WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as hospitals increasingly require employees to get flu shots, with some losing their jobs if they refusal.

The Michigan Legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a bitterly contested right-to-work plan limiting the power of unions, a devastating and once unthinkable defeat for organized labor in a state considered a cradle of the movement.

Protesters want the nation’s largest retailer to offer more dependable schedules, better health care and higher wages to employees.

WBEZ blogger John Schmidt taught in the Chicago Public Schools for 31 years and walked the picket lines in at least five strikes. 

The Chicago Bears will see some unfamiliar faces on the field when the season starts Sunday September 9th. That's becasue the labor strife between the National Football League and its referees will continue into the regular season.

Hundreds of Chicago Teachers Union delegates met Wednesday evening for an update on contract negotiations. And in a largely symbolic show of support for the union, they voted to give their president a power she already had: the ability to issue a ten-day strike notice at her discretion.