In the midst of Gov. Scott Walker’s assault on public employees, faculty at  the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse voted 249-37 in favor of union representation through AFT-Wisconsin, an affiliate of AFT. The vote follows Walker’s move to slash the rights of public employees and take away the freedom of academic staff and faculty to collectively bargain for good middle-class jobs.

AFT President Randi Weingarten knocked the ball out of the park last night on Comedy Central’s ”The Colbert Report.” In a one-on-one with host Stephen Colbert, Weingarten gets in some good points for public employees in Wisconsin between the laughs. For example, she says the public servants in Wisconsin are willing to do their part with budget cuts, but they don’t want to lose their voice.

Today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue issued a rare joint statement supporting “Obama’s call to create jobs and grow the U.S. economy through investment in our nation’s infrastructure.” Trumka and Donohue said:

Whether it is building roads, bridges, high-speed broadband, energy systems and schools, these projects not only create jobs and demand for businesses, they are an investment in building the modern infrastructure our country needs to compete in a global economy.

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.