About the same time that man’s post showed up on the web, we saw the startling survey from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind polling organization, the one finding that nearly three in ten registered voters agree with the statement: “In the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties.” Three out of ten! That includes 44 percent of Republicans, 27 percent of independents and 18 percent of Democrats.

That poll also noted that a quarter of Americans think that facts about the Newtown shootings “are being hidden,” and an additional 11 percent “are unsure.” As Sahil Kapur wrote at Talking Points Memo:

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"The ashes were falling on top of us," one worker told NBC LA. "[But] they told us if we leave, there would be no job to return to."

Although the laborers themselves were without a union, they sought help from the United Farm Workers, who won the workers their positions back through negotiations. According to NBC LA, however, only one laborer has so far chosen to return to Crisalida Farms following the incident.

“No worker shall work under conditions where they feel his life or health is in danger," said UFW's Lauro Barrajas, citing the union rule he had impressed upon Crisalida Farms upper management in negotiations.

Via NBC LA:

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Via the report, titled "Responsibility Outsourced":

The failure of governments to protect workers’ rights in the global economy has left a yawning gap of regulation and helped spawn an $80 billion industry in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social auditing. yet the experience of the last two decades of “privatized regulation” of global supply chains has eerie parallels with the financial self-regulation that failed so spectacularly in 2007 and plunged the world into deep and lasting recession...

Many of the best-established CSR brands, such as the Fair Labor Association and Social Accountability International, are funded by big corporations and sometimes even by government subsidy. This report shows how the overwhelming influence of the company bottom line has dominated the agendas of the FLA, SAI and similar groups, while the workers who are supposed to benefit from CSR have been marginalized or altogether ignored.

The fact that a garment factory in Pakistan could get SAI certification based on some phone calls and some meetings outside Pakistan, and yet be so dangerous that a September 2012 fire killed nearly 300 workers, should have led to a complete overhaul of the CSR industry. But there is no sign the root and branch reform needed will actually happen. All the indications are that it is business as usual for CSR.

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The right had a new champion. Having weakened and nearly destroyed the private sector union movement in America over the last 30 years, it was time to home in on a new target: public sector unions and, in fact, the very idea that a fair society requires a robust public sphere. (Hint: This is true for the non-wealthy, less so for people who can buy their way into private schools, private beaches, private jets and so on.)

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The 30-second ad is part of a $250,000 buy by labor groups and one animal rights group, and will run for three weeks. From the New York Times:

The coalition opposing Ms. Quinn is called NYC Is Not for Sale 2013 and appears to be a successor to a group that actively opposed Mr. Bloomberg’s 2009 re-election bid. It also includes an animal-rights group, NYClass, that has long fought with Ms. Quinn over horse-drawn carriages and other issues. But the coalition also includes Democrats who had previously been major donors to Ms. Quinn.

The ad, which shows a picture of Quinn surrounded by smoke, says that “Virtually all of Christine Quinn’s decisions were made in rooms just like this, with her friends in the 1%. She wants you to think that she’s a progressive, but on the issues New Yorkers care most about, she is always on the wrong side."

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The question is whether it’s a good deal for American workers. It is, and I’ll explain why in a moment.

Under the agreement (arrived at last weekend) a limited number of temporary visas would be issued to foreign workers in low-skilled occupations, who could thereafter petition to become American citizens.

The agreement is an important step toward a comprehensive immigration reform package to be introduced in the Senate later this month. Disagreement over allowing in low-skilled workers helped derail immigration reform in 2007.

The unions don’t want foreign workers to take jobs away from Americans or depress American wages, while business groups obviously want the lowest-priced workers they can get their hands on.

So they’ve compromised on a maximum (no more than 20,000 visas in the first year, gradually increasing to no more than 200,000 in the fifth and subsequent years), with the actual number in any year depending on labor market conditions, as determined by the government. Priority would be given to occupations where American workers were in short supply.

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The Anonymous action, carried out in support of public sector unions fighting to save collective bargaining rights against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting efforts, was not a hack. Rather, the hacker collective orchestrated a denial-of-service attack, or a DDOS,  encouraging users to repeatedly access the website until it's too overwhelmed to function. The Koch sites were successfully but only temporarily brought down. Rosol is the first and only defendant charged in the attack. Via Pearce:

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Despite the common stereotype that unions only serve workers in manufacturing, construction and service industries, organized labor has a long history protecting the livelihoods of artists and performers. Jennifer Mondie, a veteran violist with the National Symphony Orchestra, puts it succintly: "There's no way I could be half the artist I am without the support of the union."

In the video above, Mondie explains how being a member of the American Federation of Musicians allows her to excel at her craft -- and she shares some beautiful music, as well.

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The new PBS documentary Makers: Women Who Make America shows how the women's movement changed the workplace for women, men and families. Two of the young Makers highlighted in the film, Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook and Marissa Mayer at Yahoo, now dominate the news. Here's what neither of them tell you: union women earn more than non-union women and have better benefits and working conditions.

Women at Facebook and Yahoo should consider spending their time organizing to have a say in their workplace.

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A video that went viral at the time showed Crowder getting punched by a protester as he tried to stop an Americans for Prosperity tent from being torn down. The right picked it up as evidence of “union thuggery” at the protests. But, shortly after, the video was revealed to have been selectively edited, and left out a key part where the protester was knocked to the ground right before he got back up to punch Crowder.

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The government has also passed legislation making it nearly impossible to unionize motion picture production in the country, according to THR.

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The move, confirmed by the company Monday, follows a series of recommendations from an international panel hired by Apple to audit conditions for the 1.2 million workers in Foxconn's mainland factories.

Foxconn said it will deepen employees' involvement in union elections so the unions can more effectively represent their interests. It said it hopes this will impact labor standards throughout China.

Foxconn previously came under heavy scrutiny for labor policies that allegedly led a dozen workers to commit suicide. It has also faced increasing protests and strikes as Chinese workers become increasingly aware of labor rights.

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The Koch-backed political assault against unions by both public and private sector has also gained ground in recent years, with state legislatures in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana voting through measures that weaken unions. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka released a statement in response to the new statistics, lamenting, "Working women and men urgently need a voice on the job today, but the sad truth is that it has become more difficult for them to have one, as today’s figures on union membership demonstrate.”

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Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union expects more than 8,000 bus drivers and matrons to strike, affected over 150,000 school children. As was the case during the week-long Chicago teachers strike last, city officials are framing the strike in terms of harm done to children and parents.

"With its regrettable decision to strike, the union is abandoning 152,000 students and their families who rely on school bus service each day," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. The city is providing free Metro cards Wednesday to students and parents affected by the strike and reimbursed private transport for special needs children.

The walkout was precipitated by the city's push to privatize their yellow buses. In an attempt to cut spending on transportation, the city has put bus contracts with private bus companies up for bid. The drivers union has vociferously opposed the move, arguing that drivers will be thrown into precarity if new bus companies win city contracts and don't hire them. Mayor Bloomberg has stressed that job protection clauses to allay these concerns cannot legally be written in to private contracts.

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But now as Republican governors stake out a new array of conservative goals in the dozens of state legislatures the party controls, Walker has decided to lay low in Wisconsin. Instead of taking what many see as the next steps on a likely to-do list, such as making Wisconsin a right-to-work state or pushing tougher immigration laws, Walker is preaching moderation and calm. He has also backed away from proposals like eliminating the state's same-day voter registration.

"We're not going to do things that are going to bring 80,000 or 100,000 people into the Capitol," Walker told the Wisconsin State Journal shortly before the legislative session began. "It's just not going to happen again."

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With the season on the line, the NHL and the players' association agreed on a tentative pact to end a 113-day lockout and save what was left of a fractured schedule.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and union executive director Donald Fehr ceased being adversaries and announced the deal while standing side by side near a wall toward the back of the negotiating room and showing a tinge of weariness.

"I want to thank Don Fehr," Bettman said. "We went through a tough period, but it's good to be at this point."

A marathon negotiating session that lasted more than 16 hours, stretching from Saturday afternoon until just before dawn Sunday, produced a 10-year deal.

"We've got to dot a lot of Is and cross a lot of Ts," Bettman said. "There's still a lot of work to be done, but the basic details of the agreement have been agreed upon."

Even players who turned into negotiators showed the strain of the long, difficult process.

"It was a battle," said Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey, a key member of the union's bargaining team. "Gary said a month ago it was a tough negotiation. That's what it was.

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The extension came after the union and an alliance of port operators and shipping lines resolved one of the stickier points in their months-long contract negotiations, involving royalty payments made to union members for each container they unload.

Negotiations will continue until at least midnight on Jan. 28. Some important contract issues remain to be resolved, but the head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, George Cohen, said the agreement on royalties was "a major positive step forward."

"While some significant issues remain in contention, I am cautiously optimistic that they can be resolved in the upcoming 30-day extension period," he said.

The terms of the royalty agreement were not announced.

The master contract between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, a group representing shipping lines, terminal operators and port associations, originally expired in September. The two sides agreed to extend it once before, for 90 days, but it had been set to expire again on 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

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According to a report by Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman at Politico, the union counteroffensive is setting its sights on fighting conservative state leaders in next year's gubernatorial elections, particularly in the Midwest. Via Politico:

The AFL-CIO has already built up sizable campaign operations in Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada and Wisconsin – the site of a titanic 2012 gubernatorial recall fight – in addition to Ohio and Michigan, union officials said. The labor giant deployed new staff to those states about a year ago as part of what AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka has called the “permanent infrastructure” of national unions.

... Labor leaders have vowed to make Snyder regret signing the “right to work” law he approved this week. Beyond Michigan, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett have appeared vulnerable in polling.

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