John August, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and a native Wisconsinite, sends us this on events there. The coalition is an alliance of 29 local unions representing 90,000 health care workers.

John August, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and a native Wisconsinite, sends us this on events there. The coalition is an alliance of 29 local unions representing 90,000 health care workers.

This past weekend, between 80,000 and 100,000 people gathered outside the state Capitol building in Madison, Wis. I lived in Madison for 16 years and can tell you that for that many people to gather on the Capitol grounds for several winter days is remarkable: a sea of humans stood inside and outside the Capitol building and filled the streets that make up Capitol Square. This is an area of four four-lane streets that ring the Capitol grounds, measuring about one-half square mile. Close your eyes and imagine the scene.

John August, executive director of Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and a native Wisconsinite, sends us this on events there. The coalition is an alliance of 29 local unions representing 90,000 health care workers.

I am a proud Wisconsinite—not just because of the recent victory of the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 45, but also because of the state’s great progressive traditions. Those traditions include a strong labor movement and the birth of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the major public-sector union, in 1936.

A new study by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United ( CNA/NNU ) finds that California’s largest private insurance companies continue to deny more than one-fourth of all claims and two firms rejected about 40 percent of submitted claims.

The NFL Players Association charged team owners with collusion to restrict thelr rights, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work .