Immigrant workers at an agricultural packing shed in Battleboro, North Carolina are celebrating a union agreement which will bring them new benefits. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee recently concluded a two-year campaign resulting in a collective bargaining agreement to cover those who work in packing operations and will bring a wage increase of 8%, guaranteed overtime pay, paid leave for union business as well as bereavement pay. Ana Lilia Rentería Sanchez, a warehouse packer, said she had never been part of a union in Mexico but encouraged her co-workers to get on board after she learned how helpful the union would be. .
As Black History Month begins, people are looking at how to close New York s racial wage gap. Between 2010 and 2020, the state s wage gap shrank by only a few thousand dollars. Then came the pandemic. .
Environmentalist Norm Steenstra, who moved to West Virginia to operate a coal mine and ended up leading one of the state s most influential environmental organizations, died Jan. 16, 2024 in his Charleston, WV home at age 72. Steenstra played a key role in creating the West Virginia Environmental Council in the late 1980s, and served as executive director of West Virginia Citizen Action, a nonprofit political watchdog group, from 1996 to 2007.
While you re out to find Black Friday and holiday shopping deals today, many "Made in America" items may be on your preferred list. A new poll by Morning Consult in coordination with the Alliance for American Manufacturing reported 83% of American consumers prefer to buy American-made products. Awenate Cobbina, CEO of Shinola and Bedrock Manufacturing, said it is important to promote the nation s economy by boosting jobs and local businesses. .
Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, an opportunity for small businesses to market their products and services out of the shadows of "big-box" stores and franchises. The most recent figures from 2021 show Indiana is home to almost 530,000 small businesses statewide; companies with fewer than 20 workers. Small Business Saturday prompts shoppers to support these businesses as they continue to recover from the pandemic. .