» Congress

On December 21, The National Labor Relations Board voted 2-1 in favor of new steps to increase the speed of union elections. The Board hopes to keep election and campaign time to less than 21 days. Often, there are long delays to unionizing elections… Read More

Shortly before Christmas, House Republicans finally gave in and sensibly agreed to the two-month extension for extended unemployment benefits. When Congress returns after recess, debate will resume on whether to further continue the vitally needed un… Read More

The House and Senate still have not come to an agreement on extending unemployment benefits for jobless workers. The federal unemployment provisions for emergency and extended benefits are set to expire during the first week in January. The U.S. Labo… Read More

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) published an excellent paper in October, arguing for a one-year extension of the Federal Unemployment Insurance benefits for unemployed workers. The paper is entitled “Hanging On By a Thread: Renew Fed… Read More

President Obama this week signed into law the first portion of his jobs package. The bill, H.R. 674, which had vast bipartisan support, also known as VOW to Hire Heroes Act, creates tax incentives for companies to hire veterans, especially those who… Read More

Last month, Hank Patterson attended a Congressional hearing held by the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee, which examined state workers’ compensations systems. The participants at the hearing discussed th… Read More

Even if Congress manages to extend emergency unemployment benefits for more the millions of workers who could receive them, about four million others will see their benefits end over the next year, unless an entirely new program is created. This is a… Read More

Extended unemployment benefits — providing for up to 99 weeks of benefits — have expired again because of Republican obstruction. Up to 2 million long-term job-seekers could lose their benefits by the end of the year. Coverage can be foun… Read More