Striking workers march across UK

London (CNN) -- Hundreds of thousands of British teachers, air traffic controllers, customs officers and other public sector workers went on strike Thursday, causing potential chaos for schoolchildren and travelers.

Workers are demonstrating in many British cities, including London, where thousands of strikers marched peacefully in the center of the city, their route taking them near the prime minister's office at 10 Downing Street.

"We've paid into our pensions, we've paid our taxes," striking adult education tutor Annie Holder said, adding that she was "really angry about the government's politically motivated attempt to steal our pensions."

She blamed "the banking sector" for the country's budget woes.

And she rejected rhetoric from opponents of the strike about the public sector's "gold-plated pensions."

"Our pension will be about 60 pounds ($96) a week. It's hardly gold-plated. We'll have to work much harder and pay more," Holder said.

Police in London said they had made 24 arrests in total as of mid-afternoon.

Since Thursday morning, 18 had been arrested for offenses including possession of drugs, criminal damage and breach of the peace, the police said, with six others detained overnight in Trafalgar Square.

Police declined to estimate the size of the crowd, but one union said it was in the tens of thousands in London.

CNN reporters in the central Whitehall area said there were more police and media present than protesters, and that there were minor scuffles earlier. Some demonstrators continued to sit in the street in Whitehall in protest, but the public had been allowed back into Trafalgar Square.

Four unions have told their members to stop work over planned government changes to the pension system.

Perhaps ironically, state pension staff are among those on strike, as members of the Public and Commercial Services Union.

Three teachers' unions are also on strike -- the National Union of Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, and the University and College Union -- which together have more than 350,000 members.

The PCS, Britain's fifth biggest union, boasted it had 84% participation from its 300,000 members.

Some 80% of schools across the country are closed or partially closed as a result of the strike, the National Union of Teachers said, and there are fears that airports and ports will be snarled as well.

Nine out of ten police staff who answer calls from the public were on strike, London's Metropolitan Police said.

The National Union of Teachers said the strike is because "the government is planning to cut your pension. They want you to pay more, work longer and get less," arguing that because pensions are "deferred pay ... you are effectively being asked to take a pay cut."

The government, a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, is trying desperately to slash government spending in the face of huge deficits.

Danny Alexander, the No. 2 official in the British Treasury, argued earlier this month that "it is unjustifiable that other taxpayers should work longer and pay more tax so public service workers can retire earlier and get more than them."

"It is the employees who are benefiting from longer life and generous pensions, but it is the taxpayer who is picking up the tab," he said.

Alexander, a Liberal Democrat, said the changes the government was proposing aimed to ensure that "public service workers continue to receive among the best, if not the best, pensions available."

Holder, the striking teacher, said the government's explanations for planned changes to the pension system were "nonsense."

The government's Cabinet Office said less than half of PCS workers went on strike Thursday.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude, a Conservative, said Wednesday that the strike was "premature" while negotiations between the government and unions were still going on.

He argued that only a minority of civil servants and teachers had voted to strike.

Feelings were strong, however, among many of the workers involved.

Jenny Adams, a teacher from Croydon, said, "We've got a situation where young people are not going to want to stay in this profession.

"It's about who's being asked to foot the bill for a mess that was made by others. We're in a profession that is not kind when it comes to age. It's inconceivable to be in a classroom in (one's) late 60s."

Union leader Dave Prentis warned last week that if the government does not change course on pension reform, the country could face the biggest strikes since 1926. Between 1.5 million and 1.75 million workers participated in a general strike lasting nine days that year.

Prentis, the head of Britain's largest public-sector union, Unison, issued a similar warning in 2005.

Unison is not participating in Thursday's strike but has not ruled out holding one in the autumn if the government presses ahead with its plans.

CNN's Dan Rivers, Jonathan Wald, Antonia Mortensen and Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

CNN

Has the Revolution Left Egypt's Workers Behind? (Time.com)

No one in Zagazig wants to talk about what happened last week. The hundreds of railway workers who maintain the old, trash-ridden tracks and trains in this Nile Delta town whisper hurriedly about a strike that briefly disrupted rail traffic across the country of 80 million. But the workers won't give their names or discuss it at length for fear of retribution from the soldiers and security forces that so swiftly put an end to it. And the man they point to as their labor leader says nervously that he knows nothing about a strike.

But maybe it's better that way, say some Egyptians - particularly political leaders and the railway's managers. "We're against stopping business like this, because we're trying to get stability back," says Mansour al-Shitry, an accountant for the state-run railways. "Of course the government can't meet the demands of all the people at once, and we don't want to give the military council more of a burden than they already have." (Lightbox [EM] Egypt In Flux: Photographs by Thomas Dworzak)

That's the rationale echoed by many of Tahrir Square's liberal, intellectual youth, politicians and, indeed, the military leadership. It's an opinion that predominates among the educated classes in the debate over where the line should be drawn between revolution and transition. Protests for political reform are crucial, many argue, because the system of governance will define Egypt's future on all levels. Labor strikes, on the other hand, can and should be postponed: it's not the right time, they say; Egypt's floundering post-revolution economy needs all the work it can get.

But the laboring classes - many members of whom have not received their salaries in months - feel otherwise. Dozens of strikes and sit-ins have stalled business across the public and private sectors in recent months. And to union leaders and labor activists, the core revolutionary demands of the working classes have yet to be acknowledged. Minimum wage has been raised and promises have been made, but most have yet to see concrete change on the ground. And indeed, amid the cracks, crevices, and gaping political and ideological fault lines that have shattered the early unity of the February revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, is a divide that increasingly seems to define other debates as well. It's about class.

"There is total class warfare going on in Egypt right now that I don't even think [the liberal movements] can see," says Joshua Stacher, a political scientist and Egypt expert at Kent State University. "If middle upper class, urban people in Cairo and Alexandria get some of their demands met, they could care less about minimum wage, or the fact that the healthcare system is complete crap," he says of the competing array of post-revolutionary demands. "The dominant discourse that's coming out on TV is that it's not the right time to protest for these things. Like 'You shouldn't have a living wage right now, you're being greedy.'"

Instead, political elites have prioritized political reforms. And one of the most prominent debates to grip Cairo's political scene in recent weeks centers around the question of what needs to come first on the roadmap to a prosperous and democratic Egypt: a new constitution or a new, elected parliament. The debate has largely been split along Islamist versus liberal lines. The latter, fearing an Islamist majority in parliament, wants to ensure that certain rights and laws are guaranteed first. The Islamists argue that only an elected parliament can determine the next constitution, and a national referendum passed overwhelmingly in March specified as much. "Some people are trying to take a detour around the popular decision in the referendum," says Mohamed Ezzat, a local Muslim Brotherhood official in Zagazig. "But the people have chosen a road map for what happens next in this country, and they want that to be respected." (See TIME's Exclusive Photos: Turmoil in Egypt)

For others, however, it's not about religious ideology or road maps at all. "Mostly their demands are political like 'Freedom' and the debate over what comes first - constitution or elections," says labor activist Adel Zakaria of the urban elite, who he describes as middle class. "Workers don't care about that. They have their own problems - mainly they need to eat."

The April 6th Youth Movement, one of the most prominent liberal groups, say it recognizes the deep economic concerns felt by most Egyptians. And last month, in an effort to mobilize Egyptians for a "Second Revolution" protest in Tahrir, the group handed out a flier that promoted economic demands first. "The people just move with us if we talk about economics only," said the group's leader Ahmed Maher at the time. "We know the constitution is more important than the economic demands because we know that the things in the street are organized after that. But the people in the street don't know that."

The disconnect has emerged in the results of popular polls as well. Liberal political leader Mohamed ElBaradei topped a Facebook poll by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces this week to gauge popular preferences for 18 prospective presidential candidates. To some, it suggests that the majority favors liberal, "Constitution First" politics, of which ElBaradei is an advocate. But in the streets and fields, and on the railway tracks, Egyptians suggest the poll may have more to do with who uses Facebook than with popular opinion.

A less publicized poll released the same week by the International Peace Institute offered a total reversal of rankings, listing former Arab League chief and popular icon Amr Moussa first among the contenders, followed by the country's top military general.

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

Still, while they lack political clout, the lower class masses - at least in the form of striking workers - have been loud. A new $83 billion budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 released by the Egyptian finance ministry on June 22 says as much about reform priorities as it does about who's making noise. The budget pours money into social welfare spending and subsidies, apparently attempts to address working class unhappiness. And on Friday, workers groups that established the country's first independent labor union federation in March are calling for a million man protest to demand that the government crack down on cronyism in job hiring and uphold its promises to establish better worker rights.

In Zagazig, the railway workers say they want overtime compensation and better pay. Some say they make little more than 500 Egyptian Pounds ($84) a month - hardly enough to raise a family on, and still 200 Egyptian Pounds below the new national minimum wage. "We normal people are calling for our rights," explains one train air conditioner technician plainly.

After security forces cleared the tracks last week, railway workers received a promise from the national Railway Committee, the governor, and the local security chief, that their demands would be met. "They've spoken, but we'll see if they'll pay," says one accountant at the Zagazig train station. "To be honest, how will they pay if there is no income? The economy is in a bad state."

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

Yahoo! News

Has the Revolution Left Egypt's Workers Behind? (Time.com)

No one in Zagazig wants to talk about what happened last week. The hundreds of railway workers who maintain the old, trash-ridden tracks and trains in this Nile Delta town whisper hurriedly about a strike that briefly disrupted rail traffic across the country of 80 million. But the workers won't give their names or discuss it at length for fear of retribution from the soldiers and security forces that so swiftly put an end to it. And the man they point to as their labor leader says nervously that he knows nothing about a strike.

But maybe it's better that way, say some Egyptians - particularly political leaders and the railway's managers. "We're against stopping business like this, because we're trying to get stability back," says Mansour al-Shitry, an accountant for the state-run railways. "Of course the government can't meet the demands of all the people at once, and we don't want to give the military council more of a burden than they already have." (Lightbox [EM] Egypt In Flux: Photographs by Thomas Dworzak)

That's the rationale echoed by many of Tahrir Square's liberal, intellectual youth, politicians and, indeed, the military leadership. It's an opinion that predominates among the educated classes in the debate over where the line should be drawn between revolution and transition. Protests for political reform are crucial, many argue, because the system of governance will define Egypt's future on all levels. Labor strikes, on the other hand, can and should be postponed: it's not the right time, they say; Egypt's floundering post-revolution economy needs all the work it can get.

But the laboring classes - many members of whom have not received their salaries in months - feel otherwise. Dozens of strikes and sit-ins have stalled business across the public and private sectors in recent months. And to union leaders and labor activists, the core revolutionary demands of the working classes have yet to be acknowledged. Minimum wage has been raised and promises have been made, but most have yet to see concrete change on the ground. And indeed, amid the cracks, crevices, and gaping political and ideological fault lines that have shattered the early unity of the February revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, is a divide that increasingly seems to define other debates as well. It's about class.

"There is total class warfare going on in Egypt right now that I don't even think [the liberal movements] can see," says Joshua Stacher, a political scientist and Egypt expert at Kent State University. "If middle upper class, urban people in Cairo and Alexandria get some of their demands met, they could care less about minimum wage, or the fact that the healthcare system is complete crap," he says of the competing array of post-revolutionary demands. "The dominant discourse that's coming out on TV is that it's not the right time to protest for these things. Like 'You shouldn't have a living wage right now, you're being greedy.'"

Instead, political elites have prioritized political reforms. And one of the most prominent debates to grip Cairo's political scene in recent weeks centers around the question of what needs to come first on the roadmap to a prosperous and democratic Egypt: a new constitution or a new, elected parliament. The debate has largely been split along Islamist versus liberal lines. The latter, fearing an Islamist majority in parliament, wants to ensure that certain rights and laws are guaranteed first. The Islamists argue that only an elected parliament can determine the next constitution, and a national referendum passed overwhelmingly in March specified as much. "Some people are trying to take a detour around the popular decision in the referendum," says Mohamed Ezzat, a local Muslim Brotherhood official in Zagazig. "But the people have chosen a road map for what happens next in this country, and they want that to be respected." (See TIME's Exclusive Photos: Turmoil in Egypt)

For others, however, it's not about religious ideology or road maps at all. "Mostly their demands are political like 'Freedom' and the debate over what comes first - constitution or elections," says labor activist Adel Zakaria of the urban elite, who he describes as middle class. "Workers don't care about that. They have their own problems - mainly they need to eat."

The April 6th Youth Movement, one of the most prominent liberal groups, say it recognizes the deep economic concerns felt by most Egyptians. And last month, in an effort to mobilize Egyptians for a "Second Revolution" protest in Tahrir, the group handed out a flier that promoted economic demands first. "The people just move with us if we talk about economics only," said the group's leader Ahmed Maher at the time. "We know the constitution is more important than the economic demands because we know that the things in the street are organized after that. But the people in the street don't know that."

The disconnect has emerged in the results of popular polls as well. Liberal political leader Mohamed ElBaradei topped a Facebook poll by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces this week to gauge popular preferences for 18 prospective presidential candidates. To some, it suggests that the majority favors liberal, "Constitution First" politics, of which ElBaradei is an advocate. But in the streets and fields, and on the railway tracks, Egyptians suggest the poll may have more to do with who uses Facebook than with popular opinion.

A less publicized poll released the same week by the International Peace Institute offered a total reversal of rankings, listing former Arab League chief and popular icon Amr Moussa first among the contenders, followed by the country's top military general.

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

Still, while they lack political clout, the lower class masses - at least in the form of striking workers - have been loud. A new $83 billion budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 released by the Egyptian finance ministry on June 22 says as much about reform priorities as it does about who's making noise. The budget pours money into social welfare spending and subsidies, apparently attempts to address working class unhappiness. And on Friday, workers groups that established the country's first independent labor union federation in March are calling for a million man protest to demand that the government crack down on cronyism in job hiring and uphold its promises to establish better worker rights.

In Zagazig, the railway workers say they want overtime compensation and better pay. Some say they make little more than 500 Egyptian Pounds ($84) a month - hardly enough to raise a family on, and still 200 Egyptian Pounds below the new national minimum wage. "We normal people are calling for our rights," explains one train air conditioner technician plainly.

After security forces cleared the tracks last week, railway workers received a promise from the national Railway Committee, the governor, and the local security chief, that their demands would be met. "They've spoken, but we'll see if they'll pay," says one accountant at the Zagazig train station. "To be honest, how will they pay if there is no income? The economy is in a bad state."

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

Yahoo! News

Has the Revolution Left Egypt's Workers Behind? (Time.com)

No one in Zagazig wants to talk about what happened last week. The hundreds of railway workers who maintain the old, trash-ridden tracks and trains in this Nile Delta town whisper hurriedly about a strike that briefly disrupted rail traffic across the country of 80 million. But the workers won't give their names or discuss it at length for fear of retribution from the soldiers and security forces that so swiftly put an end to it. And the man they point to as their labor leader says nervously that he knows nothing about a strike.

But maybe it's better that way, say some Egyptians - particularly political leaders and the railway's managers. "We're against stopping business like this, because we're trying to get stability back," says Mansour al-Shitry, an accountant for the state-run railways. "Of course the government can't meet the demands of all the people at once, and we don't want to give the military council more of a burden than they already have." (Lightbox [EM] Egypt In Flux: Photographs by Thomas Dworzak)

That's the rationale echoed by many of Tahrir Square's liberal, intellectual youth, politicians and, indeed, the military leadership. It's an opinion that predominates among the educated classes in the debate over where the line should be drawn between revolution and transition. Protests for political reform are crucial, many argue, because the system of governance will define Egypt's future on all levels. Labor strikes, on the other hand, can and should be postponed: it's not the right time, they say; Egypt's floundering post-revolution economy needs all the work it can get.

But the laboring classes - many members of whom have not received their salaries in months - feel otherwise. Dozens of strikes and sit-ins have stalled business across the public and private sectors in recent months. And to union leaders and labor activists, the core revolutionary demands of the working classes have yet to be acknowledged. Minimum wage has been raised and promises have been made, but most have yet to see concrete change on the ground. And indeed, amid the cracks, crevices, and gaping political and ideological fault lines that have shattered the early unity of the February revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, is a divide that increasingly seems to define other debates as well. It's about class.

"There is total class warfare going on in Egypt right now that I don't even think [the liberal movements] can see," says Joshua Stacher, a political scientist and Egypt expert at Kent State University. "If middle upper class, urban people in Cairo and Alexandria get some of their demands met, they could care less about minimum wage, or the fact that the healthcare system is complete crap," he says of the competing array of post-revolutionary demands. "The dominant discourse that's coming out on TV is that it's not the right time to protest for these things. Like 'You shouldn't have a living wage right now, you're being greedy.'"

Instead, political elites have prioritized political reforms. And one of the most prominent debates to grip Cairo's political scene in recent weeks centers around the question of what needs to come first on the roadmap to a prosperous and democratic Egypt: a new constitution or a new, elected parliament. The debate has largely been split along Islamist versus liberal lines. The latter, fearing an Islamist majority in parliament, wants to ensure that certain rights and laws are guaranteed first. The Islamists argue that only an elected parliament can determine the next constitution, and a national referendum passed overwhelmingly in March specified as much. "Some people are trying to take a detour around the popular decision in the referendum," says Mohamed Ezzat, a local Muslim Brotherhood official in Zagazig. "But the people have chosen a road map for what happens next in this country, and they want that to be respected." (See TIME's Exclusive Photos: Turmoil in Egypt)

For others, however, it's not about religious ideology or road maps at all. "Mostly their demands are political like 'Freedom' and the debate over what comes first - constitution or elections," says labor activist Adel Zakaria of the urban elite, who he describes as middle class. "Workers don't care about that. They have their own problems - mainly they need to eat."

The April 6th Youth Movement, one of the most prominent liberal groups, say it recognizes the deep economic concerns felt by most Egyptians. And last month, in an effort to mobilize Egyptians for a "Second Revolution" protest in Tahrir, the group handed out a flier that promoted economic demands first. "The people just move with us if we talk about economics only," said the group's leader Ahmed Maher at the time. "We know the constitution is more important than the economic demands because we know that the things in the street are organized after that. But the people in the street don't know that."

The disconnect has emerged in the results of popular polls as well. Liberal political leader Mohamed ElBaradei topped a Facebook poll by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces this week to gauge popular preferences for 18 prospective presidential candidates. To some, it suggests that the majority favors liberal, "Constitution First" politics, of which ElBaradei is an advocate. But in the streets and fields, and on the railway tracks, Egyptians suggest the poll may have more to do with who uses Facebook than with popular opinion.

A less publicized poll released the same week by the International Peace Institute offered a total reversal of rankings, listing former Arab League chief and popular icon Amr Moussa first among the contenders, followed by the country's top military general.

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

Still, while they lack political clout, the lower class masses - at least in the form of striking workers - have been loud. A new $83 billion budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 released by the Egyptian finance ministry on June 22 says as much about reform priorities as it does about who's making noise. The budget pours money into social welfare spending and subsidies, apparently attempts to address working class unhappiness. And on Friday, workers groups that established the country's first independent labor union federation in March are calling for a million man protest to demand that the government crack down on cronyism in job hiring and uphold its promises to establish better worker rights.

In Zagazig, the railway workers say they want overtime compensation and better pay. Some say they make little more than 500 Egyptian Pounds ($84) a month - hardly enough to raise a family on, and still 200 Egyptian Pounds below the new national minimum wage. "We normal people are calling for our rights," explains one train air conditioner technician plainly.

After security forces cleared the tracks last week, railway workers received a promise from the national Railway Committee, the governor, and the local security chief, that their demands would be met. "They've spoken, but we'll see if they'll pay," says one accountant at the Zagazig train station. "To be honest, how will they pay if there is no income? The economy is in a bad state."

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

Yahoo! News

Chinese workers flee Myanmar fighting: report (Reuters)

YANGON (Reuters) – More than 200 Chinese workers have returned home from Myanmar after separatist rebels attacked a hydropower plant in the northern border province of Kachin, state media in Myanmar said on Saturday, the first official comment on the recent fighting.

The Chinese ambassador had met Myanmar's foreign and border affairs ministers on Friday, media said, without giving details of the discussion.

An official statement in the daily New Light of Myanmar outlined several threats since April by the Kachin Independence Army against Chinese projects in Kachin State, including the Tarpein Hydropower Project.

"The project, which is equipped with four 60-MHz generators, ceased to operate as from 14 June, causing a great loss to the state and the people," it said.

Altogether, 215 Chinese employees assigned to the project returned to China from June 9 to 14, it said.

Responding to an attack by Myanmar's army, the KIA blew up 25 bridges in the region from June 14 to 16, it added.

Residents in the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, said the region remained tense, but it was not clear if fighting was still going on.

Sources in Kachin have said hundreds of people had fled their homes in the mountainous region to escape eight days of fighting up until Thursday.

An estimated 2,000 people were reported to have sought shelter in a camp run by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the rebels' political arm, and another 7,000 had set up tents and shelters in the jungle along the frontier.

The KIO has battled the central government for decades but agreed to a ceasefire in 1994 under which its fighters were allowed to keep their arms.

However, tension has been rising since last year, largely because the Kachin have resisted government pressure to fold their men into a state-run border security force.

Analysts say Myanmar's 10-week old government, the country's first civilian-led administration in five decades, is intent on seizing control of the rebellious states but is reluctant to engage in conflict with the numerous factions.

Chinese-built dams have been divisive projects in Myanmar, with ethnic minorities seeing construction as expanding military presence into their territory. Some analysts say Kachin rebels may be trying to hold the dams hostage in return for a share of the revenue from the projects.

The risk of fighting spreading in the heavily militarized border region is a worry for China, which is building oil and gas pipelines through its Southeast Asian neighbor to improve energy security.

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Alan Raybould)

Yahoo! News

Postal workers prepare for rotating strike (Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Postal workers will start limited rotating strikes around the country on Thursday night unless a last-minute contract deal can be reached with Canada Post, the employees' union said on Thursday.

"The strike will begin at 11:59 p.m. EDT in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg local will be on strike for 24 hours, after which the strike will continue in other locations to be announced later," the Canadian Union of Postal Workers said in a statement.

"The purpose of this strike activity is to encourage Canada Post Corporation to abandon their proposals for significant concessions and instead negotiate solutions to the very real problems that are being experienced by 48,000 postal workers," the union said.

Canada Post says its letter mail volume has declined by 17 percent in the last five years as e-mail has increased. The government corporation says it cannot afford the union's wage demands and says it needs to introduce new rules to reduce sick leave.

Its last annual report, for 2009, showed a profit for the 15th consecutive year, but said its financial future was weak.

(Reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Rob Wilson)

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Smartphone app lets workers track wages (AP)

WASHINGTON – Workers who don't trust the boss to keep track of their wages can now do it themselves with a new smartphone application from the Department of Labor. But employers worry that the time sheet app, along with other new initiatives, could encourage even more wage and hour lawsuits.

The app, called DOL-Timesheet, lets workers calculate regular work hours, break time and overtime pay to create their own wage records. Department officials say the information could prove valuable in a dispute over pay or during a government investigation when an employer has failed to keep accurate records.

"This app will help empower workers to understand and stand up for their rights when employers have denied their hard-earned pay," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said.

The app is the latest example of the Obama administration's push for more aggressive enforcement of wage and hour laws. The agency has hired about 300 more investigators to probe complaints of unpaid work time, lack of overtime pay and minimum wage violations.

Last year, the agency began a "Bridge to Justice" program that, for the first time, helps connect aggrieved workers with private lawyers if the department's Wage and Hour Division is too busy to handle a complaint.

As a result, legal experts say, wage and hour compliance has become a leading concern for employers as the new policies help drive up litigation over unpaid wages, also known as wage theft.

"The government is focusing on it like never before," said Gerald Maatman, an employer-side labor lawyer based in Chicago. "I think the mantra is kind of, `All enforcement, all the time, 24/7.'"

Workers brought a record number of wage and hour suits against employers last year, according to an analysis of court filings by Maatman's firm, Seyfarth Shaw. Nearly 6,800 such suits were filed in 2010, about 700 more than the previous year. Most were collective or class actions.

"The concern is that the Department of Labor is putting a lot more attention into this area and employers, at the same time, are putting more hours, more money and more work into auditing and complying with wage and hour laws," Maatman said. "It's turning into somewhat of a full-time job."

The stepped up enforcement is a change from the Bush administration, when some critics accused President George W. Bush's labor secretary, Elaine Chao, of favoring businesses and weakening job safety and enforcement efforts.

While employers are not surprised about increased enforcement, they have questioned some tactics, such as a program that gives workers a toll-free number to contact an attorney referral service run by the American Bar Association.

The Wage and Hour Division gets more than 35,000 calls a year for help and doesn't have the resources to deal with every claim. For those it can't help, it now refers them to the toll-free hot line, where they can be referred to a lawyer who specializes in wage and hour disputes.

Michael Kun, a management-side employment lawyer in Los Angeles, calls the program "a gift to plaintiff's lawyers."

"A DOL investigator has no incentive to pursue a meritless claim," Kun said. "A plaintiff's lawyer has some incentive to do that to get some sort of nuisance value."

Patricia Smith, the Labor Department's top lawyer, says the criticism has taken her by surprise. Before the Bridge to Justice program, the department simply told workers they had a private right of action.

"This just gives them a little more information if they want to exercise it, to go to an attorney that's qualified, as opposed to calling the guy who has advertisements on television at midnight," Smith said.

Nancy Leppink, who heads the Wage and Hour Division, says the office is just doing the job it's supposed to do, which is going after employers who cheat workers out of their hard-earned wages.

"To the extent we have employers who are not complying with the law, we have an obligation to look for all of the opportunities we can to change that behavior," Leppink said.

That includes the department's "We can help" advertising campaign last year, designed to educate employees in the food service, hospitality, apparel, manufacturing and construction industries about their legal rights under federal wage and hour laws.

Wage theft is especially prevalent among immigrant workers who don't speak English or hesitate to challenge their boss for fear of jeopardizing immigration status, labor officials say.

Earlier this year, for example, the department recovered $1.8 million in back wages for nearly 400 workers at the Houston-based Hong Kong Market grocery chain. Investigators found some employees worked as many as 70 hours a week, but were paid less than the minimum wage and denied overtime pay. Labor officials said the company deliberately misled investigators by falsifying payroll records.

The new smart phone app is expected to help low wage immigrant workers, many of whom can't afford a computer, but keep cell phones as a lifeline to family back home.

The app is currently available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but the agency is exploring versions for use on other devices, including Blackberry and Android smartphones.

___

Online:

Labor Department's Hour and Wage Division: http://www.dol.gov/whd/

Seyfarth Shaw law firm: http://www.wagehourlitigation.com/

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Workers enter Japan nuclear reactor building

TOKYO (AP) — Workers entered one of the damaged reactor buildings at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time since it was rocked by an explosion in the days after a devastating earthquake, the country's nuclear safety agency said.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said workers are connecting ventilation equipment in Unit 1 in an attempt to absorb radiation from the air inside the building. The work is expected to take about four or five days.

The utility must lower radiation levels inside the reactor before it can proceed with the key step of installing a cooling system that was knocked out by the March 11 quake and subsequent tsunami that left more than 25,000 people dead or missing along Japan's northeastern coast.

Workers have not been able to enter the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 140 miles northeast of Tokyo, since the first days after the tsunami. Hydrogen explosions at four of the buildings at the six-reactor complex in the first few days destroyed some of their roofs and walls and scattered radioactive debris.

In mid-April, a robot recorded radioactivity readings of about 50 millisieverts per hour inside Unit 1's reactor building ? a level too high for workers to realistically enter.

The decision to send the workers in was made after robots last Friday collected fresh data that showed radiation levels were safe enough for workers to enter some areas, said Taisuke Tomikawa, a spokesman for TEPCO.

Two workers entered the reactor building around 11:30 am for about 25 minutes. They were exposed to 2 millisieverts during that time, Tomikawa said.

A dozen workers split up into teams were expected to go into the building on a rotation for short periods to limit radiation exposure.

"This is an effort to improve the environment inside the reactor building," he said.

The workers were equipped with protective gear and a mask and air tank set similar to those used by scuba divers, according to an official at the Nuclear Safety and Industrial Agency.

Outside the reactor building, the utility erected a temporary tent designed to prevent radioactive air from escaping.

TEPCO has laid out a blueprint for bringing the bringing the plant into a cold shutdown within six to nine months.

Japanese authorities more than doubled the legal limit of radiation exposure for nuclear workers since the crisis began to 250 millisieverts a year. Workers in the U.S. nuclear industry are allowed an upper limit of 50 millisieverts per year. Doctors say radiation sickness sets in at 1,000 millisieverts and includes nausea and vomiting.

Radiation leaking from the Fukushima plant has forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile radius to leave their homes. Many are living in gymnasiums and community centers.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

USATODAY.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Workers enter Japan nuclear building

An aerial view of the the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.NEW: Ventilating the reactor building will allow employees to work there longerAn earthquake and tsunami hit the nuclear facility in March The company says it should take about three days to bring down the contamination

Tokyo (CNN) -- Workers entered a reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time since a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami damaged the facility, its operator Toyko Electric Power Co. said.

The workers went into the No. 1 reactor building shortly before noon to install air ducts for a ventilation system that will filter the air to reduce radioactive substances.

Once the radioactive contamination in the air is reduced, workers will be able stay in the building longer to install a cooling system that Tokyo Electric wants to use to do a cold shutdown of the reactor.

The company says it should take two to three days to bring down the contamination to levels suitable for workers to stay for extended periods when wearing protective suits, masks and air tanks.

Cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi, about 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, were knocked out by the massive tsunami that struck Japan's Pacific coast after a massive earthquake March 11.

The disaster triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl as the cores of reactors 1-3 overheated and spewed huge amounts of radioactive contamination across the surrounding area.

The buildings that house reactors 1 and 3 were blown apart by hydrogen explosions in the first days of the crisis. Another hydrogen buildup is believed to have ruptured a water reservoir beneath the No. 2 reactor.

In April, Tokyo Electric has laid out a six- to nine-month timetable for winding down the crisis and bringing the reactors to a complete shutdown.

The disaster has led to mandatory evacuations of about 78,000 people living within 20 km (12.5 miles) of the plant and orders to people living another 10 km away to remain sheltered, affecting another 60,000-plus.

Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report

CNN Top Stories

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Solution for fatigued aviation workers eludes FAA

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Aviation Administration told a government watchdog nearly two years ago that it was prepared to let air traffic controllers sleep or rest during work shifts when they weren’t directing aircraft. It still hasn’t happened.

By Cliff Owen, AP

A passenger jet flies past the FAA control tower at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport.

By Cliff Owen, AP

A passenger jet flies past the FAA control tower at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport.

When the FAA proposed new limits on airline pilots’ work schedules to prevent fatigue last year, it rejected its own research recommending that pilots be allowed to take naps during the cruise phase of flight — typically most of a flight when the plane is neither climbing nor descending — so that they are refreshed and alert during landings.

And an FAA committee that has been working for several years on new work rules to prevent fatigue among night-shift airline mechanics has made little progress, said one committee member. Allowing naps during breaks on overnight shifts was dismissed as a nonstarter.

In a 24/7 industry like aviation, fatigue is a fact of life. Managing work schedules to minimize fatigue can make the difference between life and death. There have been 14 aviation accidents with 263 fatalities since 1993 in which fatigue was cited as the cause or a contributing factor, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Yet the FAA has struggled unsuccessfully for decades to revamp workplace rules for controllers, pilots and mechanics despite a consensus that fatigue is one of the industry’s most pressing safety issues. While recognizing the problem is easy, developing workable solutions acceptable to airlines, labor unions and government regulators is tough. Money is a factor. So are public perceptions.

The issue has taken on a new urgency after at least five recent incidents of controllers falling asleep on the job while working overnight shifts. In two cases, controllers have been fired.

“It’s tough to see controllers facing firing when the problem of (midnight) shift sleep deprivation has been acknowledged by the FAA,” said Rick Perl, a retired controller in Oxnard, Calif. “Sacrificial lambs is how it feels to me.”

In a sixth incident, a controller working an overnight shift was suspended for watching a movie on a portable DVD player while he was supposed to be monitoring air traffic. Present and former controllers have told The Associated Press that it’s not unusual for controllers on overnight shifts at radar facilities when traffic is light to watch movies, play online poker, and read magazines to help them stay awake.

The alternative, they said, is to spend eight hours in a dimly lit room staring at a radar scope while trying not to fall asleep. The controllers asked not to be identified so as not to jeopardize their jobs or the jobs of coworkers.

Industry and labor officials give FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt credit for doing more than past agency chiefs to address the fatigue problem. Last year, the agency proposed the first new limits on work schedules for pilots in decades. But industry-supported legislation in Congress, if passed, could create major obstacles to the rules becoming final.

Babbitt also signed a contract with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in 2009 that, among other things, required the agency create a working group with the union to address controller fatigue. FAA held off on its plan to allow sleep or rest by controllers during their shifts when not working air traffic to allow the working group time to address the issue, said spokeswoman Sasha Brown.

In January, after a year and a half of work, the group briefed Babbitt on 12 recommendations. One was that controllers be allowed sleeps breaks for as long as two hours when working overnight shifts. Sleep experts say scheduled naps during night shifts — especially between about 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. when even well-rested people naturally crave sleep — help keep workers alert when they return to their duties.

Another recommendation was that controllers be allowed to sleep during the 20 to 30 minute breaks they typically receive every few hours during day shifts. Currently, the FAA forbids sleeping on the job, even during breaks.

Babbitt was “abundantly enthusiastic about us moving forward,” said Peter Gimbrere, who is spearheading the controllers association’s fatigue effort.

But the administrator and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood flatly rejected both nighttime naps and on-break snoozes after publicity about controllers falling asleep.

“We don’t pay people to sleep at work at the FAA,” Babbitt told AP last week. “I don’t know anybody that pays anybody to sleep unless you’re buying people to have sleep studies.”

Patrick Forrey, a former president of the controllers’ union, called that position “unfortunate and political.”

“People think, ‘Why are we paying people to take a nap?’ ” Forrey said in an interview. “It doesn’t necessarily play well with the public, especially in an economy like today.”

Paul Rinaldi, the current controllers association president, said Friday that he intends to press the FAA to adopt all 12 recommendations.

“The recommendations are based on advice from NASA and the military and in line with international air traffic control best practices,” he said in a statement. Actions the FAA has taken recently to address the fatigue problem — adding a second controller on overnight shifts at more than two dozen airports and giving controllers an extra hour between work shifts — have “barely scratched the surface,” he said.

FAA is reviewing the recommendations, said spokeswoman Laura Brown.

Curt Graeber, a former NASA scientist who conducted FAA-funded sleep studies of pilots, wasn’t surprised that the FAA hasn’t embraced napping for controllers. Graeber was a member of an FAA committee in the early 1990s that drafted an advisory to airlines permitting pilot napping and setting out ground rules.

“We thought everything was fine. We submitted the draft advisory circular (to the FAA), everyone agreed with it, and then everything stopped,” said Graeber, now chairman of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s fatigue task force. But other countries and the European Aviation Safety Agency used the FAA draft circular and research to write their own regulations permitting pilot napping, he said.

Many pilots acknowledge privately that they’ve dozed off in the cockpit at times, especially while cruising when the workload is light. But critics say there’s greater risk in not having two pilots available at all times than there is that a pilot may doze off.

Graeber disagreed. “Look at it this way” he said, “would you rather have your pilot taking a nap while you are having your steak in the back (of the plane), or falling asleep on the approach into Hong Kong?”

Meanwhile, the FAA’s committee working on new work rules for reducing fatigue among aircraft maintenance workers “is going nowhere,” said safety consultant John Goglia, a former NTSB board member who began his career as an airline mechanic.

Airlines don’t want new rules because they would complicate their scheduling and they’d have to hire more people, he said. Unions also don’t want new rules because “they’re working tons of overtime to make up for the pay cuts that they took.”

But that doesn’t mean mechanics aren’t struggling to stay awake, especially during slow periods, Goglia said.

“Everybody who works nights in aviation knows if you’re not busy you’re going to fall asleep because you’re chronically fatigued,” he said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

House Panel Passes Bill Cracking Down on Tax Delinquent Federal Workers

FoxNews.com

Print Email Share Comments Recommend Tweet

A House legislative panel this week approved a crackdown on federal employees who owe back taxes to Uncle Sam.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed a bill on Wednesday that would terminate the employment of federal workers who are seriously delinquent on their taxes and another that prevents seriously delinquent taxpayers from getting a job with the federal workforce.

The bills define "seriously delinquent tax debt" as an outstanding debt for which a notice of lien has been filed in the public record. But federal workers who enter installment arrangements to pay off their tax debts would not be affected.

Currently, only IRS employees can be fired for not paying federal income taxes.

The bills now head to the full GOP-led House for a vote. The fate of the bills in the Democratic-led Senate is unclear.

"The bills we reported today further the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's core mission of ensuring that money Washington takes from taxpayers is well spent, and contributes to an efficient and effective government," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the committee said in a statement.

The panel also passed a bill that increases the probationary period for new hires from one to two years.

Taken together, the bills are part of an effort to hold workers who have better benefits than the private sector to a higher standard.

Nearly 100,00 federal civilian employees owed $1 billion in unpaid federal income taxes in 2009, according to the IRS. The number of delinquent federal employees has remained consistent since 2004, but the amount owed has soared nearly 70 percent from $600 million to $1 billion.

Print Email Share Comments Recommend Tweet View ArticleLeave a CommentSort: NewestSort: Oldest Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. You must login to comment.

View Article

View All Comments

Latest Politics VideosMore »

View the Original article

New Hampshire state workers rally against anti-union bill

Budget battles in the 'Bust Belt'STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Protesters rallied at the New Hampshire state capitol building ThursdayNEW: The bill restricting collective bargaining rights has little chance of clearing the state SenateNew Hampshire is the latest to try to limit state workers' collective bargaining rightsWisconsin and Ohio have already passed similar billsRELATED TOPICSNew HampshireCollective BargainingRead more about this story from CNN affiliate WMUR.

(CNN) -- State workers and others rallied at the New Hampshire capitol in Concord Thursday -- one day after the state House approved a package that would reduce collective bargaining rights.

Wednesday's vote on House Bill 2 came a day earlier than expected, catching state workers and other advocacy groups off guard.

The measure, however, is believed to have little backing in the state Senate and is opposed by Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat.

"There is no way" the measure will clear the Senate, said Carole Alfano, the Senate communications director. "It has absolutely zero support."

Speaker William O'Brien, a Republican, "purposely moved up votes on the budget, and the union-busting amendment in particular, because he was afraid to face the wrath of thousands of New Hampshire voters (who are protesting) in vast disapproval of the extreme agenda of the House leadership," said Diana Lacey, president of the State Employees Association.

"People above Politics," "NH Can Do Better," and "Lean, Not Mean" were offered as themes for the rally.

"Anytime people's human rights are being taken away, people tend to stand up and say no," Bill McQuillen, Portsmouth firefighter, told CNN affiliate WMUR.

Passage of the bill would limit the ability of labor unions representing state workers to collectively bargain on issues like wages, hours, working conditions and benefits.

While the vote has roiled state workers from teachers to firefighters, House Republicans who back the bill say they have their supporters too.

"If you look at my emails, I've got 8-to-1 ... in support of what we're doing here to protect the taxpayers," said Rep. Al Baldasaro from Londonderry, according to WMUR.

Similar efforts by legislatures to change collective bargaining laws in Wisconsin and Ohio have ignited passionate responses. Wisconsin's governor and Republican lawmakers have said the changes were needed as they grapple to limit spending.

Demonstrators occupied the Wisconsin capitol building for weeks before the legislature passed a law that curbs the collective bargaining rights of most state employees. A Wisconsin judge has put the law on hold.

On Wednesday, the Ohio state legislature passed its own legislation that would limit collective bargaining rights by barring Ohio's public employees from striking. The bill is now bound for Ohio Gov. John Kasich's desk to be signed into law, possibly this week.

Kasich has argued that Ohio Senate Bill 5 is crucial to closing an $8 billion budget shortfall and bringing public-sector benefits in line with those in the private sector.

CNN's Chuck Johnston and Mark Norman contributed to this report.

View the Original article