves were part of a plan to take advantage of the incorporation issue to destabilise the plant among a faction oriented with the opposition, exacerbating labour conflicts and jeopardising supplies to the house building program, especially given that 90% of the products from this section of the plant are destined for the program and state construction.<BR>
The stoppage was resolved after dialogue was opened between the workers and Sidor president Carlos D' Oliveira.<BR>
Hugo Chavez later commented on the dispute, declaring that the subcontracted workers “have to know that they can count on me, but they can´t ask me to arrange with the stroke of a pen what occurred over so many years,” and maintained that subcontracted labour had to be eliminated in the country.<BR>
Following Friday’s announcement, subcontracted labour in Sidor should be almost ended during the coming year.<BR>
<STRONG>Nationalisations </STRONG><BR>
On Friday Jaua also announced an order from President Chavez for the nationalisation of Grafitos del Orinoco and Sidetur, two companies key to the steel production process. The move aims to ensure the production of construction materials needed for the GMV, and for the workers signifies “a great commitment with the Venezuelan people”, Jaua declared.<BR>
The 70 workers at Grafitos del Orinoco in Guyana have been hoping for nationalisation in order to secure their model of worker control that they have developed since the government awarded them ownership of the factory in October 2009, after an 8 month struggle against the former boss.<BR>
“We workers celebrate the President´s decision of constructing this victory [of the worker control model], of the workers and the working class”, related Karlos Rondon of the Grafitos factory to Venezuelanalysis.com in response to the decision.<BR>
Meanwhile the Sidetur company, with over 1,800 workers and factories situated in various cities in the country, produces 40% of the cables used in Venezuelan construction. <BR></DIV>
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<DIV class=ecxprint-source_url><STRONG>Source URL (retrieved on <EM>20/12/2011 - 7:24am</EM>):</STRONG> <A href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/6702" target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/6702</FONT></A></DIV></DIV>
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<H3 style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14px"><A style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/att-withdraws-39-bid-for-t-mobile/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha25" target=_blank><FONT size=4>AT&T Ends $39 Billion Bid for T-Mobile</FONT></A></H3>
<H6 style="FONT: 10px Arial,sans-serif; COLOR: #999">By MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED </H6>
<P style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #000">AT&T acknowledged that it could not overcome opposition from the Obama administration to creating the nation's biggest cellphone service provider.</P>
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<DIV class=ecxgmail_quote>On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 7:41 AM, Re: [mxac]Lorena Colin<BR>
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<H2 style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(84,84,71)"><SPAN id=ecxctl00_ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_body_body_wacCenterStage_wacCenterStage_lblTitle>Jobs That Died in 2011</SPAN></H2>
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<BR></DIV><SPAN class=body id=ecxctl00_ctl00_ctl00_ctl00_body_body_wacCenterStage_wacCenterStage_lblBody>By Jen Hubley Luckwaldt, <A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/" target=_blank>PayScale.com</A> <BR><BR><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV id=article><B>http://career-advice.comcast.monster.com/job-search/company-industry-research/jobs-in-decline-2011/article.aspx?WT.mc_n=comcast802</B></DIV>
<DIV id=article><SPAN class=body>The tech-savvy, newest generation of workers grew up hearing that the jobs they would hold as adults hadn't even been invented yet. No one mentioned that the jobs they had come to think of as permanent might become a thing of the past. <BR><BR>
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<LI style="LIST-STYLE-POSITION: outside; LIST-STYLE-TYPE: disc"><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search/company-industry-research/bright-outlook-careers-onet/article.aspx" target=_blank>Eight Bright-Outlook Careers</A></LI>
<LI style="LIST-STYLE-POSITION: outside; LIST-STYLE-TYPE: disc"><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://resume.monster.com/" target=_blank>Update Your Resume</A></LI>
<LI style="LIST-STYLE-POSITION: outside; LIST-STYLE-TYPE: disc"><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search/careers.aspx" target=_blank>All Job Hunt Strategy Articles</A></LI></UL></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>This year has been a rough one for many industries. In fact, many fields were plagued with layoffs and budget cuts severe enough to threaten the continued existence of specific jobs within them. In time, we may look back and say that 2011 was the year that the following jobs began to die.<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">1. </STRONG><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job%3dPostal_Service_Mail_Carrier/Salary" target=_blank><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">US Postal Service Carrier</STRONG></A><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal"><BR></STRONG> <BR>"Get a government job," your parents told you. "Government jobs are secure. You'll get a pension, and they can never, ever fire you." This belief might no longer be true. The US Postal Service has had a famously bad year. <BR><BR>According to stories in Money and The Washington Post, in order to make a $5.5 billion annual payment to its retiree healthcare fund, the Postal Service has considered canceling Saturday delivery, closing post offices and laying off some of its 280,000 workers.<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Annual Pay for a Mail Carrier: </STRONG>$48,300<BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Hourly Pay: </STRONG>$23.20 <BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Education: </STRONG>High school diploma<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">2. </STRONG><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job%3dReal_Estate_Agent/Salary" target=_blank><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Real Estate Agents</STRONG></A><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal"><BR></STRONG> <BR>Real estate, formerly the favorite second job of actors and parents returning to work, is no longer such a sure thing. <BR><BR>Al Halverson of Burien, Washington, a 30-year real estate industry veteran, says the money just isn’t what it used to be. “The buyers are coming out to buy at much lower prices,” he says. “That means Realtors are working more and making less. The million-dollar houses are now $450,000 or $500,000.” Homes selling for half the price means a big pay cut for commission-based agents’ earnings.<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Annual Pay for a Real Estate Agent:</STRONG> $75,500<BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Hourly Pay:</STRONG> $36.30<BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Education:</STRONG> Bachelor's degree plus real estate license<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">3. </STRONG><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job%3dSales_Clerk%2c_Retail_Store/Hourly_Rate" target=_blank><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Video Store Clerk</STRONG></A><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal"> <BR></STRONG><BR>Your college job may soon look as dated as that tape deck in your car. Blockbuster closed more than 200 stores in 2011, while Netflix blundered into a PR nightmare that made us long for the days of 50-cent rewind fees. <BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Hourly Pay for a Video Store Clerk: </STRONG>$9<BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Education: </STRONG>High school<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">4. </STRONG><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job%3dToll_Booth_Collector/Hourly_Rate" target=_blank><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Toll Collectors/Operators</STRONG></A><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal"> <BR><BR></STRONG>Technology is a double-edged sword for some workers. On the one hand, computers, handhelds and all the assorted gadgets of the 21st century make jobs easier. On the other hand, ask any toll collector how he feels about E-ZPass.<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Annual Pay for a Toll Collector:</STRONG> $36,800 <BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Hourly Pay: </STRONG>$17.70 <BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Education: </STRONG>High school<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">5. </STRONG><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job%3dStock_Broker/Salary" target=_blank><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Stock Brokers</STRONG></A><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal"> <BR><BR></STRONG>The good news is that many of the large financial services firms (such as Morgan Stanley) seem to have gotten back on their feet. The bad news is that many of them are doing it, in part, by laying off employees. <BR><BR>Still, don't cry too much for beleaguered stock brokers: Their salaries were slightly up in the third quarter of 2011, compared to last year, according to <A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/" target=_blank>PayScale.com</A> data.<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Annual Pay for a Stock Broker:</STRONG> $58,400 <BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Hourly Pay: </STRONG>$28.10 <BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Education:</STRONG> Bachelor's degree<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">6. </STRONG><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job%3dReporter%2c_Newspaper/Salary" target=_blank><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Newspaper Reporters</STRONG></A><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal"> <BR></STRONG><BR>It took 15 years, but the Internet might finally be crushing the newspaper industry. Papers all over the country reported declining ad revenue and responded by laying off staff -- including folks in the newsroom.<BR><BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Annual Pay for a Newspaper Reporter:</STRONG> $34,700<BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Median Hourly Pay: </STRONG>$16.70 <BR><STRONG style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: normal">Education:</STRONG> Bachelor's degree<BR><BR><EM style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal">Source: All salary data provided by </EM><A style="COLOR: rgb(123,79,144); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.payscale.com/" target=_blank><EM style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal">PayScale.com</EM></A><EM style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal">. Annual salaries are for full-time workers with five to eight years of experience and include any bonuses, commissions or profit sharing. Education is the most typical education level respondents with that job title list in the PayScale survey.</EM></SPAN></DIV>
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<P class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">With U.S. Labor for Friendship with Cuba as a program consultant, Marazul Charters, Inc. is organizing a research delegation to Cuba for full-time trade unionists: <SPAN> </SPAN>April 25-May 2, 2012.</SPAN></P>
<P class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The research goals of the delegation are to (1) learn how the </SPAN><SPAN lang=ES style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Central de Trabajadores de Cuba</SPAN><SPAN lang=ES style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> (CTC), </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Workers' Central Union of Cuba, the </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">country's national trade union federation, is working with the new economic policies within the context of socialism; (2) learn first-hand from Cuban workers about the accomplishments and new challenges of a different economic system than our own; (3) be apprised by the CTC about the effects of the 50-year old U.S. economic blockade against the Cuban people, and; (4) learn how full economic and trade relations between the U.S. and Cuba could help workers from both countries by providing economic opportunities.</SPAN></P>
<P class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The U.S. government continues to impose restrictions on travel to Cuba. <SPAN> </SPAN>But under a General License already issued by the U.S. Treasury Department, full-time professionals are permitted to travel to Cuba to conduct research in their fields. <SPAN> </SPAN>To qualify under the General License for professional research for this particular delegation, you must work full time as an appointed or elected official of a labor union or be an academic in this field.</SPAN></P>
<DIV class=ecxMsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The cost of the program is <I>approximately </I>$1,600 for double occupancy and $1,700 for single occupancy, which includes round trip air fare from Miami to Havana, a Cuban visa, hotel accommodations, breakfast daily, several additional meals, a bi-lingual guide, and a full research program. <SPAN> </SPAN><I>Delegates are responsible for their own air fare to and from </I></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><I>Miami.</I> <SPAN> </SPAN>The research program will include exchanges with CTC leaders and rank and file Cuban union members, visits to hospitals, labor unions, the </SPAN><SPAN lang=ES style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Lazaro Pena</SPAN><SPAN lang=ES style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">School of the Cuban Workers, work sites, and the observance of Cuba’s May Day celebration on May 1st.</SPAN></DIV>
<P class=ecxMsoNormal><U><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The deadline for all applications will be Friday, April 13, 2012.</SPAN></U><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"></SPAN></P>
<P class=ecxMsoNormal><U><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">If you are interested, or know someone who is interested, that meets the above qualifications</SPAN></U><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> - Interested persons should contact Marazul Charters at <A href="mailto:info@marazul.com"><FONT color=#0000ff>info@marazul.com</FONT></A>.<SPAN> </SPAN>Marazul Charters will send you details on the arrangements, the qualifications, as well as the application form.</SPAN></P>
<DIV class=ecxMsoNormal><U><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">If you have specific questions about the program itself</SPAN></U><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> - Please contact Carl Gentile, Chairperson of U.S. Labor for Friendship with Cuba, at <A href="mailto:1187@comcast.net"><FONT color=#0000ff>1187@comcast.net</FONT></A> and/or call <A target=_blank><FONT color=#0068cf>240-285-6519</FONT></A>.<SPAN> </SPAN>U.S. Labor for Friendship with Cuba seeks to educate working people about Cuba’s accomplishments in eliminating hunger, joblessness, illiteracy, and making free quality health care and education available to its entire population; creating a society where the 99 percent are in control of their own destiny. <SPAN> </SPAN>We are also supportive of efforts to free the Cuban Five, who are unjustly imprisoned in the U.S. for fighting right-wing terrorism and for preventing attacks from Miami against Cuba by right-wing Cuban-Americans.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=ecxMsoNormal><BR><FONT color=#888888>-- <BR>Bill Preston<BR>President<BR>Baltimore-Washington Area Peace Council,<BR>a chapter of the U.S. Peace Council<BR></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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<P class=ecxheadline3 style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><FONT color=#0068cf><A href="http://act.alternet.org/go/14109?akid=8015.16102.BP-zlU&t=24" target=_blank>Good News for Low-Paid Home Health Care Workers: Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay On the Way</A></FONT><BR>
<P style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #666; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">New regulations would give nearly 2 million home-care workers, most of whom are women and many women of color, wage and hour protections for the first time. <A class=ecxreadmore style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 9px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; LETTER-SPACING: 0.1em" href="http://act.alternet.org/go/14109?akid=8015.16102.BP-zlU&t=25" target=_blank><B><FONT color=#0068cf>READ MORE</B></A> </P>
<P style="FONT-SIZE: 11px; COLOR: #4d4d4d; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">By R. M. Arrieta / In These Times </P></FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR><BR>@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@<BR><BR> </P>
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