Now that the Republican National Convention—with its divisive policies, masked by a cynical call for unity—has wrapped up, let’s take a look at the deeply embedded anti-union and anti-worker philosophy in the Republican platform of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Daily Kos’ Laura Clawson says:

The basic message of the Republican platform on labor issues is this: Rights are there to be taken from workers and given to the 1 percent.

This is a cross-post from Working America’s Dear David workplace advice column.

Question:

I just started a new job at a major national retailer as a sales associate in the housewares department. I’m grateful for the job, but during orientation, I was instructed to sign a waiver that said I wouldn’t join a union. My manager said that we don’t need unions here because the workers already have everything they need. But I happen to know that there’s a national effort to unionize my company. I don’t think they can require me to sign the release, but no one told me it was optional, and I’m worried that if I refuse to sign it, I’ll be flagged as a liability risk and possibly passed up for advancement opportunities. What do you recommend? See answer at the jump. 

The AFL-CIO welcomes a dialogue with Palermo Villa Inc. CEO Giacomo Fallucca to discuss the company’s recent actions in response to union organizing efforts among workers at the pizza manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.

I am encouraged by your willingness to discuss workers’ desire for a voice on the job. It is only through open dialogue that management and labor can reach a just and fair resolution of workplace problems, and I am happy to participate in opening such a dialogue.

Workers at Palermo's Pizza in Milwaukee, Wis., have been on strike for nearly two months in a struggle for justice with one of the largest frozen pizza manufacturers in the nation. You can help the workers—like Laura Torres, a single mother of six who has worked at the Palermo's plant for 10 years—by asking Costco, Palermo’s biggest customer, to urge the pizza maker to respect workers and improve working conditions at the plant.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council endorsed Yale Professor Jacob Hacker’s just released economic blueprint, Prosperity Economics: Building an Economy for All, that says restoring the middle class must include restoring workers’ ability to bargain collectively.

The agenda for shared prosperity builds upon an understanding of the central role of workers, their unions and collective bargaining to address the full range of our society’s economic ills—our jobs and infrastructure deficits, our housing crisis, the hollowing out of our manufacturing sector, the disconnect between wages and productivity, the health care and retirement security crisis and the particular toll that these crises have taken on communities of color and women.

Colombian unionists visited Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. government officials and ask for their support in ensuring the Colombia Labor Action Plan. The delegation included Miguel Conde, general secretary of the Puerto Wilches local of Sintrainagro, an agricultural worker union representing workers on palm oil plantations; Jhonsson Torres, a founding member and vice president of the cane cutters union; Sinalcorteros; and Jose Luciano Sanin, executive director of the Escuela Nacional Sindical (ENS, National Union School). Getting assurance of continued support for implementation made the trip worthwhile for the Colombians, who are in the midst of a long-term struggle for an economy that provides workers with dignity, fair pay and benefits and respect for the exercise of free association and other fundamental rights. 

OMG, look up! Is that a flying pig? That was my thought when I read the latest bulletin from the Republican-controlled House Education and Workforce Committee announcing a hearing that would be “Examining Proposals to Strengthen the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).”

On Aug. 11, thousands of American workers will come together in Philadelphia in the first major action of the Workers Stand for America campaign, the centerpiece of which is America’s Second Bill of Rights:

• Full employment and a living wage.
• Full participation in the political process.
• A voice at work.
• A quality education for all.
• A secure and healthy future.

Dear Abby’s got nothing on Dear David when it comes to navigating the workplace.

Dear David, Working America’s advice columnist, knows you deserve to be treated fairly on the job. And he’s available to answer any question you may have, whether it's co-workers making off-handed comments that you should retire or you feel like your job’s long hours are causing stress.

This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center.

During her tour of Southeast Asia, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the greater protection of worker rights, improvement of labor standards and the empowerment of women following a private meeting in Cambodia with union leaders and labor activists. Clinton met privately in Siem Rep, Cambodia, with 12 women union leaders—independent union representatives from every major industry in Cambodia, labor lawyers and activists—as well as the Solidarity Center country program director, David Welsh.