WASHINGTON—Unionists and other activists “must not be afraid to be bold” to attack U.S. income inequity and “the plutocracy” that once again imposes its will on the country, a noted analyst of income inequity says.

MIAMI —Over the objections of its own Bureau of Prisons, the federal Justice Department agreed that female federal prison corrections officers, employed at the Coleman complex near Orlando, Fla., suffered sexual harassment as a class – and they can file a formal complaint and later can sue the bureau for doing nothing about it.

WASHINGTON—The multi-union coalition, led by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, that opposed the Transportation Security Administration’s knives-on-planes scheme cheered on June 6 as TSA Chief John Pistole permanently dropped it.

WASHINGTON—The recent fatal collapse of the Rana Plaza clothing factory in Bangladesh, which killed 1,129 workers forced inside to toil making clothes for firms that sold to U.S. and European retailers, has forced the Obama administration to decide by the end of this month whether to yank trade preferences for Bangladesh.

WASHINGTON—By a 231-192 tally, yet another House Republican move to trash workers’ rights and incomes – by repealing the Davis-Bacon Act’s requirement that firms constructing federal projects pay locally prevailing wages – lost on June 4.

HARTFORD, Conn.—Thousands of Connecticut state workers and their union coalition racked up a big win in federal appeals court on May 31 against their firing a decade ago by former GOP Gov. John Rowland, who later was jailed for fraud.

CHICAGO—The longest U.S. hotel strike ever, by all 130 workers at Chicago’s Congress Hotel, ended May 29, just short of its 10th anniversary. Unite Here Local 1 announced it made an unconditional offer to return to work. The local added it would seek other hotels to organize – and other employers for the Congress workers.

ALBANY, N.Y.—Thousands of New York unionized teachers and their supporters descended on the state capital in Albany on June 8 for a mass march against overrelying on standardized tests to measure schools’ success – the so-called “teach to the test” pressure – and to demand more investment in public schools.

WARREN, Mich.–More than the climate is changing. On May 30, a packed town hall meeting on climate change and infrastructure needs at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall in Warren, Mich. Showed growing concern and unity between labor and the environmental movement.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. unemployment rate rose by 0.1% in May to 7.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. A separate survey showed businesses claimed to create a net of 175,000 new jobs last month.