The Yahoo Finance show "The Daily Ticker" uses its latest episode to lay out the case for why labor unions are important, particularly in the current economy. Really. The show isn't exactly pro-working families—and it runs through a litany of false and misleading attacks on unions—but the hosts, Aaron Task and Henry Blodget, argue that owners and management have gone too far in accumulating wealth and power and it's important for unions to counter-balance that. They argue that not only are growing inequality and exploitation of workers bad for society, they're bad for business.

Supported by global labor activists and unions, a Mississippi Nissan worker announced the UAW’s global organizing campaign yesterday at the third annual LabourStart conference in Sydney, Australia. At Nissan’s Canton, Miss., plant, there are more than 3,000 workers who want a voice at work to improve conditions and secure decent work for more members of their community. In addition to reducing safety problems and resulting injuries at the plant, workers want to unite to build power and raise their voice so that Nissan will directly hire more of its workforce and not depend so heavily on temporary workers. Nissan’s production model increasingly tries to avoid the responsibility of being an employer while reaping the gains of all production workers.

Check out UAW's site: http://DoBetterNissan.org. 

The 2013 edition of the Union Communication Services Inc. (UCS) Labor Books Catalog has been released, offering titles on topics about labor, including negotiating and grievance handling, organizing, health and safety, labor law and labor history. It includes many worker-friendly fiction, young adult and children’s books as well.

After Tuesday's historic election victories for President Obama and many pro-working family candidates, newspaper headlines give credit where credit is due.

Here's a roundup of some headlines highlighting how labor got out the vote:

We covered the 2012 election live on the AFL-CIO Now blog all day Nov. 6. Read the blog below:

RT @evale72: Lots of lines in OH still, if you live near polling place go keep em happy, bring food, hats & go sing

— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) November 7, 2012

The economy added 171,000 new jobs in October—the 32nd straight month of positive job growth—according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The nation’s unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9%, up slightly from September’s 7.8%. The labor force grew by more than half a million workers in October, which is a positive sign, as more workers are seeking and finding jobs. The number of discouraged and involuntary part-time workers has fallen since last year.  

The newly created jobs exceeded most economists’ predictions of 100,000 to 125,000 new jobs for the month. Also, September payrolls were revised to a gain of 148,000 from an initially reported 114,000, and August to 192,000 from 142,000.

Working people face a clear contrast of visions for America, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

An economy of, by and for the rich, or an economy built on investing, training, building and innovating, so that it works for all of us. 

Listen to the rest of Trumka's message in this YouTube video and please share with your friends and family. 

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:

San Francisco cab driver Brad Newsham does not believe that corporations are people and that money is free speech. And he wanted to do something big to get his point across. So he went to the beach, brought a helicopter and 1,000 friends. This video shows what happened next.

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.