More than 90 trade union leaders from all parts of the world met this week in Washington, D.C., with senior officials of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to push for continuing economic stimulus to jump-start the global economy.

On Super Bowl weekend, not all eyes will be on Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. On Feb. 5, the day before the big game there, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and the AFL-CIO will host a special all-star football game at San Antonio’s Alamodome. What’s special about it is that we’re working to fill the stadium with workers who have lost their jobs, members of the military and youth. And you can help by donating a ticket for someone who’s having a tough time.

If new House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) gets everything on his budget-cutting wish list, it would be, says a new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI):

a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to wealthy Americans and corporations and a wholesale dismantling of the social programs that all Americans rely on, including Medicare and Social Security.

Around the country, public employees are under attack by Republican governors, state legislatures and right-wing conservative commentators who are blaming them for state and local government budget problems. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is leading the charge.

Workers at a General Electric’s (GE’s) refrigerator plant in Bloomington, Ind., have been fighting to keep the facility viable in the cutthroat global economy. Now, two years after the company said it was going to shutter the plant, workers are celebrating a new day. Instead of closing the plant, GE has announced it will invest $93 million in upgrades and begin to produce energy-efficient refrigerators at the plant.

The nation is in its 20th straight month with unemployment above 9 percent. The electorate in November told lawmakers to “focus less on petty partisan bickering and more on jobs, jobs, jobs,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Ben Horowitz, a researcher for Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 15, reports on a protest this morning demanding accountability from homebuilding giant PulteGroup.

PulteMortgage CEO Debra Still came face to face today with workers from the Building Justice campaign and their allies, demanding to know how her company is spending the public’s money.

The April coal mine explosion at the Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine that killed 29 miners “was preventable” if the mine had been in compliance with federal safety rules, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) officials told the families of the victims last night.

The NFL Players Association charged team owners with collusion to restrict thelr rights, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

Members of the Screen Actors (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) overwhelmingly approved a new three-year contract covering theatrical and television production workers.