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Among the largest counties, Rock Island County, Illinois (which borders Iowa), had the largest over-the-year gain in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2008, with an increase of 10.5 percent coming largely from the manufacturing supersector.

While his support among white voters has slipped a few points since the last poll, he actually does better among whites against McCain than Clinton, losing the white vote 49-38, as opposed to 53-38 for Clinton. The 11-point deficit among whites might look discouraging, but it’s important to keep in mind that Kerry lost the white vote by 17 points in 2004. Obama is only 3 points below Kerry’s percentage of the white vote (41%), while McCain is 9 points behind Bush’s 58% (the rest are undecided).

By Chuck Quirmbach Tuesday, February 20, 2007 (UNDATED) Wisconsin labor unions and some Democrats in Congress are trying to promote a bill that unions say would make it easier for workers to organize, but business groups don’t like the measure. The bill is known as the Employee Free Choice Act. Unions say it would help organizing by boosting penalties for employers that coerce or intimidate workers from forming a labor organization. The measure would also set up mediation and binding arbitration when firms and workers can’t agree on a first contract, and would let workers form unions when a majority sign an authorization card. Wisconsin Democratic House members Gwen Moore, Tammy Baldwin and Ron Kind are joining with the AFL-CIO to promote the legislation, which they say will make it through the House of Representatives. Moore says union membership can boost worker pay and boost consumer spending. She says if President Bush follows through with a promise to veto the bill, it would be a campaign issue next year.

By JOHN J. SWEENEY Posted: Feb. 17, 2007 All people want their children to do a little better than they've done. A little better education. A little more saved. Advertisement Buy a link here But today, too many people think that the American dream is a pipe dream. Fewer than a quarter of Americans feel the next generation will be better off, according to a new survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates.

Students can add U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's name to the list of politicians standing behind the proposed Union of Rutgers Administrators. The Democratic senator offered his support in the effort to form the union at a panel discussion at the Labor Education Center on Cook campus - calling it an "issue of workers' rights and fairness." He also pushed for Congress to approve the Employee Free Choice Act, which would protect administrators at Rutgers and around the country.

Labor activists held a demonstration Tuesday in Charleston to urge Rep. Shelley Moore Capito to support legislation making it easier for workers to organize into unions. The Employee Free Choice Act would boost penalties for companies that intimidate workers involved in organizing efforts, set up a third-party-mediation process when employers and employees can’t agree on a first contract and let employees form unions when a majority consent to join by signing authorization cards. The demonstration was organized by the state chapter of the AFL-CIO and held outside its Charleston office at 501 Leon Sullivan Way.

He was scheduled to emcee an event at the Labor Temple this morning to tout the bill and thank U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, for her support of it. There is fierce controversy over the secret ballot provision of the bill. Some say that not using it means that workers opposed to unionization would lose anonymity and could become targets. They also might be forced to sign the cards, opponents say.

COLONIE -- Capital Region labor leaders are pushing for passage of federal legislation to make it easier for workers to unionize and to penalize companies that aggressively attempt to halt such efforts. Union leaders, joined by U.S. Reps. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Greenport, and Michael McNulty, D-Green Island, rallied in support of the bill Wednesday in Latham, saying passage of the Employee Free Choice Act would boost the dwindling middle class and keep companies from intimidating workers who want to form a union. The proposal would allow the creation of a union once a majority of a company's employees sign authorization cards -- with no secret-ballot election required. It would impose financial penalties on employers that coerce and intimidate employees who seek to unionize, and it would allow for outside arbitration to settle first-time contract disputes. The legislation is opposed by some in the business community who say the end of secret-ballot voting would open employees to harassment from union officials. Some also say it could hurt American competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Congressman Charles Wilson spoke to a crowd this evening in Reno, on a bill that he says would "level the playing field." Wilson spoke at the Electrical Workers Union Hall, about the employee Free of Choice Act. If passed, this bill would create a system to forming or joining labor organizations.