Initial weekly unemployment claims for week of August 20th were 417,000, an increase of 5,000. The previous week was revised up 4,000, from 408,000 to 412,000.
An overlooked order by the Labor Board’s lead lawyer this summer dealt a serious blow to the rights of U.S. workers to protest government policies.
On May Day 2006, hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers walked off their jobs to protest restrictive immigration legislation. Some were fired, and brought complaints to the board. Ronald Meisburg, the National Labor Relations Board general counsel, responded by posting a directive on “political advocacy” this July that enables bosses to immediately fire employees who participate in work stoppages of a political nature.
The directive, as yet apparently unnoticed by both unions and labor lawyers, cannot be appealed.
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