In February, American Airlines announced plans to eliminate the jobs of 13,000 workers and dump pension plans for nearly 90,000 workers into the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) as part of its bankruptcy plan. Roughly 9,000 Transport Workers (TWU) members are employed at American. But yesterday, following negotiations with the TWU and PBGC, American announced it was abandoning its pension proposal.

Housekeepers at Hyatt Hotels will shine a spotlight tomorrow on what they say are unsafe and demeaning working conditions when they rally outside several Hyatt properties as part of International Women’s Day observances.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA's) enforcement effort and practices at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine had a number of significant failures before the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners, according to MSHA’s own report on its actions released today.

General Electric (GE)  records show that it pays far, far less in taxes than us ordinary taxpayers. So much for the claim that corporate taxes are too high. GE’s Securities and Exchange Commission 10-K filing for 2011 reveals that the company paid at most 2.3 percent of its $81.2 billion in U.S. pretax profits in federal income taxes during the past the past 10 years.

The former director of security at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine was sentenced to three years in federal prison for lying to federal agents and destroying documents sought by investigators looking into the deadly blast that killed 29 in 2010. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin had sought a 25-year sentence for Hughie Elbert Stover but said after the sentencing:

A former superintendent at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine where 29 miners were killed in an April 2010 explosion was charged today with conspiracy to violate federal money safety laws. He is the third former Massey official to face criminal charges related the explosion.

Locked-out workers from American Crystal Sugar and Cooper Tire will begin a 1,000-mile Journey for Justice tomorrow from Fargo, N.D., to Findlay, Ohio. The journey will highlight the corporate greed that marks their lockouts, and the growing drive by corporate CEOs to drive down wages and benefits to pad their own pockets.

Tune in Tuesday, Feb. 21, for the televised National Teach-In to Take Back the American Dream. Broadcast on Free Speech TV at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST, the teach-in will outline the facts on who broke the economy for the 99 percent and what needs to be done to fix it.

A scheme to privatize Florida’s prisons failed (19-21) in the state Senate yesterday after a huge public outcry led by Florida working families, community and civil rights groups. The plan was backed by extremist Gov. Rick Scott (R), private prison companies and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), one of the key players in the drive to privatize prisons throughout the nation.

When the nation’s housing crisis—fueled by “unscrupulous operators looking to make fast cash”–was beginning to explode, writes Richard Cordray, newly appointed head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), in a column on Politico: