And Now The Unions Are Angry At Obamacare: AFL-CIO To Press For Healthcare Law Changes

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-11/and-now-unions-are-angry-obamacare-afl-cio-press-healthcare-law-changes

All Eyes on South Africa

If I were to handicap the possibility of a labor strike amongst the labor unions working in South African gold mines next week, I'd place the odds at greater than 50%.  The wage concessions between management and the workers are too far apart to come to a quick resolution, after three months of negotiations.

Last year's negotiations were acrimonious and later turned deadly as police clashed with striking unions.  Prices for platinum and gold increased by double digits as the strikes stretched out.

While South Africa is no longer the dominant gold producer as it was several decades ago, they still are the world's fourth largest producer.  High-grade ore finds have dissipated, so mines have gone deeper--and working conditions have become more dangerous, partially fueling higher wage demands.

With rising global demand and decreased supply, the current supply shortage will become more acute if production from South Africa is removed.  Couple that with typical increased seasonal demand from religious holidays and wedding seasons, and we could see rising prices of precious metals amplified by supply disruptions.

http://www.sprottgroup.com/thoughts/articles/all-eyes-on-south-africa/

Twinkies, Ding Dongs Maker Hostess Liquidates Following Failure To Resolve Labor Union Animosity

Unions won the battle--and lost the war.  Next stop for 18,000 workers:  the unemployment line.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-16/twinkies-ding-dongs-maker-hostess-liquidates-following-failure-resolve-labor-union-a

Wisconsin Gov Puts National Guard On Alert After Implementing Emergency Budget Measures

Is this Greece?  Ireland? Egypt?  No, it is Madison, Wisconsin.  Expect to see  more of this domestically as "austerity" measures are implemented in an attempt to resolve budget deficits.

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/wisconsin-gov-puts-national-guard-on-alert-after-implementing-emergency-budget-measures_02172011


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AbeAcTiFFc&feature=player_embedded

Greek unions protest and strike

Citizens of indebted western, developed countries had better get used to this Greek example.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100224/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_greece_financial_crisis

Bloomberg reports the protests are becoming violent.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auLLhrWZiKi8&pos=8

California is sinking

California is sinking...but it's not into the Pacific Ocean. It is collapsing due to the collective weight of unfunded liabilities from public employee pension costs. Even the most liberal California politicians agree on this.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703699204575017182296077118.html

Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, a well-known liberal voice, recently wrote this in the San Francisco Chronicle: "The deal used to be that civil servants were paid less than private sector workers in exchange for an understanding that they had job security for life. But we politicians—pushed by our friends in labor—gradually expanded pay and benefits . . . while keeping the job protections and layering on incredibly generous retirement packages. . . . [A]t some point, someone is going to have to get honest about the fact."

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, another prominent liberal Democrat, told a legislative hearing in October that public employee pensions would "bankrupt" the state. And the chief actuary for the California Public Employees Retirement System has called the current pension situation "unsustainable."

Obama's latest backroom deal

For someone who pledged to not crater to special-interest groups, the Obama administration sure isn't doing a good job of concealing it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575004992410621692.html

Democrats seem impervious to embarrassment as they buy votes for ObamaCare, but their latest move makes even Nebraska's Ben Nelson look cheap: The 87% of Americans who don't belong to a union will now foot the bill for a $60 billion giveaway to those who do.

Emerging from their backrooms, Democrats have agreed to extend a special exemption from the Cadillac tax to any health plan that is part of a collective-bargaining agreement, plus state and local workers, many of whom are unionized. Everyone else with a higher-end plan will start to be taxed in 2013, but union members will get a free pass until 2018.

Ponder that one for a moment. Two workers who are identical in every respect—wages, job, health plan—will be treated differently by the tax system, based solely on union membership.