From Hollywood picket lines in Los Angeles to nonunion construction sites in Chicago and New York, a 20-foot inflatable rat has become one of the most recognized symbols of the labor movement. MORE

NASHVILLE, TN -- It’s been months since school board members first began discussing whether to voluntarily adopt all or part of a new Metro ordinance designed to give minority- and women-owned businesses an equal opportunity to secure public contracts.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- It is difficult to imagine a tougher place to undertake a major redevelopment than the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard here...

BIRMINGHAM, AL -- An immigration lawyer told Birmingham businesses they must take seriously "no match" letters regarding employees the federal government believes may be working illegally in the U.S.

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- A new report says the county school system didn't award enough contracts to minority and small businesses last year to meet its own goals.

Just 12.3 percent of construction subcontracts went to minority and small businesses in 2007, which falls short of the system's goal of 25 percent.

DETROIT, MI -- Criminal investigators with the U.S. Department of Transportation are looking into potential irregularities involving subcontractors on a $44-million runway restoration project at Detroit Metro Airport, the Free Press has learned...

ALBANY, NY -— A new measure that was supposed to reform an expensive, union-backed law for public works projects was crafted in a way that now appears will block hundreds of non-union companies from bidding on government projects, critics say.

TINTON FALLS, NJ -- ...Procurement requirements often appear to be challenges rather than goals, particularly when contracts are awarded to the same few small or minority businesses time and again. But this doesn’t help the greater business community, because it perpetuates a dependence on a few players—it doesn’t build a broad range of potential resource partners.

MACON, GA -- The Tubman African American Museum is becoming a "destination point," museum officials said, even as it faces significant challenges to fulfill the nearly $9.5 million fundraising goal to open its long-delayed location on Cherry Street.

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- Governor Martin O'Malley on Thursday signed legislation to extend encouragement of the inclusion of small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses to a significant group of construction projects that are funded by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).