Seven Colombian trade union leaders traveled to the United States to lobby Congress to oppose the agreement. They say despite claims by the Bush administration and Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe that progress has been made in stemming the violence against union members, the reality is that violence has increased against labor leaders in Colombia.

Intensive care nurse Geri Jenkins says that a 67-year-old male patient with a history of four heart attacks, a quadruple bypass and an implanted defibrillator and about to take a high stress job "would be uninsurable for having a pre-existing condition."

Unless, of course, he was Dick Cheney and about to become the vice president of the United States in 2001. Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association/ National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), says Cheney

can have the choice of doctors. He can go to any hospital. He can have excellent standard of care. And he's alive today because of it. And there are a lot of people who aren't….We, as the public, pay for Dick Cheney's care. Why not—why is the government not providing the same type of care to all Americans?

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO is proud to announce the victories of four union members who were elected to public office yesterday, bringing the total number of rank-and-file union members elected to public office in New Jersey to 499 since 1997.

For the fourth time this year, an AFL-CIO-endorsed candidate has won a special congressional election. Last night, Travis Childers won a striking (54 percent to 48 percent) victory in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District (CD), by emphasizing the issues that matter most to working families.

The Mississippi AFL-CIO endorsed Childers, a Democrat, for the seat left open by the appointment of Republican Rep. Roger Wicker to the Senate. Childers pledged in his campaign to support affordable health care for working families and to fight bad trade deals that would cost Mississippi jobs. He also pledged to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Union, community, environmental and other activist members of the Protect Colorado's Future coalition also began collecting signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot, a measure to protect workers from being fired for no reason.

The corporate fraud measure would make CEOs and top execs personally liable if they commit fraud or condone it by not reporting it. It establishes both civil penalties and criminal—i.e., jail time.

Robert Masciola, deputy director of the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research, describes the current efforts of the Building Justice Campaign. The campaign, which seeks to raise standards in the residential construction sector, currently is focused on Pulte Homes and its Del Webb subsidiary to increase Pulte’s accountability for the actions of its subcontractors. Until Pulte does so, the campaign is cautioning union members and retirees before purchasing a Pulte or Del Webb home.

Arizona and Nevada are two of the fastest growing states in the country as retirees flock West for warm weather and lower taxes. The retiree housing boom has been profitable for Pulte Homes, which owns Del Webb, the biggest national builder of “active adult” (55 years and older) communities.

Around the country this Saturday, thousands of union members will get a visit from their fellow union members and have a chance to learn about the issues they care about in November’s elections.

The U.S. Senate today moved a step closer to approving legislation that would protect the collective bargaining rights of tens of thousands of firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other public safety officers.

By a 69–29 vote, the Senate killed a filibuster led by several extreme anti-worker Republican senators against the workers' rights bill. Eighteen Republicans joined all Democrats in backing the move to end the filibuster. The vote on final passage is expected later this week.

Union activists from across the state came together in Philadelphia in recent days for a two-day training session in getting out the vote as part of the union movement’s Labor 2008 political mobilization program.

Members of more than a dozen unions participated in presentations that overviewed key working family issues like health care, the economy and Sen. John McCain’s anti-labor voting record. Attendees engaged in dynamic discussions about effective communication, worksite visits and activist recruitment.

The Philadelphia training is one of a series of Labor 2008 trainings that have taken place around the country in key states like Missouri, Ohio and Colorado.

Here's one from the "just-when-you-think-you've-seen-it-all" file.

California is facing a $20 billion budget shortfall. Teachers are getting pink slips. Health care, social service, education and other budgets are being slashed to the bone. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) warns that all Californians should get ready for some budget belt-tightening.

Well, almost all Californians.

Republican legislators twice this year blocked moves to close a tax loophole for their super-wealthy friends—the ones who just can't live without yachts or jet planes. The loophole let's the uber-rich buy their floating and flying palaces tax free!

Despite the refusal by Burma’s military dictatorship to allow relief agencies to deliver food, medical care and supplies to survivors of the devastating May 2 cyclone, the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB), the country’s underground democratic union movement, is delivering aid to some affected villages. We cannot report exactly which villages are receiving the aid for fear the government will intercede to stop the assistance. But AFL-CIO Solidarity Center representatives in the field confirm that FTUB unions are delivering some aid. But much more help is needed.

Click here to make a donation to help Burmese workers.

Patrick O'Meara, corporate finance specialist in the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, updates us on recent shareholder action at Verizon by union members and retirees.

Union members and retirees continue to challenge Verizon to become a better company. Sporting red T-shirts, some 50 current and retired members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW), including members of the Association of BellTel Retirees, traveled to Lincoln, Neb., last week for the annual Verizon shareholders meeting.

This week, May 11–17, is National Women's Health Week. Beginning on Mother’s Day, Women’s Health Week encourages women to make their health a top priority and take simple steps for a longer and healthier life. Families, communities, businesses, government, health organizations and other groups will work to educate women about steps they can take to improve their physical and mental health and prevent disease.

With women making up nearly half of all union members, the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is encouraging union members across the country to promote women’s health by urging women to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In addition to engaging in some form of physical activity most days of the week and eating a nutritious diet, CLUW, one of six AFL-CIO constituency groups, is urging women to avoid risky behaviors such as smoking or not wearing a seatbelt.

There isn't a shortage of workers willing to do these jobs. There's a shortage of employers willing to pay a decent wage.

In a recent op-ed column in Newsday, Eisenbrey points out that at a time when hundreds of thousands of families are facing foreclosures on their homes and wages are stagnant, corporate interests and their allies in Congress on both sides of the aisle are pushing to expand the number of foreign guest workers.