SEPTEMBER 02
Labor Day
Continuing a decades-long fall, the proportion of American workers who belong to a union dropped to 11.3 percent in 2012. African American men have the highest rate of union membership at 14.8 percent, while Asian men have the lowest at 8.9 percent.
SEPTEMBER 09
Phone-Hacking Trial
The trial of former News Corp. CEO Rebekah Brooks begins. According to a YouGov poll, 54 percent of Americans think it’s “probably” or “definitely” common for journalists to illegally access voice-mail messages.
Rebekah Brooks. (PHOTO: PUBLIC DOMAIN)
SEPTEMBER 21
Oktoberfest Begins
Last year at Munich’s most famous event, brawling attendees used heavy beer glasses as weapons 66 times, up from 55 in 2011.
OCTOBER 01
Launch of Obamacare’s State Health Insurance Exchanges
According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 57 percent of Americans still say they don’t understand how the Affordable Care Act will affect them.
OCTOBER 16
Special Election for New Jersey Senate Seat
If front-runner Cory Booker wins, he will return the total number of African Americans in the U.S. Senate to its historic record of two.
OCTOBER 31
Halloween
Chocolate and candy manufacturing employs more than 52,000 Americans.
