Since 1956 the Kansas City area Labor Beacon Newspaper has been covering the labor community with in-depth news and incisive commentary. We have earned the respect of our 24,000 subscribers, the Labor community both locally and nationally and the Kansas City area community. We are read by elected members of congress, governors, Mayors, Legislators, city council members and many members of the business community.

The Labor Beacon is the second largest (paid) subscription newspaper in the metropolitan area. The Labor Beacon is recognized as the second largest privately owned Labor newspaper in the USA. Our subscribers are consistent salary and wage earners, with a broad range of needs and have the consistent buying power needed to support a full range of goods and services.

Labor Union members who consistently read our publication support our advertisers. The Labor Beacon enables your advertising dollars to reach a diverse range of loyal readers. Our publication influences Labor leaders, union executives, financial planners, pension and insurance benefit managers as well as teachers, nurses, construction workers, government employees, union retirees as well as many other occupations. In business for over 52 years, the Labor Beacon is your window to organized labor. To advertise in the Labor Beacon, click here.

 UNION LEADERS CHEER INTRODUCTION OF EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

 WASHINGTON (PAI)--Union leaders cheered the formal introduction March 10 of the Employee Free Choice Act, predicting it will help restore the U.S. middle class.

 “Today is a banner day for working Americans,” said AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney in a statement after the Senate Labor Committee hearing on the bill, which he attended. Change To Win Chair Anna Burger also sat through the session. Neither testified, leaving that to workers and scholars.

 Sweeney called the bill “a milestone on the road to rebuilding our nation’s middle class” because “it will restore workers’ freedom to bargain for fair wages, job security better health care and secure pensions.”

 Expressing confidence Congress would send the bill to Democratic President Barack Obama, who promises to sign it, Sweeney called the act “a strong message that Congress is ready to move forward to build an economy that works for everyone.” 

Burger called the Employee Free Choice Act “a key part of a larger economic plan” which would be “putting workers back on a path of prosperity.” 

“Right now, millions of working families are struggling,” with job, health care and benefit losses, she added. “They’re working harder than ever before, yet they’re not able to share in the wealth they helped create. To really fix this economy...the solution is simple: Create good jobs that support a family so workers can again buy homes, cars and the necessities for their families -- and put money back into our economy.” The measure would help accomplish that, Burger stated. 

But not every lawmaker -- especially among Republicans -- is ready to move forward. House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., said that while a majority of representatives, 223, are his co-sponsors, there are only three Republicans. Senate sponsor Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has 40 co-sponsors, all Democrats. 

Full Story