In a speech yesterday to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in Springfield, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, saying he possessed the same type of “courage” as Lincoln did “to move the state forward.” Labor historian Larry Spivack says even today, Lincoln would take exception to the comparison.

History suggests the capital city’s most famous son might be tumbling in his tomb.

Here’s one for the good guys. David Warrick, executive director of AFSCME Council 62, reports that a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge has ruled that Louisville, Ky.’s Our Lady of Peace psychiatric hospital must reinstate former employee Amanda Doyle, who was fired, says Warrick, for trying to form a union at the hospital.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

After a four-hour hearing described by Arizona Capitol Times reporter Jeremy Duda as “testy” on his Twitter feed, the Employment and Regulatory Affairs Committee of the Arizona House of Representatives approved Gov. Jan Brewer’s plan to remove civil service protections from state workers and make them at-will employees. It was a 6-3 party-line vote with Republicans for and Democrats against, proving (once again) that elections have consequences.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

Nick  Martin of TPM reported this week that one of the worst in a package  of anti-union bills before the Arizona Legislature was “on life support.”

February is Black History Month and one of the noteworthy events in African American history is the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike that began Feb. 11, 1968.  It was on that day that, after years of discrimination and injustice, the African American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., began their strike for economic justice and dignity. They sought to join AFSCME Local 1733.

A year ago, thousands of Wisconsin workers filled the statehouse and streets of Madison protesting Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) attack on their collective bargaining rights. The battle reverberated beyond the borders of Wisconsin, triggering a nationwide dialogue on collective bargaining.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at DemocraticDiva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

This afternoon, a crowd of 100 assembled on the lawn of the Arizona State Capitol to hold a press conference to oppose four anti-worker  bills under consideration by the state Senate. Representatives and supporters of  AFSCME, AFL-CIO, education and a public safety union demanded that Gov. Jan Brewer and Rebublican state legislators put hard-working Arizona families above corporate  interests. State Sen. Steve Gallardo, a Democrat and AFSCME member, kicked the event off with a rousing speech in support of unions and against special interests trying to cut the pay and benefits of teachers and emergency responders.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at DemocraticDiva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

As Arizona’s “Wisconsin on Steroids” anti-worker bills get streamlined through committee hearings, Arizona labor leaders are gearing up to push back. This afternoon, I spoke with Roman Ulman, executive director of AFSCME Arizona. Ulman told me union leaders are still meeting with legislators at this point, urging them to support working families over corporate interests. As he said:

Donald Cohen, founder and executive director of In the Public Interest, a national resource center on privatization and responsible contracting, sends us this.

It seems there’s no public service or piece of property that private companies are not eyeing as potential revenue streams.  While funding anti-government think tanks like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), companies like Corrections Corporation of America, Waste Management, Maximus, Intuit, Laidlaw, Northrup Grumman, Koch Companies, Macquarie Capital Advisers, Pinnacle West, and UnitedHealthcare are hoping to use government as their candy store.

In December, the Obama administration proposed a new rule to bring the nation’s nearly 2 million homecare workers under the protection of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage, overtime and other provisions.