World Backup Day: Now’s the Time to Fortify Your Digital Existence

If you haven’t backed up your digital data yet, you are a fool. No offense. Seriously, though, it is so, so, so easy to lose everything. And guess what: A lot of people who want you to buy stuff have made up a holiday around the concept. Think Valentine’s Day, only this time it’s a good idea. Happy World Backup Day, everyone! Marketing scam or no, we urge you to celebrate.

Backing up your data isn’t just practical — say, if you want to transfer everything from your current computer to a new one — it’s an incredibly important safeguard against total digital loss. Whether you get hacked, your hard drive crashes, or you accidentally spill a cup of coffee across your keyboard, you’ll want to make sure that a copy of your collection of Skrillex albums and selfies are safely stored elsewhere for retrieval.

Here are some ways to back up your computer and prevent digital loss. Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list, so go ahead and hit us in the comments with your best techniques.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/03/how-to-backup-your-data/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Top+Stories%29

March 31 is Oranges and Lemons Day

March 31,1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned.

USS Missouri (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo&quot is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the US state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States and was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II.

Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, and she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. She was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet&quot , but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991.

Missouri received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, and was finally decommissioned on 31 March 1992, but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Missouri_(BB-63)

UAW Membership Rises to Highest Level Since 2008

The United Auto Workers membership rose 0.5 percent to 382,513 last year, the union’s highest since 2008 and the third consecutive gain, as U.S. automakers added employees amid rising sales.

The UAW disclosed the 2012 figure, the largest for the union since its membership totaled 431,037 in 2008, in an e- mailed statement yesterday that cited a union filing with the U.S. Labor Department. The union added 1,794 members from 380,719 in 2011.

General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Chrysler Group LLC gained sales in the U.S. last year when combined they earned $13.5 billion. While the UAW’s 2012 gain followed a 1.1 percent increase in 2011, the UAW’s total membership is still only about one-fourth its size in 1979, when it peaked at 1.5 million members.

“This is the third straight year of membership growth, which is a very positive sign for the union,” said Kristin Dziczek, director of the labor and industry group for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “They seem to have turned the corner after the previous five straight years of significant declines. It’s a tough battle to get back to where they once were, though.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/uaw-membership-rises-to-highest-level-since-2008.html

USW Members at Firestone Polymers in Orange, Texas, Return to Work Monday

Orange, Texas—United Steelworkers (USW) members from Local 13-836 are returning to work Monday, April 1 after Firestone Polymers accepted this afternoon their March 25 unconditional offer to return to work.

Negotiations will continue and Local 13-836 members will work under a contract extension of their 2008 agreement. The company or the union would have to give a written 7-day notice to terminate the extension agreement before any lockout or strike.

“We are confident we will be successful in obtaining a fair agreement that will benefit both our members and the company,” said USW Sub-District 1 Director Ben Lilienfeld, who is leading the union’s negotiating team. “Both sides’ have plenty of room to move in their proposals to address the workers’ health care and wage concerns.”

Local 13-836 members went on strike against Firestone Polymers on March 18 over health care proposals and wages they felt would not benefit them or their families. They also opposed the company’s desire that they give up their right to bargain over health care issues in the future.

http://www.usw.org/media_center/releases_advisories?id=0683

Caterpillar to Lay Off Employees in Milwaukee

Caterpillar Inc. will lay off up to 300 employees at its Milwaukee-area factories before June and says it will reduce labor costs at its other U.S. plants as sales of mining and construction equipment have slowed.

The local layoffs, described by the company as short-term and temporary, will include up to 40% of the blue collar workforce at the South Milwaukee and Milwaukee plants that build some of the world's biggest mining machines.

How long people are out of work will depend on the company's business outlook, according to Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar. Locally, it also could depend on contract negotiations with the United Steelworkers union that begin next week.

The timing of the layoff announcement is scary, said Ross Winklbaur, a Steelworkers subdistrict director.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/3/29/caterpillar_to_lay_off_employees_in.htm

Ambulance personnel vote for union

Cameron County (PA) Ambulance Service personnel voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to become members of a labor union. Vote on affifiliation with the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics (IAEP) was 8-1 with two abstentions. Employees contacted IAEP in late February after the ambulance service entered into an agreement with St. Marys Ambulance Association to share resources.

http://www.endeavornews.com/news/2013-03-30/News/Ambulance_personnel_vote_for_union.html

Anchorage Unions Say Labor Law Ordinance Could Stoke Election Turnout

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — On April 2, Anchorage voters will have a chance to make their opinions count at the polls. They'll be able to elect six Assembly members and two School Board members. They'll also make a decision on four bond propositions, two charter amendments and an exchange of municipal parkland. The vote will take place in the wake of the Assembly's passage last Tuesday of Ordinance 37, the new city law that re-structures labor contracts. Gerard Asselin, the treasurer of the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association, says local unions anticipate higher turnout, after some say the Assembly cut off public testimony before its 6-5 vote on Ordinance 37.

http://articles.ktuu.com/2013-03-28/dick-traini_38107523

Grocery Unions At Stop & Shop Take Obamacare’s Leap of Faith

Some 40,000 workers at more than 250 New England supermarkets approved new collective bargaining agreements this month in an uneasy embrace by their union of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, also known as Obamacare.

The contracts between the regional Stop & Shop grocery chain and five separate locals of the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) union were ratified in rank-and-file votes held March 10—but only after tortured contract talks that centered on the impact of Obamacare on low-income shelf stockers, check-out clerks and other part-time workers, UFCW leaders say.

In the end, despite what the union sees as favorable provisions on wages and most other issues, the new contracts will eliminate existing health insurance coverage for thousands of Stop & Shop part-timers.

When the union enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama’s health insurance reform proposals back in 2009-2010, “this is not what we bargained for," says Don Clifford, president of UFCW Local 1459 in Springfield, Mass.

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14793/grocery_unions_at_stop_shop_take_obamacares_leap_of_faith/

Panera pay-what-you-want chili introduced in St. Louis stores

Panera is mostly known for its bread bowls, but the café chain is making another name for itself in the arena of hunger awareness.

On Wednesday, the St. Louis-based company introduced a ‘pay-what-you-want’ turkey chili entree on its menus in the 48 locations in its hometown, where it operates as “St. Louis Bread Co.”

Dubbed “The Meal of Shared Responsibility,” the chili comes in a bread bowl and is served with chips, a baguette, or an apple on the side. Suggested retail price is $5.98, but customers can pay more, or less, or even nothing. The idea, as with other pay-what-you-can models, is that those ponying up more cash will pick up the tab for those who can’t afford to pay full price, or anything.

The launch puts a corporate face on the idea of community cafés and the gift economy, which heretofore has been the domain of smaller, locally run organizations.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2013/0327/Panera-pay-what-you-want-chili-introduced-in-St.-Louis-stores?nav=91-csm_category-topStories