Labor

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A demonstrator holds up a portrait to make fun of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, now-defeated French President Nicolas Sarkozy (center) and Spanish Employers Organization President Juan Rosell during a May Day protest Tuesday in Pamplona against the Spanish government's tough new labor reforms and cutbacks. (Associated Press)

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Thousands protest labor reform at Puerta del Sol square in Madrid during a general strike day in March. Spanish unions, angry over economic reforms, called the strike to challenge a conservative government that was not yet 100 days old. The action coincided with other troubled European workers in venting their frustration on the street. (Associated Press)

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Kentucky Derby entrant Union Rags during his bath after a morning workout at Churchill Downs Friday, May 4, 2012, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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Workers assemble Freightliner trucks at a plant in Cleveland, N.C., on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton

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A McDonald's restaurant in Chesterland, Ohio, advertises for workers on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

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Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has presented a budget to the City Council that would cut more than 2,500 of Detroit's 10,800 jobs and shave $250 million in annual expenses. The proposals have riled city workers, but they cannot legally strike. (Associated Press)

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D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson (left) and Michael A. Brown (center) listen to American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Executive Director Geo T. Johnson's pitch for compensation for furlough days for city employees. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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**FILE** Shoppers at a Best Buy in Victorville, Calif., leave the store March 30, 2012, as an employee walks a big-screen television to their car. (Associated Press/The Victor Valley Daily Press)

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A woman leaves a banner after an April 29, 2012, demonstration against education and health care spending cuts in Madrid. (Associated Press)

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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee John Kline, Minnesota Republican, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Texas Republican, speak about a student loans bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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American Airlines flight attendants protest at San Francisco International Airport on Monday. The airline wants to eliminate 13,000 union jobs, freeze or terminate pension plans, curb health benefits, reduce time off, and impose many other cuts. American lost more than $10 billion in the decade leading up to its declaration of bankruptcy in November. (Associated Press)