Archive for March, 2008
March 21st, 2008
Sometimes the Internet is like a used book store. You just amble around, poking through boxes and cubbyholes and occasionally you find gold. Like this Web site, Modern Mechanix.
It’s a blog full of old photos and advertisements, including one for a double-barrelled cigarette holder (from the days when smoking was good for you!) and offers to reach financial freedom by starting an indoor poultry farm.
But my favorite post is about a 1955 article on automation and how it would make everybody’s life easier in the ensuing two decades. It’s from Mechanix Illustrated, a defunct how-to magazine in the tradition of Popular Mechanics. Here’s the article’s money quote:
THE YEAR is 1975. For a man of 50 leaving a factory gate at five in the afternoon, you look remarkably fresh. Your light, comfortable-looking summer suit is pressed and spotless, your face and hands are free of grime, and your features show no sign of the strain that men once associated with the heat and noise of a big factory. There is an extra spring in your step as you walk toward the heliport, perhaps because this is Thursday. Your four-day work week is over, and ahead of you are three full days to call your own.
Few factory workers are punching out after 32 hours a week these days, but the article did make some accurate predictions about automation. Namely, that the big jumps in productivity would mean fewer factory jobs for workers.
March 20th, 2008
Ever wonder exactly what your employer can and can’t do to you under federal labor law? Or if your boss’ obnoxious comments qualify as sexual harassment? Or whether you should get paid for that 5-minute cigarette break?
Well, there’s a Web site that explains all the federal rules governing workers in straightforward question-and-answer format.
For instance, did you know that federal law does not guarantee you the right to a meal break during eight hours of work? Fewer than half the states have such guarantees (Illinois only protects break times for hotel workers in Cook County).
Nearly all employers give lunch breaks anyway because, well, it’s a smart thing to do to avoid open revolt among staff. I don’t know about you, but if my company forced me to go without food for eight hours, I would incite an uprising.
I’m not a union agitator. But when I get hungry, I’m not responsible for my actions.
Anyway, workplacefairness.org is a wealth of information about all facets of workers’ rights. Check it out.
March 17th, 2008
After four months locked out of brake foundry Gunite Corp., the United Auto Workers Local 718 went back to work today.
Now that the ordeal is over, I just discovered a Windows Live Spaces page run by the union that was used to keep members informed during the work stoppage.
Wish I would’ve found this site earlier because it would have made my job easier.
March 3rd, 2008
The Department of Labor just proposed new rules for the Family Medical Leave Act, the 15-year-old law that was a centerpiece of President Bill Clinton’s first-term agenda.
The law was created in 1993 to give workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a sick family member or a newborn child. Of course, the law is a bit more complicated in the real world. In the 15 years since its enactment, the law has been through legal battles, including some Supreme Court decisions. The DOL has extensive compliance requirements — the new regulations alone are more than 120 pages long.
The biggest changes to the law concern new entitlements. Under the proposed rules, a worker can take up to 12 weeks off when family members are called to active military duty. Workers can also take up to 26 weeks off in a 12-month period to care for an injured service member.
A local human resource management firm is offering a free breakfast seminar to educate companies about how the proposed rules could affect them.
Samuel J. Castree, senior vice president and counsel at Staff Management Inc., will explain the new rules from 8 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Giovanni’s Restaurant and Convention Center. A continental breakfast will be served beginning at 7:30 a.m.
To reserve a spot, call Barb Heinzeroth at 815-282-3900 or email her.
