The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) in recent days hit two big milestones: The AFL-CIO constituency group celebrated its 20th anniversary and launched APALA's Young Leaders Council.  

While many know of the AFL-CIO's community affiliate Working America as a high-level field operation that wins on issues and in elections, it has evolved into much more. Employing new tools and strategies, Working America is working with dozens of unions and progressive allies to strengthen ties between communities and local labor to build progressive infrastructure for the long haul. We’re in it to win it. Check out these examples.

The Next Generation: A Handbook for Mentoring Future Union Leaders, just released by the Berger-Marks Foundation and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), provides hands-on advice and concrete tools for unions and other organizations to develop and implement mentoring programs for members and staff.

St. Patrick is known for driving the snakes out of Ireland. This St. Patrick’s Day, he tried to drive the snakes out of Verizon.

Chanting “Good jobs for Boston,” about two dozen young members of the Greater Boston Labor Council’s (GBLC) Futures Committee staged a quick in-and-out march through a Boston Verizon Wireless store on St. Patrick’s Day. See the video.

Watch CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO reporter Elizabeth Erwin reveal the utter lack of effort the GOP majority in the Arizona state Legislature has put forth to create jobs.

As we noted back in August, one of the groups facing the toughest jobs climate right now are young workers, those who are new to the job market or about to enter it.

At the Economic Policy Institute’s Snapshot Blog, Heidi Shierholz writes that although the 16-24 demographic has seen some improvement in recent months, employment numbers for this group of young people remains rather dismal.

Some 85 union members, community activists and students age 35 and younger took part in the 2nd Annual “Organizing Our Future” conference hosted by the Greater Boston Labor Council Futures Committee at the Boston Teachers Union Hall.  The goal of the conference on Sunday was to empower, educate and connect young union members around Boston to be more knowledgeable and active in their local unions, in their communities and the Greater Boston Labor Council Futures Committee.

Devin Griggs wishes Murray State University had a labor studies program. “A lot of college kids don’t know much about unions,” said Griggs, a 20-year-old junior at Kentucky’s westernmost public university.

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at Democratic Diva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

Raise your hand if you were supporting yourself and maybe helping to support your family when you were 18. I know I was, so I can’t fathom what the Arizona Legislature is thinking by putting forth a ballot referendum that would allow employers to pay workers under 20 years of age substantially less than the state’s minimum wage. Currently it is at $7.65 an hour but this recent measure, if approved by voters, would allow businesses to pay teens and young adults as little as $4.65 an hour.

Kurston Cook, AFL-CIO Young Worker coordinator, sends us this.

Next week, 20 members of the AFL-CIO Young Worker Advisory Council will meet in Washington, D.C., to finalize the 2012 work plan for the AFL-CIO Next Up Young Worker Program. The advisory council advises the AFL-CIO on its programming as it relates to young people, and leaders' implementation of these programs. One major goal of Next Up is to be a voice for all young workers and to provide inspiring and relevant opportunities for participation within the labor movement.