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After weeks of obstruction by Republican Senate leaders, millions of jobless workers who have or who will soon run out of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits may finally have a chance to grab an economic lifeline in the form of extended UI benefits. Read More>>

Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) has been fighting for health care reform for more than 50 years, and he’s seen the situation become even more dire over the past decade. In a great new op-ed, he explains the hard truths of our broken system and why we can’t wait any longer for health care reform: Read More>>

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This information came from Don Siegel of IBEW, which he recently sent to his members, I have taken the liberty to edit it to be more inclusive to the entire labor movement.

We need to organize a new generation of workers into unions. While we tend to believe that this new generation is indifferent to unions we also know that they know very little about unions.

Mr. Siegel found this link to a video about a protest against the CEO of Whole Foods who recently wrote an op ed in the Wall Street Journal about health care reform. Needless to say the CEO, John Mackey, didn’t think that the health care reform that was being proposed was worth consideration and went on to say among other things that health care is not a right but rather a privilege.

This link will take you to a 6 minute video that I think is worth your time for two reasons. Number one it takes John Mackey to task for his public denunciation of the cu rrent health care reform proposal and number two and much more importantly please take notice of the age of most of the protesters. They are certainly not from my generation and we should take some comfort in that. This group could teach some of us some new things about civil disobedience not to mention the raw courage it takes to expose your self publicly for a cause you believe in. I encourage you to watch the whole video and consider that this is the generation that we need to bring into our union.

They may not know much about unions but they sure know how to engage in concerted activity. They are creative, committed, energetic and determined when they find something that they can believe in. They are an example of what the labor movement can become if we can connect with their passions. The challenge is ours to reach out to a new generation of union members and I hope that this video shows that they are ready, if we are willing to take the time to listen to their concerns and explain how unions can be a part of the solution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APs76Cd6fbI 

by Michael Morrill
Keystone Progress

The figures are staggering. Unemployment at 8.5 percent. Record new unemployment claims. By one measure, unemployment and underemployment at 15.6 percent. And only 37 percent of unemployed workers collecting unemployment benefits.

Hardworking families are struggling to get by, and too often, they don't know where to turn for help. Read more...

When we talk to our elected or appointed officials in our area, it is helpful if we know if they are or have been a member of organized labor. The AFL-CIO has designed a form named the Target 5000 Survey that would make it easier for us to track those individuals and use them as our first point of contact at their level of public service, if needed.

 

We encourage members of organized labor who are seeking public office to also complete this form. Read more...

Click here to look up either find your elected officials or look-up the last 4-digits of your zip code.

The resource link below will connect you to a power point presentation developed solely to emphasis the importance of the Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations. Please take the time to view it.

  

 The Northwestern Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation (ALF) would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join us.  This invitation is extended to all local unions and AFL-CIO recognized Constituency Groups in the 19 Northwestern Pennsylania Counties in our jurisdiction.  Please take a few minutes to read more.....