In January 2012, the Ironworkers launched a new worksite safety campaign, with the goal of “zero fatalities, and the first figures in show that Countdown to Zero” is making a difference and saving lives (see chart inside post).

Union workers, some of whom are also veterans, are rebuilding the World Trade Center. 

This week, they lifted the last piece of spire to a height of 1,776 feet. At 22 tons, the spire will house state-of-the-art lighting and a beacon, which will be visible for miles.

Washington Nationals wunderkind outfielder Bryce Harper works hard.

Where does he get that work ethic? His father, a union ironworker from Las Vegas, who installs rebar on construction sites in sometimes extreme conditions. 

Check out this clip from ESPN's "Bryce Begins." The entire special aired Tuesday night.

The Ironworkers are committed to green training and consider themselves the "original recyclers." Learn more from California Ironworkers Apprenticeship Director Dick Zampa in this video the Ironworkers sent us. 

Retired ironworker Travis Witt from Local 301 (Charleston, W.Va.) shared the photo, left, on the Ironworkers' Facebook page of a car he designed with the union's logo. 

Check out the AFL-CIO's new Innovators website feature, "Ironworkers Tap for Savings."

Steve Lehmann used to drive hundreds of miles each week shuttling around paperwork; now he flips back the cover of his iPad.

“Sometimes I’d drive an hour and 45 minutes from the office to the job site, then go back and forth with new blueprints,” Lehmann says. “That’s just a lot of time.”

Lehmann, an ironworker working as a project manager at Bennett Steel Inc. in Sapulpa, Okla., can access updated sets of blueprints or revised drawings on his tablet through a handful of apps—a big change in how paperwork is handled in the construction industry.

The best Veterans Day honor anyone can provide a returning veteran is a good job. Here’s the story of Helmets to Hardhats doing just that.

Here’s a roundup of reactions to last night’s election victory by President Obama and other working family candidates from national and state union leaders.

AFT President Randi Weingarten:

The American people voted today to create opportunity and shared prosperity by sharing responsibility, and to reject the cynical "you’re on your own" philosophy.

Retired Ironworkers Local 361 member John Sferazo, a longtime member of Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), was honored for his contributions to conservation at the Field & Stream Heroes of Conservation gala on Oct. 4 in Washington, D.C.

After suffering physical and emotional trauma as a Ground Zero volunteer on Sept. 11, Sferazo has worked to provide free hunting opportunities for first responders and veterans with disabilities. With the support of 30 organizations, his nonprofit group American Greenlands Restoration Inc. has turned a former 1,000-acre asphalt plant site in Maine back into a thriving forest habitat. “Being outside gave me an outlet, and I wanted to give others the same,” he said. “It’s the right fight, at the right time, for the right reason.”

Sferazo was nominated by the USA. Currently in its seventh year, the program honors individuals involved in grassroots projects to preserve the land, water and wildlife vital to sportsmen’s pursuits.

The NFL referee lockout is a complete disaster—something that’s obvious to everyone except (supposedly) the people keeping the referees locked out. Much ink has been spent on decrying the replacement referees and how they’re ruining football (never mind how they’re putting players’ safety at risk). What hasn’t gotten much attention in this lockout is symbolic of a much bigger issue: Training for a high-performing workforce matters.

The union movement is the largest workforce trainer of adults outside the U.S. military.