What are unions good for? Check out this contest winner of the Canadian Labor Congress' one-minute message video to find out. 

Workers at Sunny Day Car Wash in the Bronx, N.Y., who joined the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) last year, ratified a three-year contract this week. The pact mirrors the contract the workers made with another carwash in Queens less than two weeks ago.

After watching the continued decline in the number of Oregon workers winning a voice at work, the Oregon AFL-CIO “decided to do something different,” says state federation President Tom Chamberlain. That something different was unions working together. Since late 2011, Oregon unions have been able to craft a number of significant victories for workers who want a voice on the job. Says Chamberlain:

By working together, we have achieved something phenomenal.

Thousands of supporters of providing a quality public education to New York's students are participating in the One Voice United rally in Albany tomorrow, June 8. They will be joined by AFT President Randi Weingarten, New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento and New York State United Teachers President Richard Iannuzzi. Averill Park Teachers Association President Michelle Smead wrote her Top 10 list of reasons why education professionals should join them....

Last week's debate in the special Senate election in Massachusetts shows a sharp contrast in the positions of the two candidates hoping to replace new Secretary of State John Kerry. Democrat Edward Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez differ greatly on the rights of government workers. Markey gave a spirited defense of the collective bargaining rights of first responders and others who work for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Take the nation’s fastest growing soccer tournament, add an emphasis on academic success, a dash of workers’ rights and the Texas union movement and you’ve got a recipe for a unique and innovative Latino community outreach opportunity.

That’s what is happening this weekend in Austin, where the Texas AFL-CIO and Texas AFT are partnering with a local Univision personality at the COPA Univision amateur soccer tournament that will include both adult men’s and women’s teams and teams of boys and girls from 6 to 18 years old. They will be hosting players and their parents, as well as event spectators at a special tent on the grounds of Northeast Metro Park, the site of the two-day tournament festival.

Here's a stat that might surprise you: Nearly half of our nation's 41 million seniors are economically vulnerable, meaning their income is less than two times the supplemental poverty threshold.

Benefit cuts to Social Security and Medicare would severely impact these seniors' ability to afford health care, food and other basic living necessities, according to a new Economic Policy Institute study.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit last week ruled in favor of 2,800 Connecticut state employees, 700 of whom are AFSCME members and were illegally fired in 2003 based on their union membership.

The nation’s economy added 175,000 new jobs in May and the jobless rate slightly increased to 7.6% compared to April’s 7.5%, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 175,000 new May jobs outpaced April’s job growth by 10,000 and marked 38 straight months of tepid job growth. But economists say the growth rate is too slow to fuel a healthy jobs recovery.

Walmart workers, with assistance from the OUR Walmart campaign, launched the first prolonged strike in the company's history, capping it with a rally on Friday outside the company's shareholder meeting in Bentonville, Ark. Workers began the strike more than a week ago and went on a freedom ride-inspired trek, called the “Ride for Respect,” to Walmart headquarters in Bentonville. The strike is planned to extend until after the shareholder meeting.