This is a crosspost by Tony Burke from the Fire Fighters blog.

For 16 years, the IAFF Burn Foundation has brought young survivors together to form new bonds at its annual international Burn Camp.

AFT President Randi Weingarten urged President Obama to “help marshal the humanitarian aid needed to halt the advance of the apocalyptic ‘children’s famine’ spreading through Somalia and neighboring nations in the Horn of Africa.”

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

The 46th Annual MDA Labor Day Telethon raised $61.4 million to help fight neuromuscular diseases, $27.2 million of which was raised by Fire Fighters (IAFF) affiliates that conducted Fill-the-Boot campaigns and other fundraisers in their communities. The IAFF, now in its 57th year of supporting MDA, continues to be the top fundraiser for the charity.

When you’re working outside you certainly know when it’s hot. But do you know when it’s so hot that you need to start taking precautions to prevent heat related illnesses? Thousands of workers become ill from heat-related illnesses every year and in 2010, 30 workers died from heat stroke.

Lara Manzione of the National Labor College reports on last night’s “Time to Build” fundraising gala at the college.

Following the first day of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting held at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., the college hosted a “A Time to Build”  gala last night. The gala honored Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), and the presidents of five entertainment  unions:  Ray Hair, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM); Ken Howard, Screen Actors (SAG); Matthew  Loeb, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Roberta Reardon, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and Nick Wyman, Actors’ Equity (AEA).

This is a cross-post from the Machinists (IAM). The labor movement and the faith community have long held shared goals of equality and opportunity. Each Labor Day, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and the AFL-CIO sponsortheLabor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar program, which highlights these shared goals. Click here to find out more.

Union members have always found time to help out their communities. Click here to read about laid-off Taylor, Mich., Fire Fighters (IAFF) members refusing to let the heat stand in the way of their annual fundraising drive for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and here to see how several unions in McKeesport, Pa., are supporting local Boys and Girls Clubs.

With the already high cost of college growing each semester, working families are finding it hard to afford higher education for their children. Union Plus, part of Union Privilege, the consumer benefits arm of the AFL-CIO, is helping union members reach their education savings goals with Union Plus college savings grants.

This is a cross-post from the Actors’ Equity website.

Stages St. Louis opened its 25th season with the smash hit “A Chorus Line” and a check for $25,000 to the Red Cross benefiting the Missouri Tornado and Flood Relief Fund. The cast presented the check to Red Cross Executive Director Cindy Erickson at its June 29 performance.

If you’re not one of the 58,000 people who’ve checked out the trio of fun videos on our new website—Collective Bargaining: Real people. Real Impact—you’re missing a good dose of timely satire. Produced by Laughing Liberally and the AFL-CIO, the videos use wry humor to demonstrate the importance of collective bargaining. You’ll see just how bad things can get if workers don’t have a voice at the bargaining table–from pay cuts and benefit attacks all the way to “Paid Child Fun Time” (also known as child labor) and other schemes hatched by bosses who have the negotiating table all to themselves. Not even a pizza party makes those any easier to swallow.