This is a cross-post from the Fire Fighters (IAFF).  

The 46th Annual MDA Labor Day Telethon raised $61.4 million to help fight neuromuscular diseases, $27.2 million of which was raised by Fire Fighters (IAFF) affiliates that conducted Fill-the-Boot campaigns and other fundraisers in their communities. The IAFF, now in its 57th year of supporting MDA, continues to be the top fundraiser for the charity.

Texas Fire Fighters (IAFF) members have been on the lines around the clock as historic and deadly fires rage in central Texas leaving at least four people dead, destroying nearly 1,400 homes and burning hundreds of thousands of acres.

Some good stuff in the Presidential Proclamation on Labor Day issued by President Obama today.

The right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental American value. Since its beginnings in our country, organized labor has raised our living standards and built our middle class. It is the reason we have a minimum wage, weekends away from work to rest and spend time with family, and basic protections in our workplaces….The principles upheld by the honorable laborers of generations past and their unions continue to fuel the growth of our economy and a strong middle class.

The AFL-CIO and the King Center’s national symposium on Jobs, Justice and the American Dream will get underway shortly and you can follow it with our live Twitter feed here and on Twitter with the hashtag #jobsjustice.

On Aug. 26, two days before the official dedication of the historic Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C., the AFL-CIO and The King Center will host a national symposium to explore how far we have come in fulfilling King’s dream of a nation of economic equality and justice for all people.

Machinists (IAM) member Patrick Bertucci is a shop steward at Boeing’s Renton, Wash., plant where he works on wing assembly for the Boeing 737. Today he spoke to a packed Capitol Hill press conference about a House Republican bill designed to cripple the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) ability to protect workers:

When I go to work every day, I am held accountable to build the best and safest aircraft in the world. The Boeing Co. needs to be held accountable for their actions as well…I want the Boeing to be successful. But no company can succeed when they break the law.

Union members have always found time to help out their communities. Click here to read about laid-off Taylor, Mich., Fire Fighters (IAFF) members refusing to let the heat stand in the way of their annual fundraising drive for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and here to see how several unions in McKeesport, Pa., are supporting local Boys and Girls Clubs.

AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer reports on the recent Walk for Burn Awareness in Boston.

More than 350 firefighters, burn survivors and supporters came together on Sunday for the second annual New England Walk for Burn Awareness.

AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer reports on the flood relief efforts unions are mounting in Montana.

Montana has been hit hard by a series of recent severe storms coupled with runoff from mountain snow melt. The combination has caused serious flooding across the state. Forty-eight of the state’s 56 counties have declared flood emergencies and federal disaster declarations have been issued for 31 counties, plus four American Indian reservations.

Riding in an ambulance in the nation’s capital may be hazardous to your health–and fire responders and nurses are demanding a change.  Unions representing the District of Columbia’s emergency medical technicians, paramedics, fire fighters and registered nurses today urged Mayor Vincent Gray to ensure that the city’s ambulances are in working order and have operational air conditioners.