Nearly 100 workers were arrested Wednesday night in Las Vegas as they engaged in civil disobedience to protest the Cosmopolitan casino's refusal to agree to a fair contract with its workers. As reported Wednesday, members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 blocked the street on the Las Vegas Strip, leading to 98 arrests.

Pharmacy chain CVS announced a new policy that will require 200,000 employees who receive health care through the corporation to submit personal health information to the company or face a $50 monthly fine, ABC News reports. Workers must submit their weight, body fat, glucose levels and other vital signs or pay an additional $600 per year for their existing health coverage. Employees have until May 1, 2014, to comply with the new policy or face the fine.

In his most recent column, Economic Policy Institute President Lawrence Mishel demolishes arguments in favor of "chained" CPI, which is often offered in grand bargain negotiations, saying it is nothing more than a way to explain away cuts to the program.

While the White House, Congress and outside groups debate the details of what the exact shape of the country's immigration system will be, an article from ABC-Univision details three shocking examples that make clear any legislation addressing the topic must include protections for temporary workers brought to the United States.

On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced the Healthy Families Act, which would give workers the opportunity to earn paid sick leave they could use for personal illnesses or to take care of sick family members, among other uses. The act also would allow workers to use earned sick time to deal with the effects of domestic violence.

On Wednesday night, members of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 will engage in the first act of civil disobedience on the Las Vegas strip by union members in more than 20 years in solidarity with workers from the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas casino. The workers have been negotiating a contract with the casino owner, Deutsche Bank, for more than two years and they contend that the owner refuses to agree on measures that are standard in other major casino contracts on the strip. Workers plan to engage in action by blocking traffic. Contracts for workers on the Strip will expire June 1.

Working families, retirees and their allies are rallying Tuesday at 10 a.m. in St. Louis to call on Patriot Coal to live up to its obligations to pay retiree health care costs. The company filed bankruptcy and is asking to abandon paying health care costs to retirees, most of whom worked for Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, which created Patriot. Mine Workers (UMWA) has charged that Patriot was designed to fail so that the former parent companies could avoid commitments they made to their former workers.

Workers at Alameda County Waste Management facilities in Oakland, San Leandro and Altamont, Calif., filed charges alleging the company is illegally threatening or intimidating workers in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. More than 200 workers also initiated a work stoppage that was joined by hundreds of other workers at the facilities. The stoppage lasted five hours before workers returned to the job in order to minimize disruptions for customers.

After a conditional veto of an increase in New Jersey's minimum wage by Gov. Chris Christie (R), working families, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO and a coalition of 151 organizations are pushing for a measure that would raise the state's wage to $8.25 per hour and attach a cost-of-living adjustment to the wage for the future. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D) also joined the "Raise the Wage" campaign. In November, voters will be able to decide on the ballot whether or not to increase the minimum wage.

A diverse group of unions teamed up in Lafayette, Ind., to lend a helping hand to a local United Way participating organization. Laborers (LIUNA) Local 274, UAW locals 531 and 2317 and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 115 responded when Lafayette Transitional Housing was in need of volunteers on March 12 to help unload and stock its food pantry. The above locals came through with 18 volunteers to help with that project, which consisted of more than 15,000 pounds of food.

Check out a slide show of the volunteers, after the jump.