A group of Democratic senators is circulating a letter opposing benefit cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and saying that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should expire at the end of the year. The letter also calls for increasing revenue, cuts to defense and the closing of tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations. The letter was drafted by Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa). The Democratic senators are hoping to get 30 senators to sign the letter.

This is an excerpt from "An Election Message for the Lame Duck Congress: Fair Taxes, No Cuts," by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

After a hard-fought and divisive election year, it's time to rebuild America's middle class—but to do it we need to make sure the lessons from this campaign stick.

Four years ago, the leadership of the Republican Party made a cynical political gamble—and this year they lost because they bet against Ame

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the key message of the 2012 elections is that working people have rejected the vision for the United States championed by the opponents of working families. The union movement’s unprecedented efforts to reach out to working families was decisive in the presidential election and down the ballot.

Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

Last night, working families across the country celebrated the re-election of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden—and breathed a sigh of relief that our country will move forward on the path of sanity and shared prosperity. Nothing about the last four years has been easy, from the Great Recession to Hurricane Sandy, from unrelenting partisan obstruction by Republicans to the greatest onslaught of negative ads ever unleashed against an American president.

Over these final few days before Election Day, AFL-CIO officers have been on the ground in key states talking with union members about the vital importance of getting out the vote, they’ve also joined in neighborhood walks and made phone calls alongside volunteers in union phone banks.

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. 

This is an excerpt from the Huffington Post, "Game Changer in Ohio: Cars," by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

This election may come down to cars. That’s right, cars. 

Nothing illustrates the choice between the two presidential candidates better than the 2009 rescue of the auto industry.  And, despite Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s efforts to distort the contrast with patently dishonest claims and a new TV ad, the auto rescue may turn out to be the deciding factor in the presidential election.    

Romney can’t seem to Etch-a-Sketch that now-famous op-ed headline—“Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”

This week, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler joined Daily Kos GOTV (Get Out the Vote) Blogathon. 

JPMorgan Chase should be liable for alleged fraud by Bear Stearns, which it now owns, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement released today.

Retired Ironworkers Local 361 member John Sferazo, a longtime member of Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), was honored for his contributions to conservation at the Field & Stream Heroes of Conservation gala on Oct. 4 in Washington, D.C.

After suffering physical and emotional trauma as a Ground Zero volunteer on Sept. 11, Sferazo has worked to provide free hunting opportunities for first responders and veterans with disabilities. With the support of 30 organizations, his nonprofit group American Greenlands Restoration Inc. has turned a former 1,000-acre asphalt plant site in Maine back into a thriving forest habitat. “Being outside gave me an outlet, and I wanted to give others the same,” he said. “It’s the right fight, at the right time, for the right reason.”

Sferazo was nominated by the USA. Currently in its seventh year, the program honors individuals involved in grassroots projects to preserve the land, water and wildlife vital to sportsmen’s pursuits.