Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R), whose disdain for working people is no secret, last month told state Labor Department hearing officers, who decide unemployment benefit appeals, that they better start deciding more of those cases in favor of employers who want those benefits denied, the Maine Sun Journal reports.  

At that gathering, LePage scolded about eight administrative hearing officers and their supervisors, complaining that too many cases on appeal from the Bureau of Unemployment were being decided in favor of employees. He said the officers were doing their jobs poorly, sources said.

The 400,000 drop in labor union membership announced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week is discouraging. The bigger story is that at the center of the drop is the decline in employment for public-sector workers, most notably local government workers. This has been the weakest sector of the economy.  And that largely reflects the decline in teachers. So, this is not so much about unions losing, but the continued lack of focus of American economic policy on maintaining investments for America’s future in the face of the ongoing weak economy. The myopic debates on the fiscal deficit and cutting budgets to meet the educational needs of America’s children (in order to preserve tax cuts for the currently wealthy) is not a plan to make America succeed in the long run.

Public-sector workers in Charlotte, N.C., can now have their union dues deducted from their paychecks like other causes they support, with voluntary payroll deductions. Last week, the Charlotte City Council voted 6-5 to allow the checkoff. The North Carolina State AFL-CIO points out that denying workers dues checkoff is a favorite tactic for right-wing politicians to undermine labor unions' ability to organize.

Anders Lindall, AFSCME Council 31’s public affairs director, and Clyde Weiss, AFSCME assistant editor, send us this report.  

The rights of public service workers seem to be of no consequence to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D). He’s prepared to sign a bill that allows him to deny collective bargaining rights to 3,580 state employees of his choosing, including up to 1,900 who currently have union representation. The legislation also allows the state’s other constitutional officers broad latitude to take away bargaining rights from their employees.

This post is from the Chicago Federation of Labor.

Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan and Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez are calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to reverse his decision to terminate the union contract that covers some 35,000 state workers.

“State employees are on the frontlines every day preserving public safety, safeguarding children and assisting families, caring for aging veterans, responding to disasters, and protecting our environment,” Carrigan said.  “Gov. Quinn’s effort to undermine their collective bargaining rights is unwarranted and virtually unprecedented in Illinois government.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that when cities, school boards and other public bodies bargain with workers’ unions, they must do so in good faith with the intention of reaching an agreement. While that may seem like common sense to most of us, two earlier rulings, including one from 1957, said that while such public entities are obligated to recognize the workers’ unions, they did not have to bargain.

Working people up and down the East Coast are pitching in to alert people about the clean up efforts for Hurricane Sandy and provide information for transportation, shelter and other resources. Firefighters, public employees, utility workers, letter carriers, nurses, grocery store employees, hotel workers and others continued to work through the storm to make sure everyone is taken care of. Once again, we’re reminded that work connects us all, and we’re better together. Here are some unions and agencies you can follow on Twitter and Facebook who've been hard at work during the storm:

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."

City leaders in Camden, N.J., who plan to fire all 273 police officers on the city’s force in favor of low-paid, nonunion mercenaries, should “learn a lesson from the NFL referee debacle,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

Though replacement refs threatened a game we love, a replacement police force threatens lives and puts our families and communities at risk. The decision by Camden city leaders is irresponsible and unacceptable and should be rescinded immediately.

Unfathomable that Camden city leaders plan to fire entire police force & use replacements - have they not learned the lesson from the NFL?

— Richard L. Trumka (@RichardTrumka) October 3, 2012

Temo Fuentes is one of the public employees Mitt Romney says we have "too many" of and that “it’s time for us to cut back." Fuentes repairs the fire trucks that would be on the scene immediately if Romney’s exclusive $12 million oceanfront La Jolla, Calif., mansion—or any other in the posh neighborhood—caught fire.

In this third AFSCME video spotlighting the public service workers and the 47% Romney says he doesn’t care about, Fuentes—whose mother once cleaned houses in Romney’s upscale enclave—worries about how he will provide for his family if his job disappears.