I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The government workers’ union is asking Governor Bill Richardson to veto the part of the recently passed budget bill that requires him to cut state agency budgets by 7.6 percent. ”Additional cuts of nearly 8 percent, which is closer to…
Albuquerque’s public financing system is set up so that if outside groups spend a certain amount of money on behalf of a candidate — by sending campaign mail, for example — then the other candidates will receive matching funds in the same amount. But if that mail is sent from an organization only to its members, that expenditure can’t be tracked, and therefore can’t trigger matching funds. It’s a loophole in the law that can likely never be closed because of strong First Amendment protection of free speech, experts say.
A group of City of Albuquerque blue collar works gathered on Civic Plaza mid-afternoon last Friday to give a symbolic endorsement to mayoral candidate Richard Romero.
Although Local 624 comprises the biggest subset of City workers, it is just one…
Some rank and file members of Local 624 may want to endorse Richard Romero for mayor, but AFSCME leaders say the union’s endorsement of incumbent mayor Martin Chavez is solid.
The endorsement of incumbent mayor Martin Chavez by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal employees is seen as a major coup by Chavez. The endorsement was the first for Chavez by AFSCME, which has several union locals that represent various groups of City of Albuquerque workers.
Today, Local 624–which represents the City of Albuquerque’s blue collar workers–will break with that endorsement and give a nod to the candidacy of former State Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero.
The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate Nash reported today that American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 18 is seeking back pay for nearly 10,000 state workers.
A local libertarian, via Twitter, seemed to be advocate violence against “ACORN/SEIU” if they decide to attend and/or disrupt health care town hall meetings. The user, @ScottEO, accuses ACORN and SEIU members of being provocateurs at the events.
The recent discord within AFSCME local 624 — which represents City of Albuquerque blue collar workers — over the endorsement of Marty Chavez for mayor has been, in the words of one political commenter, a rare glimpse of internal union conflict spilling over into public view.
Three incumbent Albuquerque city councilors won the endorsement of one of the city’s most influential public employees unions.
Here comes the judge. More accurately, here comes a judge.
The courts on Monday were asked to settle a question raised about one of the budget fixes the Legislature passed during this year’s 60-day legislative session.
Four of New Mexico’s public employee unions are suing the state to stop the enactment of a new law that decreases the state’s payment into public employee pension funds by 1.5 percent for two years.
The political action committee for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents some 3,500 city workers in Albuquerque, has endorsed Mayor Martin Chávez in his bid for re-election.
It’s the…
The day after the Proposition 8 ruling upholding the ban on gay marriage in California, Gallup released a a poll about how Americans view gay rights and the Los Angeles Times unveiled an interactive timeline of gay rights in America.
Since the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion, a person in the United States is of course free to refuse medical treatment and die of a curable disease if he or she so chooses. But when parents make such a choice on behalf of a minor child the issue is far less clear-cut.
The first candidate forum of the campaign for Albuquerque mayor was hosted tonight by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Hopefuls Richard Romero and Rudy Serrano both expressed support for unions and answered questions about labor issues. Click the headline to read the transcript.
The first candidate forum of the campaign for Albuquerque mayor will be hosted tonight by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Although the public employee union forum is open only to union members and their…
The first candidate forum, sponsored by AFSCME Council 18, in the Albuquerque mayoral race comes early — on April 29th, the same day we find out who officially qualifies for the ballot. The state’s largest public employees union typically…
Several groups have sent a letter to Albuquerque’s Charter Review Task Force to protest a proposed amendment that they say would “limit the free speech of nonprofit organizations operating in Albuquerque.”
The one-page letter, which was made public Wednesday,…
Obama has selected U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., for his labor secretary. Solis is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico and Nicaragua. Her father was a union shop steward, and her mother was an assembly line worker.
Solis…
“It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when.” These are the words President-elect Barack Obama used in March 2007 about organized labor’s top priority for the next administration: the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it much easier for workers to organize and gain first-time contracts with their employers.
