In my job working for grocery workers, i sometimes hear that unions are a thing of the past. "We now have laws to take care of things like safety, and child labor," i am told.

An ABC News investigation reveals today that our child labor laws in particular haven't been so effective:

 ...an ABC News investigation found children, including one as young as five-years-old, working in its fields.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/young-children-working-blueberry-fields-walmart-severs-ties/story?id=8951044

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Colorado grocery workers are fighting against concessions. The grocery chains are pleading hardship, claiming that the recession has hurt profitability. Yet Kroger, King Soopers' parent corporation, saw profits rise 12.7 percent in the first quarter.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/03/09/daily16.html

The grocery chains have repeatedly trumpeted the recession as a reason to cut labor costs. One of the significant questions during these negotiations: Why are the grocery chains spending hundreds of millions on their stores, but setting aside next to nothing for their workers?

An Aurora King Soopers is remodeled with a storefront that, according to the store manager, "will be visible from I-225." August 2009

What do the experts say about the financial status of the grocery chains? While admitting the current quarter is challenging, Credit Suisse analyst Edward J. Kelly is "positive on supermarkets," predicting improved fundamentals next year. He believes that Kroger "is the best company in the sector, given its focus on value." Kelly rates Kroger and Safeway stocks as "Outperform," adding that Safeway "has the right strategy for the long-term and generates cash."

In 1996, King Soopers and Safeway had a secret agreement. When King Soopers workers voted to strike, Safeway locked out thousands of Safeway workers.  

Safeway workers did not vote to strike, or even to reject a proposed agreement -- they weren't given the chance. They suddenly found themselves out of a job, on the street, forced by their employer into a strike situation.  

During current contract talks between the grocery workers' union and grocery chains, the threat of a lockout once again looms.  

Easter Sunday is a day to celebrate life and reconnect with our families. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

If you have just a couple of extra minutes today, there is something important you can do to support the fight for better health care in Colorado--it could be just the thing to impress people with at the dinner table later, too.

A very important bill has been making its way through the state legislature and faces a critical vote right after Easter. I'm not sure if you knew this, but right now, doctors aren't required to be practicing or even licensed in Colorado when they deny insurance claims. That's just ridiculous.

Senate Bill 61 would change that.

Senate Bill 61 will ensure that doctors who review insurance claims or make decisions to approve or deny claims must be licensed to practice medicine in the state of Colorado, and they must also be qualified in the same or similar specialty as the treating physician they are reviewing. If this seems like a no-brainer to you, that's because it should be.

But the insurance industry is lobbying hard to prevent this bill from passing and key representatives (listed below) need to hear from you. Please take a minute right now--yes, right now!--and call or email: tell these legislators to vote YES on Senate Bill 61. We want people to leave voice messages and send emails, so it doesn't matter if it's Sunday! The vote is on Monday, that's tomorrow.

Rep. Jeanne Labuda
Phone: (303)866-2966
E-mail: jeanne.labuda.house@state.co.us

Rep. Beth McCann
Phone: (303)866-2959
Email: beth.mccann.house@state.co.us

Rep. Wes McKinley
Phone: (303)866-2398
E-mail: wes.mckinley.house@state.co.us

Rep. Joe Rice
Phone: (303)866-2953
E-mail: joe.rice.house@state.co.us

Rep. Jim Riesberg
Phone: (303)866-2929
E-mail: jim.riesberg.house@state.co.us

Rep. Sue Schafer
Phone: (303)866-5522
E-mail: sue.schafer.house@state.co.us

Thanks for taking a couple quick minutes out of your busy holiday to stand up for what's right. And tell everybody you visit with today what you did to protect their health care! Have a great Easter.

This was not the one-word headline I expected to see in this morning's Foreign Policy magazine Morning Brief email.  Similarly, the Financial Times brought gloomy articles confirming the depth of the current fiscal decline.

"Falling by more than 20 percent over seven straight trading days, the U.S. stock market's recent performance now meets the standard definition of a crash."  - FP Morning Brief, 10 October 2008

this is the first attention grabbing fact from FP.  Realistically a seven point consecutively repeated 20% downward trend line is what I've always called a "death-slide." 

It's a very effective way to get the attention of executive decision-makers and mid-level managers.  I've seen motivation and attention to detail factors show a marked increase. 

"Investors have lost an estimated $8.4 trillion dollars so far this year, with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking another 678 points or 7.3 percent Thursday."  - FP Morning Brief, 10 October 2008 

My proposal is to add this figure to the existing National Debt burden enacted by the current occupant of the White House.  In addition to being a condemning legacy of this presidency, it should be a lesson in who, and how, to elect the next president.

Personally, I'm watching the value of my supposedly solid Federal employee Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account in a similar decline.  Holding a large percentage of my shares in a Standard & Poors 500 fund isn’t such a happy place at the moment.

Johne at SquareState has blogged about how deceptive and injurious this amendment would be to Colorado's working people.

Ever sat down and listened to a filibuster? Sometimes it's interesting, sometimes it's a bunch of petulant Republicans overly enamored with the sound of their own voice. Like today, reports Colorado Confidential:

A bill that seeks to make it easier for labor unions to obtain job shops, places where newly hired workers are required to join a union where a union election has been won, is being debated at this moment in the Senate chambers, with Republican lawmakers looking to attach amendments to the measure.

The Republican-controlled Senate refused Wednesday to raise the minimum wage, rejecting an election-year proposal from Democrats for the first increase in nearly a decade.

The vote was 52-46, eight short of the 60 needed.

"I don't think the Republicans get it," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who backed a proposal for a three-step increase in the current wage floor to $7.25 an hour...