Civil Rights News: Courts Uphold Minimum Wage; Labor Union Opposes Secure Communities Program; MLK Day Rally Focuses on Voting Rights

Court won’t review ruling on tipped employees
Washington (AP)

The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Applebee’s International to dismiss workers’ complaints that they should earn minimum wage rather than factoring in tips as part of employees’ salaries to get up to minimum wage.

Struggle for Immigrants’ Rights Highlights Split Within Organized Labor
By Michelle Chen

Labor union AFL-CIO has spoken out against the Secure Communities program in defense of undocumented workers and their communities. The AFL-CIO stated that the program encourages racial profiling, and demanded that the White House “immediately terminate the operation of Secure Communities” and bar it from jurisdictions known to practice “discriminatory policing.”

SC rally marks MLK day with voting rights message
By Jeffrey Collins

NAACP’s annual rally held in South Carolina, for thirteen years has mostly been about the Confederate flag that waves outside the Statehouse; this year the rally’s focus was on the trend of voter suppression in the states, such as laws requiring voters to show photo identification before casting their ballots.

Compiled by Sandy Thomas, a Spring 2012 intern