Conservative and Republican public employees across the state voiced opposition to a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker that would deny nurses, teachers, EMTs and other trusted public service providers the right to collectively bargain—a freedom that nearly every other Wisconsinite enjoys.

UPDATE:  Veterans are strongly objecting to Walker’s “inappropriate threat to activate the National Guard to intimidate state workers, as his administration moves forward with plans to break up workers’ unions,” according Vote Vets.org.

NFL team owners have been preparing for a lockout for three years, but players continue to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” George Atallah, assistant executive director of external affairs of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), said today.

Thousands of registered nurses and nurse practitioners in Northern and Central California, members of  the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), voted nearly unanimously to approve a new three-year contract with Kaiser Permanente that gives them more freedom and authority to better care for their patients.

Each community with an NFL team stands to lose as much as $160 million if the team owners force a lockout next season. If the owners get away with the lockout, it could cost 150,000 jobs nationwide and have a ripple effect on how other workers across the country are treated, according to people who labor on the field and in the stadiums.

The National Labor College (NLC) has launched three new fully online bachelor’s degree programs in Construction Management, Emergency Readiness and Response Management and Business Administration.

The Machinists ratified a new three-year contract with Alaska Airlines—and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

Just a week after Natalie Portman and Melissa Leo gave shout outs to their union at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, two more high-profile union members were in the spotlight. On Super Bowl Sunday, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers’ team rep. for the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), took home the Super Bowl MVP award. The same day New England Patriot alternate rep. Tom Brady was named Offensive Player of the Year for the 2010 season.

After a nine-year battle to gain a voice in the workplace, more than 40,000 transportation security officers (TSOs) finally can become union members and bargain for a contract.

This is a guest blog from Charles Lenchner and Elana Levin, co-founders of Organizing 2.0. Levin also serves as director of communications for the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE).

Organizing 2.0 is an annual training conference in New York City for union movement organizers and social justice activists. It’s set for Feb. 13 at the City University of New York (CUNY) Murphy Institute.