A total of 84,350 pension plans have vanished since 1985. This figure shocked Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Donald L. Barlett and James W. Steele, who just released their latest book, "The Betrayal of the American Dream." Their chapter on retirement chronicles the heist of the American dream's secure retirement by the financial elite and is a very important section of the book, says Steele, who spoke with the AFL-CIO about the retirement crisis. Steele says there's another number we should pay attention to: $17,686. That's the median value of 401(k) accounts in 2011. For most working people, the amount in their 401(k) account would pay them less than $80 a month for life.

Many people can no longer attain the American Dream—and high-level decisions over the past few decades have led our nation to this point.

Join us on Thursday, Sept. 13, when Pulitzer Prize-winning author and reporter Hedrick Smith will discuss his new book, Who Stole the
American Dream? Can We Get It Back? In his latest look into the deepest layers of Washington politics, Smith deploys his formidable investigative skills to trace how we got here—and whether we can undo the damage. ( RSVP here .)

In a major win for nurses, patients and three Texas communities, registered nurses (RNs) in El Paso, Corpus Christi and Brownsville gave final approval to contracts yesterday in first-ever collective bargaining agreements, reports National Nurses United ( NNU ). 

Last week, we discussed that the Republican Party platform is a  road map to dismantle workers’ rights . Steven Greenhouse of  The New York Times  says the Republican platform “calls for numerous steps that could significantly weaken America’s labor unions” and, for the first time in years, doesn’t even acknowledge the right to form unions.

The New York Times reports, when doing a side-by-side comparison of the platforms, the two visions are “ poles apart in their view of the nation .”

Let’s take a look at some of the major differences:

True Value should take back the 2011 Supplier of the Year Award it gave North American Salt, says United Steelworkers ( USW ) President Leo Gerard, because North American operates a salt mine in Louisiana that has received safety and health citations for serious violations and been shut down temporarily by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Some 100 workers at the company’s Cote Blanche mine in Louisiana are USW members.

If you're curious how much more the Romney-Ryan Medicare plan will cost you, the Center for American Progress Action Fund has a new infographic which spells out exactly what you'd be paying for health care. It's not pretty. View the entire  Center for American Progress Action Fund Medicare Infographic .

Happy 77th birthday, Social Security. As we celebrate Social Security's anniversary, let’s remember it has  never  missed a check. Despite Congressman (now vice presidential candidate) Paul Ryan's claim it’s “ going broke ,” Social Security has a $2.7 trillion surplus (going broke, really?) and is financially sound, despite the recession, high unemployment and stagnation of workers' income across the board. It has provided insurance against loss of wages for seniors and people with disabilities and pays out benefits in the form of survivor benefits to children who lose a working parent. 

Two years ago on Aug. 5., a San José copper-gold mine located in Chile’s northern Atacama Desert, caved in, trapping 33 miners 2,257 feet underground. “The 33,” as they were quickly known around the world, survived a staggering 69 days underground before their rescue.

The nearly 100,000 members of the  Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions  and  Kaiser Permanente  reached agreement Monday, July 23, on a three-year national contract. The pact covers workers in 28 unions at hundreds of Kaiser Permanente health care facilities in nine states.

This is a cross-post from Huffington Post by  Harold Schaitberger , general president of  the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). 

There's an oft repeated myth being fed by many that claims the defined benefit pension plans available to most public employees are going bankrupt.

While a  new report  by the Pew Center for the States feeds those myths, Pew's research paints a false picture of pensions. Here are five oft-peddled myths about public pensions followed by the facts.