The average food stamp recipient receives about $31 a week ($4.42 a day) for groceries and that’s apparently too much for House Republicans—who by the way earn about $3,350 a week plus perks and seem to work about three days a week for maybe 40 weeks of the year. But I digress.

In this latest Workonomics installment for Upworthy Rep. Peter DeFazio (E-Ore.), sees just how far that $30 stretches and then live on it for a week.

The popular blog Gawker has been running an occasional series about Walmart built from the employees’ personal experiences and stories. The tales of Walmart's reported disrespect towards workers are so powerful that Walmart posted a message on its internal employee website urging employees to share positive stories, Gawker's Hamilton Nolan reported yesterday.

How can the labor movement do more to include women’s perspectives and issues in our work? How can we do better on strengthening community partnerships and lifting women’s voices on policy issues? We want your ideas.  

The AFL-CIO and MomsRising.org invite you to a tweetchat on Wednesday, July 17, at 2 p.m. EDT to discuss the well-being of and most pressing issues facing women and moms in the workplace. Join us to share your comments, resources or questions by adding the hashtag #WellnessWed to your tweets at that time.

What kind of movement do working people need to build a better future? What changes should labor make? Those are some of the questions I posed to you two months ago—and Daily Kos readers and progressives everywhere have offered all kinds of ideas. We’d like to hear more—even your off-the-wall ideas. Please share your thoughts by commenting on this post or go to AFLCIO2013.org. We’re still listening. Already, at in-person gatherings as well as online, we’ve heard from more than 5,600 people—union members, activists, allies, academics and others.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts were among 30 arrested at a rally in West Virginia Tuesday while protesting Patriot Coal's attempts to abandon its commitments to retirees, most of whom worked for Peabody Energy and Arch Coal before those companies created Patriot. Roberts and others say Patriot specifically was created to fail so the original companies could eliminate retiree health care and pension costs.

Train in Vain is a cross-post from Working America’s Dear David workplace advice column. 

Question:

At the company I work for, employees are expected to attend training, usually four hours per day, Monday to Friday, for 30 days (without pay). Once training is completed, they may or may not get a chance to work, because the company has brought on so many people that most of the time only 10 percent can be on the schedule at one time. There are over 3,000 of us with the same job title working for this company all over the country. So many people are getting taken advantage of every day by this company. I know at least 90 percent of us feel the same way. A lawsuit has already been started, but I feel we need to organize and create a union to stop the abuses and manipulation of this company in its tracks. Where do I go from here?

BART workers and members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1555 ended their strike today as negotiations continue over a new contract. Their current contract will expire August 4. 

In 1934, there were more than 1,800 strikes involving more than 1.4 million workers. General strikes followed walkouts by dock workers in San Francisco, truckers in Minneapolis and auto parts workers in Toledo.

In reaction, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democratic-controlled Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. A key piece of this new labor policy: a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with clear, strong enforcement powers.

After forgoing pay raises for five years and making $100 million in concessions four years ago to help the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system through rough economic times, about 2,500 BART workers are on the picket lines throughout the San Francisco Bay area after their contracts expired at 12:01 a.m. PDT today.

Workers also say BART did not respond to a number of their safety concerns for both workers and riders.  

Today Hyatt Hotels Corp. and UNITE HERE, the union of hospitality workers in the United States and Canada, announced a national agreement that resolves longstanding disputes between the two organizations. The agreement creates a framework for the company and the union to work together moving forward. Both UNITE HERE and Hyatt hailed the pact as a positive step.