An Economic Policy Institute report issued in December estimated that Walmart’s importation of Chinese-made goods has cost the US 400,000 jobs since 2001. It’s $49 billion a year in imports also accounts for about 15% of the $324 billion US trade deficit with China, which has more than quadrupled since 2001.

After decades of allowing inflation to undermine minimum wage, Alberta’s government is taking steps towards instituting a $15 minimum wage. With one of the highest consumer price indexes in Canada, according to Statistics Canada, for full-time workers in one of Alberta’s larger cities a living wage is about $17 per hour.

A collaborative project with the Woody Guthrie Center and the Woody Guthrie Archives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will have students and faculty from Loyola University New Orleans transcribing a collection of Woody Guthrie interviews that are currently only available in audio format. Student workers will use state-of-the-art transcription software under the direction of Loyola New Orleans’ Department of History, as well as the Documentary and Oral History Studio, and Professors Patricia Carlin O’Keefe, Mark Fernandez, and Justin A. Nystrom.

The recordings include tape-recorded interviews from the 1970s by journalist Joe Klein, author of Woody Guthrie: A Life. “The transcriptions of these historical recordings will benefit researchers immensely and provide a wealth of information about Woody’s life and legacy to all our guests,” says Deana McCloud, executive director of the Woody Guthrie Center.

Despite its wholesome image, workers at Whole Foods have been trying to unionize since 2014, while they face continued wage cuts and layoffs. Now those workers have won a small victory. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the grocer must drop its policy that forbids employees from recording workplace conversations in order to document mistreatment.

The NLRB ruled that “smartphone pics and videos in this day and age are particularly ‘essential’ to proving an employee’s rights have been violated,” according to Grub Street.

John Mackey, co-CEO of the company says the overpriced grocery chain isn’t anti-union as much as it is “beyond unions.” The NRLB disagrees and has sided with the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago.

On January 7, Local 257 (Nashville, TN) member Meghan Trainor won the People’s Choice “Favorite Album” Award for her debut album, Title. The album has reached platinum status, while the singer has been nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Artist category. Her song “All About that Bass” spent eight weeks in the top spot of Billboard’s Hot 100 during 2015. The song has also received the 2015 ASCAP Pop Music Award for “Most Performed Song.” In addition, she received three American Music Awards nominations and three Teen Choice Awards nominations.

On January 11 more than 60 Detroit city schools were closed when teachers staged sickouts to protest “third world” conditions at some schools. The Detroit Federation of Teachers, which did not organize the sickouts, says teachers in some schools complain of black mold, rodents, overcrowded classes, and a lack of supplies. The schools have been under state-imposed emergency financial management for six years. Teachers say they are trying to draw attention to the school conditions for the sake of the children.

Employees at Guitar Center retail stores have been told that they must sign a mandatory arbitration agreement in order to keep their jobs. Under the agreement the employees lose their right to sue the company in class action lawsuits in disputes over wage violations, workplace discrimination, unjust firings, and other issues. The use of arbitrators, that are often cozy with the hiring company, weakens worker power and preempts possible collective action. Nowadays, such clauses are often tucked into company “welcome” packets for new hires to unwittingly sign.

In 2013, the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) won elections in three Guitar Center stores, but there is still no contract at any of them. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel has accused the company of refusing to bargain in good faith. NLRB has declared that agreements similar to the arbitration papers Guitar Center employees are being asked to sign, illegally infringe on a worker’s right to “protected concerted activity” with colleagues.

“We’re analyzing the agreement in light of the labor board’s recent cases. We’re considering filing a new charge and pursuing a new round of action,” attorney Liz Vladeck who represents RWDSU told The Huffington Post.

In January, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called out Donald Trump for dividing working people along racial and religious lines, and urged workers not to follow his divisive tactics. Examples include Trump’s talk of building a wall and deporting immigrant families. He’s also said that wages are too high already and that it’s okay to treat people differently based on their religion or beat up protesters at his rallies.

“I’ve been around a while and I’ve heard that kind of thing before,” says Trumka, “politicians trying to divide working people—talking about ‘us’ and ‘them.’ And here’s what I’ve learned: every time we listen to that kind of talk—in a coal mine, office, factory, or voting booth—we end up weaker and poorer.”

Brendan Ryan had no idea that when he visited a Greenwich home as an appraiser that he would make the discovery of a lifetime. The musician, who was long obsessed with Beethoven, recognized the German writing on the manuscript.

He called his musical mentor Carmelo Comberiati, a professor at Manhattanville College who had studied Beethoven manuscripts in Vienna. Comberiati determined that the work, written in 1810, came from a sketchbook the composer used for brainstorming. After Beethoven’s death it was broken up and sold in portions to admirers. The yellowed sheet music protected under glass sold for $100,000 at auction.

In December, US and Canadian producers reached an agreement with ACTRA, Canada’s performers union, to renew their Independent Production Agreement (IPA) for the next three years.

Under the new agreement, overwhelmingly ratified by ACTRA members, Canadian actors will receive an annual 2% wage hike every year. They will also receive increased background work opportunities and increased pay for acting in new media productions. The IPA does not cover work in British Columbia where US producers shoot under a separate labor agreement negotiated with the ACTRA affiliate, UBCP/ACTRA.