The Happy Results of the Inkstop Lawsuit

by: the pollster

Tue Mar 30, 2010 at 10:19:02 PM EDT

I helped organize the employees (located in about 15 states) using social networking and the press.  We hired a lawyer and filed suit 3 days after the lay-off.

Yesterday, our attorney told us that a settlement had been reached!!  We will get about 80% of what we're owed (that already excludes legal fees, etc).

So, although the Board of Directors will not see the inside of a jail cell for the fraud they committed, at least we have a judgment against them and will get back wages.

Helping the unemployed: a tremendous contrast

by: Adam L

Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 04:30:00 PM EDT

And the more that Chris Christie talks about not talking enough about issues, Governor Corzine has been talking about issues and accomplishments.  It would be nice if anyone actually listened.

Take jobs and unemployment - 2 issues on nearly everyone's mind.  Just last week, Corzine urged Congress to act on a bill that would extend unemployment benefits for thousands of New Jerseyans that are about to expire.  This is the latest in a long line of initiatives that Corzine has undertaken to stem the tide of those losing jobs, as well as help those who have lost their job and bring new jobs to NJ.  

And while the picture is still rough in the state, it is starting to turn here while still sinking elsewhere.   In July, 13,000 new private sector jobs were added, and there have been successes in drawing new jobs to the state over NY.  

But that isn't all.  Corzine not only reversed the policy of raiding the unemployment reserve fund (something going on since the Whitman administration), but actually beefed up the fund - which would save ALL employers hundreds of millions of dollars collectively.  

What has Christie offered up over this time to help employers, workers and the unemployed?  

Nothing.  

Actually, that isn't true.  

While Corzine was creating his own stimulus plan, helping reduce the pain to NJ's economy, and working with President Obama on the federal stimulus bill to expand unemployment benefits in families' time of need, pushing green jobs and calling for extension of unemployment benefits, Christie was doing the following:

• Rejecting part of the federal stimulus bill that would expand unemployment benefits;
• Costing NJ employers hundreds of millions in increased state unemployment tax costs with no plan to beef up the unemployment reserve fund while talking about policies that would increase unemployment around the state; and
• Indicating he would lay off an additional 20,000 - 30,000 state workers while taking away the safety net they currently have.

Once again, the contrast is clear.  Corzine is trying to help working and struggling families.  Christie talks about how nobody is talking about helping working and struggling families while he quietly lets leak how he would crush them, all while hurting businesses and the state deficit in the process.

Rutgers study says workers falling farther behind

by: Jason Springer

Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 01:23:41 PM EDT

In its first national labor scorecard, the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations said more than 10 percent of Americans are unemployed, discouraged from seeking work or underemployed. That is a nearly 25-percent increase from one year earlier.

-- About 530,000 were subject to mass layoffs in the last year, growth of nearly 5 percent, but a lower rate than five and 10 years ago.

-- The median weekly earnings for American workers have not grown in real terms over the last eight years.

-- At $6.55, the federal minimum wage is worth 40 cents less per hour, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than it was a decade ago.

-- While employer-assisted childcare and employee wellness programs have grown quickly over the last decade, they still cover less than one quarter of American workers.

-- Roughly 4 percent of the workforce wants to work full-time, but is working part time because they can't find full-time work.