Labor Updates (10/25/07)

House Opens Inquiry Into Investor-Owned Nursing Homes: Representatives John Dingell (D-MI) and Barney Frank (D-MA) announced Tuesday that they would investigate the effects of private equity investments in nursing homes on care, staffing, and conditions at facilities around the country, reports Charles Duhigg in Wednesday’s New York Times. The announcement came a day after a second major worker rally – that included Maryland healthcare union activists – outside the headquarters of the Carlyle Group in Washington DC, whose $6.3 billion takeover of HCR Manor Care was one of the catalysts for the House inquiry. NYC Child Care Workers Vote to Unionize: Over 28,000 child care workers in New York City won a major organizing victory Tuesday, voting to join the United Federation of Teachers, reports James Parks on the AFL-CIO Now Blog website. The organizing drive – similar to the recent victory of child care workers in Maryland – came after an executive order issued by New York Governor Mark Spitzer and “is the largest successful organizing drive in New York City in nearly 50 years,” reports Parks.