Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s attacks on middle-class workers and  state employees’ bargaining rights has nothing to do with a budget deficit and everything to do with paying back politicians who helped him get elected, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today.

Inspired by the  popular protests in Egypt, around the world and in states like Wisconsin, National Nurses United (NNU) today launched a news line designed to help coordinate and encourage grassroots protests in the United States.

The U.S. House today defeated, 250-176, an amendment that would have defunded the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The proposed amendment to H.R. 1, the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011, would have set a funding level for the NLRB that was so draconian it would have defunded the agency completely through the end of the fiscal year in September.

The president of the nation’s largest federal employees’ union that represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and U.S. marshals today issued the following statement after the Tuesday night ambush of two ICE agents in Mexico, one of whom was killed, and the Wednesday morning shooting in West Virginia that resulted in the killing of one federal marshal and wounding of two other marshals in the line of duty.

How bad is the Republican federal budget proposal? AFL-CIO Legislative Director Bill Samuel describes it as an “all-out assault against middle-class Americans.”

Back when flight attendants were stewardesses and airline ads promoted their good looks and winsome smiles to get you on board, these hardworking airline employees had no job safety and health protection.  Today, flight attendants still are not covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and most of his Republicans colleagues want to keep it that way, just like the old days.

AFL-CIO President Emeritus John Sweeney today received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor during a White House ceremony.

Sweeney served as president of the AFL-CIO from 1995–2009 and transformed the union movement into a voice for all working Americans. Under his leadership, the AFL-CIO led efforts to strengthen the middle class, create good jobs for all Americans and fight corporate greed.

The U.S. Commerce Department announced today that our trade deficit reached $497 billion last year, including a new record $273 billion deficit with China.

Today’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Medicare was billed as an examination of how the health care reform law will impact the 45-year-old program that provides health care coverage for nearly 40 million seniors.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wants to deny safety and health protections for flight attendants. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill would extend Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) protection to flight attendants and other air crew, something air crew workers have been seeking for decades. Paul has offered an amendment to strip the OSHA protections from the bill. (Click here for details.)