Munger Elementary School in Detroit will have a new garden, thanks to Ford employees and members of UAWLocal 600. As part of this year's Ford Global Week of Caring, UAW Local 600 will help build raised garden beds for Bridging Communities to support students at the school. 

The U.S. auto industry is in the midst of its strongest growth period since 1996, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said today at the Ford Motor Co.'s Flat Rock assembly plant in Michigan. Ford just announced it will be adding 1,200 new workers to the Detroit-area plant in expectation that the revamped Fusion sedan will see an increase in sales this fall. Working together, the plant workers, who are members of the UAW, and the company have increased productivity and brought jobs back to the United States. 

An excerpt from a USA Today column by UAW President Bob King:

The bankruptcy restructuring of General Motors (GM) and Chrysler in 2009 through the creation of new companies formed with assets purchased from those troubled companies was highly successful. Today GM and Chrysler are profitable, investing in America and creating jobs.

With all the great news out today about how U.S. automakers are pushing factories to the limit because of demand for new vehicles, surely
presidential candidate Mitt Romney is praising the auto industry’s comeback?

Well, maybe not. Here’s what he said in the face of the nation’s helping hand to the auto industry a few years ago:

We don't usually spend time following presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's Etch A Sketch flip-floppery. But this one goes too far to ignore.

Romney, of "Let Detroit go bankrupt" fame, now says he should get credit for the resurgence of the U.S. auto companies.

While Mitt Romney is campaigning in Michigan this week, workers there are letting him know just how offensive they find his claim that “we should have let Detroit go bankrupt,” when the economy and the auto industry were about to collapse.

More than 550 activists from the labor and civil rights communities wrapped up the AFL-CIO Martin Luther King Jr., Observance in Detroit this weekend after taking part in community service, workshops and worship. The events honored King’s vision that collective action is the key to ensuring freedom—whether at the voting booth or at the workplace, and energized participants to continue their work in making King’s dream a reality.

Tonight in Detroit, where hundreds of activists are gathered for the annual AFL-CIO Martin Luther King Jr. Day Observance, participants will honor several individuals for their outstanding contributions to working people. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will receive the top honor for her extraordinary dedication and commitment to improving the lives of workers throughout her lifetime. The At the River I Stand award is given to a national leader who has demonstrated an unyielding commitment to civil rights and workers’ rights.

In Michigan, a majority of the state’s African American citizens could soon be without elected representation, because of a law passed earlier this year with the backing of billionaires Charles and David Koch. Last week, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) sent a request to Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the civil rights implications of the law.

As Detroit’s economy reaches unimaginable lows, firefighters go to work in a nearly bankrupt city set aflame by arsonists—some by building owners looking to collect insurance and others by gang members. The perils faced by these front-line first responders captured the imaginations of filmmakers Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez, who are putting the finishing touches on “Burn: The Detroit Firefighter Documentary.”