This is a cross-post from the Georgia AFL-CIO.

Attempting to capture the excitement of union members leading up to the runoff election in Georgia, Jimmy Hyde, Georgia AFL-CIO state director, spoke about the enthusiasm he sees on a daily basis while working on the campaign. Hyde describes what he sees as opportunities the labor movement has to enact real change.

The labor movement is coming together in a way I never saw before. I have a long history of working on political campaigns in Georgia, but never saw the kind of enthusiasm that our members now have about doing our program....Union members are excited about sending out local union mail, phone banking and handing out worksite leaflets, and that is why we are going to win on December 2nd.

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by James Parks, Nov 19, 2008

The smoke from the fires raging in Southern California was so thick it nearly blocked out the sun at 2 p.m. last Saturday in Orange County.

The AFL-CIO’s Community Services Network is joining with its partners at United Way in Southern California to help survivors of the devastating wildfires in that area. So far, the fires have destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and apartments and burned 42,000 acres, or 65 square miles, forcing mass evacuations.

The United Way recently launched the Southern California Fire Fund to help support agencies provide services in the areas destroyed by the fires and develop strategies to address the long-term needs of the communities affected.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, a member of United Way’s national board, says:

Union members respond when their neighbors are in need. Not only are we there as first responders, but we help restore communities through our generosity and hard work. That’s why we support the United Way’s Southern California Fire Fund—it’s a step towards helping rebuild neighborhoods that were devastated by the recent wildfires.

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by Mike Hall, Nov 19, 2008

Health Care for America Now! (HCAN) is airing a new TV ad to promote President-elect Barack Obama's commitment to reforming the nation's health care system as a key element in turning around the nation's economy.

The ad is being aired in the Washington, D.C., area. It reminds the representatives and senators in the nation's capital for the lame duck session—and those who will return for the 111th Congress, where the health care debate will unfold next year—that Obama has made health care reform a top issue on his agenda. Says HCAN's Richard Kirsch:

We know there will be tremendous opposition to real reform—both from industries that benefit from the status quo and from members of Congress who are not used to taking the bold steps we need to create a new economy that works for American families and businesses.

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by Mike Hall, Nov 19, 2008

Members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) joined several thousand LGBT, civil rights, labor, community and religious activists in San Francisco in recent days in a demonstration calling for marriage equality.

Along with the San Francisco rally, tens of thousands of people took part in rallies backing equal marriage rights for all and protesting the Nov. 4 passage of Prop. 8 in California, which bans lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples from the right to marry.

According to the Los Angeles Times, civil rights groups, religious organizations and local governments have filed six lawsuits asking the California Supreme Court to declare the measure an illegal constitutional revision.

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by Tula Connell, Nov 19, 2008

Our own Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO associate general counsel, is one of three members appointed to the Congressional Oversight Panel, an entity mandated by Congress as part of the initial Wall Street bailout bill passed in October. The panel is charged with reporting on the Treasury Department's effort to stabilize our nation's financial system and make recommendations to improve it.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) appointed Silvers, along with Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, best known for her work on bankruptcy issues, and New York Superintendent of Banks, Richard Neiman. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have not yet made their two appointments to the panel.

The panel must report to Congress every 30 days and issue final recommendations by Jan. 20, 2009 (otherwise known as the day President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated).

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by Seth Michaels, Nov 19, 2008

U.S. Sen.-elect Mark Begich

Big news out of Alaska last night: As the final votes were counted, Mark Begich took the lead over incumbent Sen. Ted Stevens, and Begich will be headed to the U.S. Senate for the next six years, joining a strong pro-worker majority.

As of the latest totals, Begich has defeated Stevens—who has held the seat since 1968—by 3,724 votes, just over 1 percent of the votes cast. With the margin this close and some absentee ballots left to be counted, a recount is still possible.

Union volunteers worked hard to elect Begich through door-to-door walks, phone banks, worksite visits and local union mail, and clearly, every vote mattered in this tight race. Just before Election Day, Begich spoke to Labor 2008 volunteers about the stakes in the race and the importance of getting out the vote.

We are not leaving anything to chance, no matter what the circumstances that are out there. We are not going to take anything for granted. We are going to work double time. And you folks have been unbelievable, what the labor movement has done….I see it everywhere I go. It’s a fantastic support base out there. You folks are going to make the difference.

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by James Parks, Nov 19, 2008

If you’re in Washington, D.C., in the next four months, make sure to stop by the AFL-CIO to view a dynamic and rich art exhibit by Chicana artists. The exhibition includes more than 30 prints, paintings, posters and photographs by women who reflect on the experiences and struggles of Mexican Americans.

In the late 1960s, inspired by the civil rights and labor movements, Mexican Americans coined the name Chicano/Chicana to describe an individual's self-identification with a rich, complex fusion ancestry and culture. The name expresses pride in the culture of the indigenous, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo people of Mexico and denotes support for struggles against discrimination, brutality and poverty.

The Chicano/Chicana movement spawned a dynamic and creative arts community that includes many of the most prominent artists in the nation. Some of their work will be on display at the AFL-CIO in Chicana Art and Experience: Mujeres con Garbo (Women with Attitude).

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by Mike Hall, Nov 18, 2008

Testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this afternoon, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger didn't mince words about the auto industry's need for Congress to approve a bridge loan.

The situation, said Gettelfinger,

is critical. It is a crisis....If the Detroit–based auto companies are forced into liquidation, the consequences would be truly devastating, not only for UAW members, but also for millions of other workers and retirees across this nation, and for the entire economy of the United States.

Gettelfinger and the three top executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler called on the committee and Congress to approve a $25 billion emergency bridge loan to help automakers weather the current credit and economic crisis that has driven car and truck sales to the lowest level in 25 years.

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by Seth Michaels, Nov 18, 2008

Tragedy struck a Georgia factory in February when combustible dust caught fire and exploded at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, killing 14 workers and injuring many more.

Now, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), an opponent of working families who's in a tough runoff to defend his Senate seat, is facing questions about whether he improperly aided Imperial in its efforts to avoid the consequences of its negligence.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) hit the company with $5 million in fines for "willful and egregious safety violations" over the blast. And a Senate subcommittee held a hearing in July, finding that Imperial had no plan to deal with the dangerous combustible dust and ignored warnings about plant safety.

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by Mike Hall, Nov 18, 2008

Big-box retail chains like Wal-Mart are skimming some $1 billion a year in local and state tax revenues and pocketing the cash, according to a new report by the non-profit research center Good Jobs First.

Skimming the Sales Tax: How Wal-Mart and other Big Retailers (Legally) Keep a Cut of the Taxes We Pay on Everyday Purchases says the biggest losses to local and state tax coffers come from programs—known by names such as “vendor discount” or “collection allowance”—that pay retailers for collecting sales tax on behalf of governments.

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