Actors’ Equity (AEA) announced the purchase of an 18,000-square-foot building in North Hollywood, Calif., that will serve as the new western region headquarters.  The new building is located at 5636 Tujunga Ave., in the NoHo Arts District.

Ask Los Angeles Times reporter Alana Semuels why union membership in California rose by 100,000 in 2012, and she’ll give you a simple answer:

“Latino workers.”

To explain the contrast between the trend in California and the United States as a whole—where union membership dropped last year by 400,000—Semuels turned to some credible sources, including Steve Smith of the state labor federation who cited “an appetite among these low-wage workers to try to get a collective voice to give themselves opportunity and a middle-class lifestyle.”

While most states saw a decline in union membership in 2012, California bucked the trend as 100,000 new workers joined collective bargaining units. Pushing the growth were Latino workers and nurses, the Los Angeles Times reported today. Overall, 11.3% of America's workers are current union members, which is a smaller percentage from 2011, but in California, the number is closer to 18% and is growing. Other southwestern states, such as Nevada and Texas, are also seeing growth in union membership.

Christian Torres worked as a cook in the Pomona College dining hall for more than six years. Torres and 16 of his co-workers were fired from Pomona College for not re-verifying their work eligibility after the college asked for documents, which were requested while he was leading an effort to organize to form a union. Torres and his brother came to the United States while still teenagers to join their mother and father who were already in the U.S. He supports the movement to create a common-sense immigration process. Although Torres was fired from Pomona, he continues to support his co-workers in their struggle for better working conditions at the college. 

While government in Washington, D.C., remains divided and marked by long-term gridlock, governments in the states are much less divided. Of the 50 states, 37 now feature state governments where the governor and majorities in both legislative houses are controlled by one party—24 of those are controlled by Republicans. Extreme, anti-working family Republicans have repeatedly assaulted the rights of people in recent years and, by all accounts, the trend looks to expand in 2013. Working families are mobilized and fought back in 2012 and will continue to fight in 2013.  The response to the "right to work" for less push in Michigan was so strong, that governors in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have since declared that they won't push for right to work in their states.

After years of organizing, Los Angeles carwash workers successfully negotiated contracts with three carwashes and gained workplace rights most workers should be able to take for granted: sick leave, access to health care, workplace safety, lunch breaks, living wages and respect. The carwash workers were successful, in large part, through the strength of community-labor partnerships.

In this video, Miguel, a carwash worker of 18 years, sees the power of community-labor partnerships in his experience organizing for workplace rights.

Check out the AFL-CIO's new Innovators website feature "Cleaning Up: The Power of Community-Labor Partnerships."

I spent so much time on picket lines as a kid that when I thought my dad’s rules were too strict, I would run to build a sign on a stick and try to talk the neighbor kids into marching around the house with me. I learned early on the power of a picket to protest unfair treatment.

That right is more important today than ever. As our economy has shifted toward a more contingent workforce, companies are increasingly hiring workers as part-time or temporary, or labeling them as independent contractors. This leaves workers more vulnerable to abuse while also shielding companies from accountability. When warehouse workers unpacking Walmart goods in a Walmart-owned warehouse were cheated out of their wages, the retail giant responded that those workers were hired through a temporary agency and are not the company’s responsibility.

"Why Picket Lines Matter," by Caitlin Vega, originally appeared on the California Labor Federation's blog Labor's Edge. 

California’s second-largest city has a progressive mayor, former Democratic U.S. House member Bob Filner, who beat his Republican rival by three points in November.

The 70-year-old Filner spent 20 years in Congress. A reliable and articulate liberal—with high marks on his AFL-CIO, ADA and Sierra Club scorecards—he’s a founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and was a “Freedom Rider” during the early 1960s civil rights movement, spending two months in jail for “disturbing the peace and inciting a riot.”

There has been much talk recently of our immigration policy and the possibility of comprehensive immigration reform, but too often these discussions, especially in the halls of Congress, lack a human and family dimension. In the first half of 2011, 46,000 undocumented immigrants were deported from the United States. Depending on which new outlet reports that fact, we may hear a variety of terms used to describe those people, ranging from “illegal aliens,” or “illegal immigrants,” to “undocumented immigrants,” or simply “immigrants.” Rarely do we hear: “46,000 parents  were torn away from their children and deported to another country in the first half of 2011.” A Wish for the Holidays campaign wants to change that.

Office clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 63, are striking in order to protect jobs in America that pay well and help drive the economy. Employers walked out of negotiations Saturday, prompting International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) Acting General Secretary Stephen Cotton to condemn the international carriers and terminal operators.