Smoking is prohibited by law "in the workplace" by the vast majority of states in the US. Unfortunately, the US Postal Service doesn't honor the law and allows employees to smoke in USPS shared vehicles. Non-smokers are routinely subjected to smoke and the residual odor of cigarette smoke every work day.

Alaska is said to have more drive through coffee stands per capita than anywhere else in America.

Due to a recent tragic event, the safety of these workers, who are most often young women, has been put in the spotlight.

See this news story on what unions would like to do to help: http://www.youralaskalink.

Pittsburgh—A new economic impact study from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry estimates greater job and tax revenue loss from the shutdown of three Philadelphia-area refineries than the United Steelworkers (USW) originally estimated.

Information from the reports appeared in Kathleen E. Carey’s article in the Sunday, March 11 edition of The Delaware County Daily Times. The article was titled, “Report: Sunoco, ConocoPhillips job losses could reach 36,000 in $560M economic hit for region.”

The Alliance Against Workplace Violence is happy to announce that April, 2012 is workplace violence awareness month. Pls. visit www.workplaceviolenceawareness.org and www.aawpv.org for more information. You may email the Director, Patricia Biles, at patricia@aawpv.com if you'd like to post support on our website and/or have an activity promoting workplace violence awareness.

P

I am not good at this.

I am an officer of a local union in Florida. I would like suggestions on how to deal with a situation that bugs me.

We are always fighting our company and their efforts to bring in outside contractors. A lot of our bosses, planners, supervisors wear shirts provided by the outside contractors.

Rush Limbaugh is on taxpayer supported Armed Forces Radio reinforcing the idea that women who dismiss male concerns are whores, sluts and prostitutes and their rapes should be televised.

This billionaire should not be able to use our tax dollars for his free speech encouraging the rape of women in the military.

Unions should establish associate union entities and membership for progressives that do not have the opportunity of joining a union at the workplace. Unions now more than ever need more political power in order to protect workers against corporate greed and uninformed citizens. Empower the people that support your causes and collectively have a greater voice in future outcomes.

The Nurses of Backus Hospital in Norwich, Ct voted last May to join the merican Federation of Teachers. Since then we have negotiated in good faith for our first contract. The Hospital has done nothing but stall. They have spent $11 million on a union busting law firm.

On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the hospital on the denial of wages and bonus, failure to bargain in good faith and illegally interfering with and barring union activity and access rights guaranteed under the law.

Here is a suggestion, given the conservative church-state theocrats dominating the GOP.

When they start using God, Jesus and the Bible as political props to promote their own vanity of political self-righteousness, call them on their mortal sinning.

After all, "Using God's name in Vain" is a big time violation of #3 of the Big 10: Thou Shalt Not Use God's Name in Vain.