This is a quick update on the unemployment that the conservatives in the Senate were pushing to screw newspaper delivery drivers.

The bill came on the floor Tuesday and the first move was a proposal to amend the amendment to do something that would directly help newspaper publishers without hurting the workers. Democratic Senator Mark MacDonald proposed an amendment that would protect the newspapers by not charging their experience rating for claims made by delivery drivers. The experience rating is based on how many claims are paid on account of a particular employer's workers, and it can raise the tax rate the employer pays. Thus, by insulating the newspapers from taking an experience rating hit the amendment protected them against their claim that unemployment payments would put them under.

That amendment failed, and that brought back the original amendment. Even though, as I pointed out Monday, the Democrats and Progressives have an overwhelming majority in the Senate, the Republicans and enough Democrats voted with the bosses to support the amendment.

The honor roll of senators who supported the workers in this fight is:

 Ashe, Baruth, Cummings, Fox, Lyons, MacDonald, McCormack, Pollina, White, Zuckerman.

And the anti-worker caucus:

 Ayer, Benning, Campbell, Collins, Doyle, Flory, French, Galbraith, Hartwell, Kitchel, Mazza, Mullin, Nitka, Rodgers, Sears, Snelling, Starr, Westman. (Bold for the Democrats who voted to exclude newspaper delivery drivers from unemployment.)

Kind of makes you wonder what a majority's for, doesn't it?