Even a heartless Grinch should understand that cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits is a really bad idea.

Paul Krugman reminds us in his New York Times column today that the real economic problem right now is a jobs crisis—not a deficit crisis. The unemployment rate may have dipped, but the number of jobless workers is more stubborn. So why aren’t pundits and the rest of the Inside-the-Beltway crew screaming about unemployment?

This post is from the Chicago Federation of Labor.

Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan and Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez are calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to reverse his decision to terminate the union contract that covers some 35,000 state workers.

“State employees are on the frontlines every day preserving public safety, safeguarding children and assisting families, caring for aging veterans, responding to disasters, and protecting our environment,” Carrigan said.  “Gov. Quinn’s effort to undermine their collective bargaining rights is unwarranted and virtually unprecedented in Illinois government.

The budget proposal President Obama gave Republicans yesterday "keeps faith with the voters in last month’s election, who overwhelmingly opposed tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans and benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare," says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

The ball is now in the Republicans’ court. Unfortunately, Republicans do not seem to have learned the lessons from their shellacking at the polls in November.  They are still insisting on the very things voters rejected so resoundingly: tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% and benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

D. Taylor, leader of UNITE HERE’s Local 226 (the Culinary Workers Union) in Las Vegas, has been elected president of the national union. He replaces John Wilhelm, who served as president since 2009.

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day and the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center is spreading the word.

A new post on the center's website says, "Reaching workers on the job and educating them about HIV prevention is an essential element in slowing—and ultimately ending—HIV/AIDS."

Attention "Unionmade": We're not flattered by imitation.

What happens when a company that acknowledges its clothing is not union-made names itself "Unionmade" anyway? Count on union members proud of their reputation for quality work to say "Give it up." In a  letter  Thursday, the AFL-CIO demanded that the apparel company Unionmade—which also has a logo suspiciously like the historic AFL-CIO “handshake” logo—stop its trademark infringement and unfair competition.

I have a problem with the term “entitlements.”

The millionaires, 2-percenters and tea partiers on Capitol Hill are declaring with gravity that it’s time to “put entitlements on the table” to “fix the debt.”

Ron Oliver, AFL-CIO Community Services liaison in Erie, Pa., tells us last night the local labor movement there worked with community allies to create a safe, fun Halloween party for inner-city children. Some 50 to 60 little goblins and superheroes gathered at a local church and had a great time munching chips and cupcakes. Mmmmmmmmm.

UAW President Bob King has blasted presidential candidate Mitt Romney's false claim that Jeep is "thinking of moving all production to China," in a USA Today op-ed.

Romney's "meandering statements and plain falsehoods about the auto industry finally caught up to him earlier this week when he told a big whopper that cannot be squared with the truth," King said. "And, rather than take the opportunity to exhibit honesty and presidential character by correcting his misstatement, Romney doubled down with a misleading campaign spot about Jeep running in Ohio."