Menards, the third-largest home improvement chain in the United States, encourages its employees to take a so-called "economics" course online that contains staunchly anti-Obama content and, while it doesn't endorse Mitt Romney, it talks in positive terms of policies similar to those the Republican presidential candidate has proposed.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas, who last month struck down the Wisconsin law (Act 10) that eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights, refused a request on Monday by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration to stay the order while the case is on appeal.

Colas said the state "failed to show that they will suffer irreparable harm if the stay is not granted."

Take a minute today (Oct. 11) and say “Happy Birthday” to Eleanor Roosevelt. A member of the Newspaper Guild for more than a quarter of a century, Roosevelt strongly believed in workers, their unions and their involvement in the political process. 

Brigid O’Farrell, a member of the National Writers Union/UAW Local 1981, writes if Roosevelt were alive today, she would be out campaigning against California’s Prop. 32 to silence workers in the political arena, while giving the wealthy and corporations free reign. Read more at the Roosevelt Institute's Next New Deal blog.

Workers at Walmart are continuing their actions to win respect and bring change to Walmart , with a demonstration today outside Walmart’s Bentonville, Ark., headquarters and with strikes yesterday by workers at stores in Dallas; Seattle; Miami; Sacramento, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; and in the Chicago and Washington areas.

Colby Harris, who earns $8.90 an hour after three years working at a Walmart in Lancaster, Texas, told The New York Times:

We’re protesting because we want better working conditions and better wages and because we want them to stop retaliating against associates who exercise their right to talk about what’s going on in their stores.

For the first time in history, Wal-Mart workers have gone on strike. Workers participating in the one-day strike at several Southern California stores say they are striking to protest attempts by Wal-Mart to silence and retaliate against associates who speak out about working conditions, low-pay, lack of respect and other issues that plague workers at the notorious anti-union retail giant.

While the striking workers are not union members, they have joined together in OUR Wal-Mart, a worker-led organization that stands up to make change in its company.

Late Sunday night California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed the California Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights and TRUST Act. The TRUST Act would have prevented a deeply flawed federal deportation program from tearing apart more California families, diverting important resources and costing the state millions of dollars. 

The governor's midnight veto of the California Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights “does not shake our commitment to winning in California or building a national movement,” said the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), in a statement released Monday. The group vowed to carry on the fight for the workplace rights of the state’s 200,000 domestic service workers.

Even in the face of setbacks like this one, our movement for dignity, respect and labor protections for domestic workers grows stronger. We know that our work to make the world a more just place for domestic workers—and for all of us—is the work of a lifetime. And one governor’s poor decision will not derail us.

"My Own Political Opinion" is a cross-post from Working America’s Dear David workplace advice column.

Question:

As a courtesy, I communicated to the director of the company where I work that I will be volunteering for one of the candidates running for president. I was told that I was not allowed to participate in any kind of political activity as long as I worked for the company. I asked why, fairly offended. He said that due to the fact that most of his clientele support the other candidate, he would risk losing up to 90% of his clientele. Not only am I not allowed to express my opinion or represent what I believe in as a proud American, but I also cannot even put a bumper sticker on my car, as I would risk immediate termination. What are your thoughts on these subjects? —Raven, N.H.

Answer:

Around the globe, 215 million children are engaged in child labor, including an estimated 6 million in forced labor. Annual reports, released this week by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), tracks the progress and lack of progress in combating child labor. The reports, said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis:   

Remind us of what happens to the most vulnerable members of society when poverty and labor exploitation unite.

We all have regrets in our lives, even Mitt Romney, who told a group of high-roller donors that he regrets federal workers are protected by union contracts, so that if he wins the election, he won’t be able to fire as many workers as he’d like to.

The middle class is the great engine of the American economy, but that engine is sputtering. Today, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the AFL-CIO and more than a dozen other worker advocate and economic research organizations are proposing “10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans: Making Work Pay in the 21st Century.”