The National Employment Law Project (NELP) has a new disaster unemployment insurance (DUA) fact sheet for those affected by Hurricane Sandy in the hardest hit counties in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.  

Read the rest of NELP's DUA fact sheet on its blog. 

In addition, Union Plus Disaster Relief Grants of $500 are available to help participants in the Union Plus Credit Card, Insurance or Mortgage programs who are facing financial hardship because of recent severe weather. Visit www.unionplus.org/sandy.  

Transport Workers (TWU) from Philadelphia's Local 234 and New York City's Local 100 are collaborating to make sure that voters in critical swing-state Pennsylvania get out and vote. After Republicans bragged about how the state's new voter identification law was going to allow presidential candidate Mitt Romney to win the state, a state judge said otherwise and blocked the new measure for this presidential election. Activists were inspired to work harder than ever to make sure that the state, which could be vital in determining the outcome of the presidential election, voted once again for President Obama.

AFT’s "Your Vote–Your Right–Their Futures” bus tour is rolling through Florida this week building support and getting out the vote for President Obama and other working family candidates. AFT President Randi Weingarten, AFT Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson, along with local and state AFT officials and members, will meet with union and community election volunteers and activists for rallies, marches and neighborhood walks.

Check out the AFL-CIO's new Innovators website feature, "Union Architects, Engineers Inspiring the Next Gen to Go Green."

When you’re 6 or 7 years old, the start of a new school year is a big deal. But for students at PS 264 in Brooklyn, N.Y., it’s even more special this year because they are walking into a newly built “green” school. And as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building, that means encountering the unexpected.

Like lights that go on automatically when you’re the first one to enter a classroom.

And a gym that’s on the top floor of the building.

In an era when the rich and powerful line their own pockets at the expense of workers, homeowners and investors, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is striking a blow for accountability and equal justice, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. 

Schneiderman just filed a lawsuit against Bear Stearns alleging that the former investment bank created fraudulent mortgage-backed securities.

As millions of Americans took a moment this morning to remember the tragedy that occurred 11 years ago on Sept. 11 in New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania, military veterans who’ve found careers through the Ironworkers, Laborers (LiUNA), Heat and Frost Insulators and Bricklayers (BAC) are rebuilding the World Trade Center in New York.

Take a minute to watch the YouTube video in the post. 

 Other unions spoke out in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and the members who made a difference that day:

The next time you take a cab, take a moment to think about the person driving the car. Taxi drivers typically do not have the same benefits as workers in other professions. But the National Taxi Workers Alliance (NTWA) is working to change that. 

NTWA in New York City is the largest taxi driver union in the United States working to ensure that its members can make a living wage. This summer, Sahar Khan, one of the nine New York Union Summer interns, is learning about NTWA's innovative strategies to grow the union's membership.

After 8,000 utility workers were locked out earlier this summer, Utility Workers (UWUA) Local 1-2 in New York City approved a new labor contract with Consolidated Edison. 

The New York Times reports:

Harry Farrell, president of Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers Union of America, said on Wednesday that its membership voted by a margin of 93 percent to accept a new four-year agreement with Consolidated Edison.

The Tappan Zee Bridge in New York will be replaced through a union-public-sector partnership involving 14 building trades labor bodies and the New York State Thruway, a project that will create thousands of family-supporting jobs and save taxpayers $452 million.

“That was the turning point for a lot of actors," said actor Susan Sarandon to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka about the national commercial actors strike 12 years ago. "It wasn’t until we felt threatened that we realized the importance of our union.”

In a casual moment in a midtown Manhattan hotel Friday evening, Sarandon, a longtime member of SAG-AFTRA, and Trumka spoke at length before she introduced him to a gathering held by Local 1 of the American Federation of School Administrators.