Check out the AFL-CIO's new In Our Communities website feature, "Firefighters Give Back to Their Communities On and Off the Job." 

It’s hard to miss a burly firefighter in a bright pink T-shirt. And for tens of thousands of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union members across the country, that’s exactly the point. When the public sees them in pink tees, they are reminded that breast cancer is a deadly disease requiring regular exams and mammograms. And they are urged to help women who can’t afford regular check-ups.

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

IAFF Local 48 member Doug Stern from Cincinnati spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday night.

Stern says for the majority of his life he identified as a Republican. But with last year’s political assault on Ohio’s public employees, he felt that the Republican Party left him and other members of the middle class behind.

Texas AFL-CIO communications director Ed Sills sends us this report:

The Texas AFL-CIO donated $150 gift cards to nine Central Texas volunteer fire departments that battled the rash of summer blazes.