Union News, or Don't Waste Time Mourning, Organize.

After the Common Retirement Fund, currently worth 146.5 billion, dipped to 110 billion in March 2009 and no deposits were made for years because the returns from stock market investments were sooo good, there's been an increase in employer's contribution to New York's pension fund. Now local governments will pay 18.9% of employee salary to the Retirement Fund for 2012-2013, an increase from 16.3%. They'll pay 25.8% of Police and Firefighter's salaries. Before it was 21.6%.

New York's Atlantic Beach lifeguards are fighting to have their lunch hour paid, also since they rarely take it off and eat their lunch on the stands. Mayor Stephen Mahler said the issue is not debatable due to its closeness to the end of the season, and the lack of numbers in beach goers, but next year there'll be talk of salary increases based on seniority and merit.

Labor groups will no longer contribute to the Democratic Party as a whole. They will endorse individual candidates.

New York City plans on firing about 800 nonteaching public school employees. Worse penalized are the non middle class neighborhoods Of Harlem, Washington Heights, Brooklyn's Brownville, East Flatbush and East New York.

Local 54 of Unite Here, or, 14,000 casino workers are planning on going on strike because employers want them to contribute more to their pension and health care funds.

A new biography on Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) organizer Joe Hill ( Joel Hagglund), written by William M. Adler has new evidence that Hill did not murder a grocer he was framed and sentenced to death for. From the New York Times article in today's paper, Examining a Labor Hero's Death, false witnesses were coached to claim Hill was on the site of the murder, and the grandson of the murdered grocer said:

"Joe Hill was the one who murdered our grandfather and destroyed the economy of our family."

About the Industrial Workers of the World, as an organization it was:

"Detested by business leaders because it pushed miners, lumberjacks and railway workers to use strikes, slowdowns and sabotage to pressure employers to improve pay and conditions."