Across the country, low-wage workers at McDonald's, KFC, Jimmy John’s and other service-sector jobs are joining together to improve wages and working conditions for the entire industry. This growing movement is one of the largest grassroots workplace mobilizations in recent history. Recently, workers in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit went on strike, demanding a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to form a union free from employer harassment and retaliation.

In January 2012, the Ironworkers launched a new worksite safety campaign, with the goal of “zero fatalities, and the first figures in show that Countdown to Zero” is making a difference and saving lives (see chart inside post).

Join us Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT for this week’s live online discussion with with Dr. Steven Pitts, labor policy specialist at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. He is hosting our second online conversation on how we build a better future for working people and a bigger and stronger movement.

Most voters agree that big corporations and the wealthy should start paying their fair share in taxes. But, of course, big corporations and the wealthy don’t want to do that. They want to pay less, and they are used to getting their way. So what do you do?

President Obama has nominated five people to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Two are Republicans. All are waiting for confirmation by the Senate. Let your senators know these nominees should be confirmed so the NLRB can get back to work:  888-264-6154.

May Day was extra special for me this year. My heart was filled with joy and pride because it was my first day as a member of UNITE HERE.

We’re following the story of Hannah Cooper, an apprentice with Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11 in Los Angeles. Here’s her latest report and check out her first entry.

For the past year and a half, ­­I’ve had the great fortune of working on the new addition to the Tom Bradley International Terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In the first two years of my electrical apprenticeship with IBEW Local 11, I worked on small jobs for small shops that had a very limited scope of work, so there weren’t very many aspects of the trade I had exposure to, much to my disappointment.

Recently a designer socialism seems to have taken root among corporations in this country. It is, for the lack of a better word, corporate socialism; its espoused philosophy appears to be any profit is mine but my debt is yours. Pure socialism...

Letter carrier and union member Tom Sapienza was making his rounds Saturday when he came upon a burning building. Without hesitation, he and several others entered the building to look for trapped residents. No one was seriously injured in the blaze. Afterward, Sapienza went back to doing his job.

In this video, members of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW) explain how they help keep the USS Midway, which is now a museum, up to date and running smoothly, preserving an important bit of American history.