NWI casinos drop in May

May revenues at Majestic Star's two casinos in Gary dropped a combined 6.4 percent from the previous year, according to the revenue report of the Indiana Gaming Commission.

East Chicago school paraprofessionals join union, draft first contract

EAST CHICAGO | A party spirit filled Club Ki-Yowga on Friday as more than 100 East Chicago public school paraprofessionals and their well-wishers celebrated new union membership and the draft of their first contract.

No union bust in region

Union membership in Northwest Indiana is holding steady despite membership rates at their lowest level in decades in the rest of the state and the country as a whole.

Schererville firefighters seek agreement

SCHERERVILLE | Schererville firefighters want to establish a working agreement with the town.

Region United, Nation Divided Civil War exhibit opens today in Hammond

HAMMOND | The century-and-a-half-old stories of Northwest Indiana's Civil War soldiers are getting new life in a Hammond exhibit opening today.

United Steelworkers Union, Jupiter Aluminum

United Steelworkers Local 2003 members rally Wednesday outside Jupiter Aluminum Corp. in Hammond. The steelworkers are in contract negotiations with the company.

Jupiter steelworkers rally for better contract

United Steelworkers Local 2003 members, from left, Eddie Medina, of Scehererville, Jake Cole, of Hobart, and Nick Young, of Knox, rally Wednesday outside Jupiter Aluminum Corp. in Hammond.

Union members help Lansing Scouts earn Electricity Merit Badge

Members of IBEW Local 697, based in Merrillville, taught Lansing Scouts the basics for their electricity merit badge. Pictured from left are instructor Matt Valant and Matt Bergin, In the front are Gabe Jacobson, David Naranjo, Chuck Murach, Tim Cybulski, Matt Williams, Josh Drosos, Tom McCl…

Union members help Lansing Scouts earn Electricity Merit Badge

Sam Renner, front, and David Naranjo in the lab building circuits for buzzers and lights. Troop 276 from Lansing visited the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers lab in Merrillville to get their electricity merit badge.

Union members help Lansing Scouts earn electricity merit badge

MERRILLVILLE | International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 697 members Joe Pfister, Matt Valant, Joe Dancho and Mike Larson hosted Lansing Scout Troop 276 at their apprentice training center to complete requirements of the Electricity Merit Badge.

Teamsters confront Thorn Creek Basin officials over labor dispute

CHICAGO HEIGHTS | Officials with the Teamsters union local that represents 13 employees of the Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District will meet Monday with Mayor David Gonzalez, who they perceive as a supporter of their ongoing labor dispute.

Harvest in Union Twp

Farmer Russell Harders of Harders Farm harvests soybeans from a field near Ind. 130 in 2011. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told The Times the continuing federal budget sequester could crimp Indiana's $3.4 billion agricultural export industry, especially soy and corn, as well as c…

Trustee's office serves Union Township

Kindergartener Mike Wheeler receives a gingerbread cookie from Cindy Bellovary, a Simatovich Elementary School media aide. Bellovary read Wheeler and his classmates the "Gingerbread Girl" in the school library.

House votes to shrink political power of teachers

INDIANAPOLIS | Schools would be barred from automatically deducting from paychecks the portion of teacher union dues used for political purposes under legislation approved Monday by the Indiana House.

Union workers at N. Indiana plant take package

GOSHEN, Ind. | Union workers at a northern Indiana trailer-hitch manufacturer have voted to accept a severance agreement worth more than $3.5 million and forgo arbitration.

Special ed teachers, union reach tentative agreement, strike avoided

LANSING | Officials from the Exceptional Children Have Opportunities Joint Agreement and the Illinois Education Association reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement this week, avoiding a strike by special education teachers previously slated for March 6. The agreement is pending t…

ECHO pickets school boards over contract dispute

LANSING | Special education teachers are picketing outside local school board meetings after a stall in contract negotiations with the Illinois Education Association.

Longtime USW Local 1014 official dies

Former United Steelworkers Local 1014 official and United States Steel Corp. retiree John Fritz died Tuesday after spending more than 60 years in various roles with the union and company.

GOP senators seek constitutional amendment on union elections

INDIANAPOLIS | Having prevailed last year in putting right-to-work into state law, some Republican senators now want to amend the Indiana Constitution to make it even more difficult for labor unions to organize.