Darryl Moch is the executive director of the Labor Heritage Foundation.

The culture of labor solidarity sparkled June 22–25 at the 34th annual Great Labor Arts Exchange held at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum Heights, Md.  Sponsored by the Labor Heritage Foundation (LHF), the three-day program of workshops, sharing experiences and song/performance/art-swapping featured artists and cultural activists from a variety of unions and organizations, including international artist-activists from Canada and Nigeria.

The AFL-CIO and several individual unions, including the Machinists, the Steelworkers, Mine Workers and Food and Commercial Workers in recent days met with leadership of the new Colombian Labor Inspectorate and Department of Labor officials, to discuss how the inspectorate is working to promote and protect workers' rights in Colombia—and what it is doing to make sure workers who exercise their rights can do so without putting their lives on the line.

Looking for the nearest union grocery store? There’s an app for that. The new United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) app lets U.S. and Canadian shoppers find the closet union grocery store. A great tool at home or on the road.

You also can find action updates, the latest working family news, messages from union members, photos, videos and more. It is available at the iPhone app store.

In the wake of President Barack Obama's announced public support for marriage equality, a number of major labor unions have come out in support of the president's position and equality for the LGBT community.  This is a great development for a number of reasons.  One, it's a clear statement from unions that they recognize that LGBT families are working families, too.  Two, it gives Obama strong public support on an issue that he is certain to be attacked on.  Third, it is a good way to attract new people to the labor movement who might have otherwise not paid much attention to unions because they had other issues that were more important to them.  If it is clear that unions support LGBT families -- which it is -- there is more reason for people to move out of issue silos, recognizing that they have allies they can work together with to improve everybody's situation.

If your kids are going to get a sugar buzz from their Easter basket treasures, you can at least make sure it’s a union-made sugar buzz. Our friends at Union Plus have a handy candy guide to union-made treats.

If your kids are going to get a sugar buzz from their Easter basket treasures, you can at least make sure it’s a union-made sugar buzz. Our friends at Union Plus have a handy candy guide to union-made treats.

It was Safeway worker Vivian Sigouin’s day off, but at noon on Tuesday she was walking through the Piney Branch Safeway in northwest Washington, D.C.,  passing out union buttons and lanyards to her fellow Safeway workers.

Sigouin and other Safeway workers leafleted at three pop-up storefront hiring halls set up next to company stores to recruit and train “replacement workers” or "scabs" to staff the supermarkets if the workers strike when their contract, which covers some 25,000 metro-Washington area Giant and Safeway workers, expires at the end of the month.

Deborah Dion with the Ohio AFL-CIO field program sends us this.

Yesterday, Communications Workers (CWA) President Larry Cohen and Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga joined hundreds of union members from AFSCME, APWU, BCTGM, Bricklayers, CWA, FOP, IAFF, IBEW, OCSEA, OPBA, Plumbers & Pipefitters, SOAR, TWU, UFCW, USW, and Working America and community activists at a rally in Columbus to ask them to stand up to Gov. John Kasich’s anti-middle class agenda by getting their co-workers, families, and neighbors out to vote NO on Issue 2/Senate Bill 5.

AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer sends us this report.

More than 90 children received school supply bags through donations of union members in 10 locals from Saginaw County, Mich. AFL-CIO/Michigan Community Services liaison Steven Lamb reports that earlier this month, the unions gave the school supply bags to the YMCA, First Ward Community Center, Salvation Army and the Neighborhood House to distribute to area school children.

There’s still time to register online to join hundreds of activists from Jobs with Justice (JwJ) and stand together to “Build Power and Fight Back” against the attacks on America’s working people by corporate executives and politicians.