The familiar world of the post-World War II South has been changing. The textile and garment industries are now in a free fall. Agricultural employment has shrunk. Urban hubs such as Houston; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; and Northern Virginia have expanded as centers of information and research-based employment. Meanwhile, the South has become increasingly diverse.

Charles Dickens's tales have nothing on New Hampshire lawmakers. According to American Progress, the Republican-controlled legislature is proposing to do away with a state regulation requiring employers to give workers time to eat lunch. After all, they argued, employers will do so anyway out of the goodness of their hearts.

He beat out some tough competition, but Rob Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart’s board of directors, is the top vote getter in the 11th annual Jobs with Justice (JWJ) Scrooge of the Year election.

Marvin Bing, a member of the AFL-CIO Special Committee on Labor-Community Partnerships, sends us this report.

Tens of thousands of labor and civil rights activists on Saturday marched from the New York offices of Koch Industries, whose owners have supported restrictive voting legislation modeled by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing think tank funded by brothers David and Charles Koch. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who took part in the event, put it this way:

You can’t accomplish anything if you’re not prepared to fight.

The Americans for Financial Reform Conference on Executive Pay and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will discuss this afternoon a provision that would disclose the CEO-to-worker pay ratio to investors and the public for the first time. The AFL-CIO is hosting the conference.

Congratulations to author Barbara Ehrenreich for the 10th anniversary re-issuance of her classic study of the working poor, “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America.” Ehrenreich didn’t just write a theoretical study, she based the book on her experiences working as a waitress, a Wal-Mart “associate,” a nursing home aide and a maid employed by a cleaning service.

Hundreds of participants in the Jobs with Justice (JwJ) national conference in Washington, D.C., this week will join with members of the Making Change at Walmart campaign, Wal-Mart employees, faith leaders and community activists to rally Friday, Aug. 5, and deliver a message to the world’s largest retailer: “Pay what you say.”

There’s still time to register online to join hundreds of activists from Jobs with Justice (JwJ) and stand together to “Build Power and Fight Back” against the attacks on America’s working people by corporate executives and politicians.

Shoppers at a Laurel, Md., Wal-Mart yesterday got some unexpected entertainment while Wal-Mart managers got a serious message in the form of a rousing, revamped version of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” from a flash mob and brass band

Representatives from Wal-Mart and other retailers attended a White House event today to recognize grocery chains and other corporations for expanding their businesses into underserved areas.