A labor agreement for Philadelphia transit workers has been ratified overwhelmingly by union members. Transport Workers Union Local 234 spokesman Bob Wolper said Friday night that 2,806 members voted to ratify the pact. Another 242 voted against it. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority buses, subways and trolleys began running ...

Southwest Airlines says it has a tentative three-year contract agreement with the Transport Workers Union. The Dallas-based discount carrier announced the tentative deal Friday night. The agreement with workers in ramp operations and provisioning, plus freight agents, will be submitted to union members for approval. TWU Local 555 represents ...

A visit to the Merrill Lynch boardroom before the collapse. [City Room] Ray’s Candy chops the price of ice cream and fries down to a buck. Avenue A punks and their dogs rejoice. [NMNL via Curbed] Retail brokers predict big rise in vacancy rates during the first quarter of 2009. [TRD] Fight over the Queens racino. [City Room] The ...

Here’s a flavor of the labor-management tensions at the Rio, where dealers will vote Saturday on whether to organize: ---- A Wynn Las Vegas dealer playing in the World Series of Poker this week at the Rio says she and a group of friends were asked by casino security to remove their union-branded T-shirts or leave the property. ---- Josephine Tang ...