The Indianapolis Newspaper Guild, representing 120 editorial and building services employees at The Indianapolis Star, has launched a very public labor battle against McLean, Va.-based Gannett Co. Inc., criticizing the corporation's management of the newspaper. The Guild this week began its offensive with a new website and radio ads. It plans within three weeks to launch ads on billboards and buses, and to hand out leaflets at Indianapolis Colts games and other events.

The job market is even worse than the 9.1 percent unemployment rate suggests. America's 14 million unemployed aren't competing just with each other. They must also contend with 8.8 million other people not counted as unemployed -- part-timers who want full-time work. And the unemployed will face another source of competition once the economy improves: Roughly 2.6 million people who aren't counted as unemployed because they've stopped looking for work.

In the early days of the Obama administration, organized labor had grand visions of pushing through a sweeping agenda that would help boost sagging membership and help revive union strength. Now labor faces this reality: Public employee unions are in a drawn-out fight for their very survival in states where GOP lawmakers have curbed collective bargaining rights. And many union leaders are grousing that the president they worked so hard to elect has not focused enough on job creation.