If you work in the hydraulic fracturing industry—better known as “fracking”—you may be exposed to high levels of crystalline silica, putting you at risk of developing silicosis, lung cancer and other debilitating diseases, according to a letter sent today from the AFL-CIO, Mine Workers (UMWA) and the United Steelworkers (USW) to the top federal safety agencies.

Philip Levine recently completed his yearlong tenure as the U.S. poet laureate, a position that gave nationwide attention to his affinity with working people. With his writing roots deep within the world of work—and encapsulated in his signature poetry collection, “What Work Is”—Levine gave us all in the union movement the opportunity to engage with the art of poetry and understand more about the role of poet laureate.

Ironclad collective bargaining rights for all workers would fix America's ailing economy and create millions of jobs because of demand-led growth, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen said today at the Center for National Policy.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is long on rhetoric but short on details when quizzed about his economic policies. But the one concrete concept he embraces wholeheartedly is Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) House-passed budget for the 1% blueprint.  

There is an alternative to the Romney/Ryan/Republican budget for the 1% and that’s the “Budget for All” proposal drafted by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and The Century Foundation have just released a detailed comparison of the two budgets. 

Although Indonesia's economy is growing and poverty decreasing, the average worker is not reaping the benefits of a booming economy, according to Jamie Davis, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's country program director in Jakarta. At a well-attended brown-bag discussion at the AFL-CIO last week, Davis discussed the progress of Indonesian workers since the end of the oppressive Suharto dictatorship in 1998 and their opportunities for forming unions. The door to the middle class is not opening for the majority of workers in the formal sector, most of whom only receive minimum wage—which all policymakers agree is not a living wage.

Consumer protest is growing against a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that could put contaminated poultry products on your family’s dinner plates and throw more than 800 trained federal food safety inspectors out of work. Join the fight for safe poultry products. Click here to sign AFGE’s “We the People” petition on the White House website urging that the proposed USDA rule be withdrawn.

The future of the union movement, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told some 600 members of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee (LCC), depends on showing the public that through our actions on the ground we are a:

broad, inclusive, innovative worker-driven organization....We need to build a broader, stronger, more effective movement for all working people—union and nonunion. That means organizing. It means advocacy. It means grassroots mobilization.

Craig Becker, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board, has been named AFL-CIO general counsel, joining General Counsel Lynn Rhinehart in leading the federation’s legal work on behalf of working people. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:

The strengths of these two extraordinary lawyers, Becker and Rhinehart, are a perfect complement, and together they will lead a powerhouse legal program to protect and promote the interests of working men and women.

Few would argue that the nation's increasing income inequality is a growing and dangerous concern. But for Chris Anderson, "curator" of the annual TED conference where hip people go to hear innovative talks, income inequality is a "partisan" issue that must not be discussed.

William (Bill) Lucy, president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), is stepping down from the post he has held since he co-founded the CBTU in 1972. He says:

It’s time for a new leader to step into these shoes and connect with young workers who need to see their generation out front in more leadership roles, trying new approaches to empower black trade unionists and achieve social justice at home and abroad.