Free Republic

NEW YORK -- It’s been a central argument for the United Auto Workers union: If Detroit's three automakers raised CEO pay by 40% over the past four years, workers should get similar raises. UAW President Shawn Fain has repeatedly cited the figure, contrasting it with the 6% pay raises autoworkers have received since their last contract in 2019. He opened negotiations with a demand for a similar 40% wage increase over four years, along with the return of pensions and cost of living increases. The UAW has since lowered its demand to a 36% wage increase but the two sides...

I can not even begin to explain the complete outrage and livid anger towards the government I have now. I can not put it into words. The government (Biden and his minions in particular) flat out lies about inflation saying it is moderating, or, going down... blah, blah, blah and Physician's Mutual just raised my supplemental insurance rate by 9% and Mutual of Omaha just raised theirs nearly 18%!!! Everything I even look at in the store to buy is now outrageously priced and gasoline jumped up to $3.50 for regular around here and even more. The things we buy...

Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz (R) for his Senate seat, raised more than $6 million during the first two months of his campaign. Allred’s campaign told The Hill that it will report bringing in more than $8.6 million for its Federal Elections Commission (FEC) report for the second quarter, which ended last week, including almost $6.2 million raised since the campaign launched in early May.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) campaign announced on Thursday that she raised over $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2022, leaving her campaign with $5.2 million in cash-on-hand. Murkowski is among a handful of Republicans fighting for reelection against a Trump-backed primary challenger.

Failed Democrat presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke (D), who announced his bid for Texas governor in November, has raised $7.2 million since launching his campaign, he announced this week. According to O’Rourke’s team, “the 46-day fundraising haul is a record for a Democratic candidate in Texas,” the Hill reported, noting his haul stems from 115,600 contributions.

Cheney raises $1.7 million in third quarter © AFP/Pool Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) raised $1.7 million in the third quarter of 2021 as she faces off against a Trump-backed primary challenger in her reelection bid. The quarterly fundraising haul is the second largest she has ever raised for a three-month period, just shy of her personal $1.9 million record, which she achieved in the second quarter of 2021. Cheney’s campaign said she finished the quarter with nearly $3.7 million in the bank, having raised over $5 million in total this year.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) raised $17.8 million in donations throughout the month of March, a new record for the month in an off cycle. According to the RNC, the committee raised $44.4 million during the first quarter, months January through March

2019-2020 U.S. Flu Season: Preliminary Burden Estimates     CDC estimates* that, from October 1, 2019, through March 14, 2020, there have been: 38,000,000 – 54,000,000 flu illnesses 17,000,000 – 25,000,000 flu medical visits 390,000 – 710,000 flu hospitalizations 23,000 – 59,000 flu deaths *  

An anonymous Collins Hill High School teacher donated their performance-based bonus to 160 colleagues on Thursday, protesting the new compensation system.

The 24,000 public employees represented by the Service Employees International Union 503 reached an agreement on Wednesday to a new contract with raises up to 15 percent over the next two-year budget cycle. The deal includes larger cost of living adjustments then previous years, but some are concerned this raise in wages could, over time, weaken the controversial public pension (PERS) reforms Governor Kate Brown signed recently. The average “step increase” in wages (automatic raises applied after a certain length of time in the job) for public employees would be 4.7 percent. There are also no increases in health insurance...

Americans’ wages need to grow faster, says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Jobs “are not producing the wages that people need to meet their needs,” Pelosi said at a Washington Post event. She continued: And people still feel scarred by what happened in 2008 when their home [mortages] were underwater, their pensions were at risk, they were living off their savings, their children’s education [was] in doubt. So there’s still that concern and 40 percent of the American people — you’ve seen the figures over and over again – cannot withstand a $500 unforeseen cost — whether it is a [broken]...

Full title: 'Armageddon:' Major Companies Announce Hiring, Bonuses, Raises, and Charitable Donations Thanks to Tax Reform Nancy Pelosi is running out of hysterical pejoratives to hurl at the now-passed GOP tax reform bill, which will cut taxes for 80 percent of Americans. She's already called it "armageddon," and the "end of the world," adding " Frankenstein " to the list just today. Oh, and poor little "Tiny Tim!" These are patent absurdities. The bill is a mostly-good mixed bag that will make US companies more competitive and allow the overwhelming majority of taxpayers to keep more of the money they...

Thanks to Republicans passing historic tax reform, Fifth Third Bancorp announced it will “raise its minimum hourly wage for all employees to $15, and distribute one-time bonus of $1,000 to more than 13,500 employees.” BusinessWire reports: Fifth Third Bancorp announced plans today to raise its minimum hourly wage for all employees to $15, and distribute a one-time bonus of $1,000 for more than 13,500 employees. The actions are in appreciation for the commitment employees show in supporting customers and building stronger communities. […] Approximately 75 percent of employees will receive a pay increase or bonus. “We want to invest in our most...

Hoping to shed its reputation for offering little more than dead-end jobs, Wal-Mart, the nation’s biggest private employer, is giving raises to nearly a half-million workers and offering what it says are more opportunities for advancement. Wal-Mart told The Associated Press that as part of $1 billion its spending to change the way it trains and pays workers, the company will give raises to nearly 40 percent of its 1.3 million U.S. employees in the next six months. In addition to raises, Wal-Mart said it plans to make changes to how workers are scheduled and add training programs for sales...

Until very recently, Minnesota law capped the salary for commissioners of state departments at 85 or 95 percent of the governor’s salary. A law passed in 2013 changed that cap to 133 percent, and now Gov. Mark Dayton has used that change to raise the salaries of most of his cabinet. Overall, the higher salaries will cost taxpayers an additional $802,990 per year for the 27 affected positions. Dayton’s 2015 salary is $123,912, meaning the new maximum is $164,803. None of Dayton’s commissioners are earning that maximum, even after this year’s raises. The previous highest salary earned by a commissioner...

The Department of Defense was put in the awkward position of having to defend cuts to military pay raises and housing allowances as well as increasing health care fees just one day before a report saying the Pentagon spent $150 a gallon on green jet fuels. Defense officials spent $150 on jet fuel made from algae that is approved for civilian and military use, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office. […] HEFA, or Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids, comes from “renewable oil (e.g., vegetable oils, animal fat, waste grease, and algae oil) … processed using...

Metra union members in line for 20 percent pay hikes over 6 years By Richard Wronski, Chicago Tribune reporter 6:03 p.m. CDT, November 2, 2013 Members of one of Metra's biggest labor unions could get raises worth more than 20 percent over the next six years and a $3,000 "signing bonus", according to a proposed contract negotiated between the commuter rail agency and the union. The proposed pact, awaiting approval from about 337 clerical workers and ticket agents belonging to the Transportation Communications Union, was announced last week and comes as Metra continues to negotiate with 12 other unions, including...

Around the world, scientists are now beginning to examine samples of the virus with a significant question in mind: Could this strain of the disease cause a global pandemic? This international network of scientists keeps constant watch for good reason. In 1918 and 1919, a flu pandemic killed between 20 million and 40 million people, more than the total death toll of World War I, more in a year than the Black Death of 1347 to 1351. More recently, an H1N1 swine flu pandemic was blamed for more than 284,500 human deaths worldwide between April 2009 and August 2010. So...

CINCINNATI—Mitt Romney raised nearly $112 million for his presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee in the first half of October—putting him on pace for a potentially record-breaking fundraising month for his campaign. Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul announced the number in a message on Twitter. The total included cash raised between Oct. 1 and Oct. 17, according to the campaign. No further details were offered, such as the breakdown of how much money went to the Romney campaign versus the Romney Victory Fund, a joint committee formed between his campaign and the RNC. According to the campaign, the Romney effort...

Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs lashed out against Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday, saying it was a “remarkable turnaround” for the Republican presidential candidate to say he was passionate about America just a few years after he was talking about the possibility of Texas seceding from the U.S. The current White House spokesman, Jay Carney, also took issue with comments Perry made on Monday, warning that political candidates have to be careful about what they say.