Working people up and down the East Coast are pitching in to alert people about the clean up efforts for Hurricane Sandy and provide information for transportation, shelter and other resources. Firefighters, public employees, utility workers, letter carriers, nurses, grocery store employees, hotel workers and others continued to work through the storm to make sure everyone is taken care of. Once again, we’re reminded that work connects us all, and we’re better together. Here are some unions and agencies you can follow on Twitter and Facebook who've been hard at work during the storm:

Union members and working family activists all over the country are joining phone banks and other get-out-the-vote actions to make sure everyone gets to the polls Nov. 6. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker traveled this week to Florida, where she joined the Florida AFL-CIO in Miami and made calls to voters. 

Women are bringing home the bacon, says AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler, and what are they most concerned about this election? Jobs and the economy.

Shuler addressed more than 100 women of all ages at a Women Vote 2012 kick-off luncheon today at the AFL-CIO headquarters. 

Now, more than ever, women need to make sure their voices are heard about the kind of future they envision for themselves and their families. 

If you want your Halloween to be all treats and no tricks, make sure all your candy is union-made, made in America. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's resource site, Labor 411, has an extensive list of union-made candies. Here are some highlights, featuring sweets made by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW):

1. Baby Ruth

2. Butterfinger

3. Caramello 

4. Hershey's Candy Corn Kisses

5. Hershey Extra Dark Chocolate bar

Don't forget to check into the AFL-CIO Now blog tonight at www.aflcio.org/debatechat to join our live chat on the second presidential debate with our policy team and Working America. 

Text DEBATE to AFLCIO (235246) to join our text action team. (Standard messaging and data rates may apply.)

Watch the video by clicking on the image below or the title of the post:

This is the fourth of a four-part series describing what went wrong with America’s economy and how to fix it. Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here—and please leave a comment to tell us what you think. (Click the chart to enlarge.) 

To fix what’s wrong with the U.S. economy, we have to replace the failed low-wage economic strategy of the past 30 years with a high-wage strategy for shared prosperity.

The first step in such a high-wage strategy is to put America back to work because high unemployment keeps wages down. Our goal should be “full employment,” meaning everybody who wants to work should be able to find a decent job. We can’t allow the unfounded fear of inflation to be used as an excuse to keep unemployment high and wages low.

Have you ever been browsing the aisles of the grocery store hoping to remember all those union-made products the AFL-CIO Now blog wrote about? Or maybe you’re at the toy store trying to find that perfect gift that’s made in America? Union Plus has a simple solution if you left your shopping list at home.

On your mobile device:

• Text CARS to 22555 for union-made vehicles.
• Text BEER to 22555 for union-made beer.
• Text PETS to 22555 for union-made pet products.
• Text CANDY to 22555 for union-made candy.
• Text TOYS to 22555 for union-made toys.

If you've been glued to the couch all week watching the Democratic National Convention and the NFL season's kickoff, you're probably itching to get out of the house for a little bit. Our friends at Labor 411, the union business directory from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, have compiled a handy list for union date night. 

Barbara J. Easterling is president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. She was previously the secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America.  

As we near Labor Day, I want to encourage you to help younger generations better understand why labor unions are so important. Too many people either know very little about unions or only know what politicians and Fox News tell them.