There is an alarming increase the number of coal miners—including younger and younger miners—diagnosed with deadly black lung disease. But a proposed federal rule limiting miners’ exposure to the coal dust that causes black lung is stuck in regulatory limbo and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has urged President Obama to end the delays and move the rule “as expeditiously as possible.”

After budget cuts were put into effect because of the sequester, the Department of Defense began implementing furloughs for 650,000 civilian employees that would cost those workers 11 days of salary at a time when the economy is still struggling to recover from the Great Recession. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has since announced that the number of furlough days will be cut from 11 to six. AFGE applauded the change but said it didn't go far enough.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said on Sunday that Republicans would be open to restoring some of the funding lost in the job-killing sequester if new cuts to social safety net programs were put in place. In effect, Cantor is suggesting replacing one policy that hurts the economy and suppresses job growth with another policy that does the exact same thing.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) has moved the United States Postal Service (USPS) one big step closer to extinction this weekend by introducing his new Postal Reform Act (S. 1486). Mr. Carper, a longtime ally of wealthy corporate interests, intends to drive the stake into the heart of the world's best Postal Service. His bill, on many levels, closely resembles Rep. Darrell Issa’s (D-Calif.) H.R. 2748, which passed out of a House committee 10 days ago on a party-line vote with only GOP support.

California's working families, along with immigrant rights leaders, labor unions, faith organizations, student groups, elected officials and other allies, are announcing a series of major mobilizations throughout the state to rally support for a comprehensive immigration policy with a road map to citizenship. Upset at congressional Republicans' refusal to move forward on immigration policy, Californians have decided to take action instead of sitting idly by while legislation stalls in Washington, D.C.

This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to participate in a half-day workshop on immigration reform, sponsored by the AFL-CIO and the Economic Policy Institute. Held at the AFL-CIO's headquarters in Washington, D.C., the focus of the session was on why a road map to citizenship for America's undocumented residents is an essential component of reform, a topic that is increasingly relevant as certain House Republicans argue for creating a legalization process that would exclude citizenship as the ultimate endpoint.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with a formula to strengthen Social Security, says rocket scientist Rush Holt. Holt, who is also a U.S. House member from New Jersey and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, says we don’t need to raise the retirement age or cut benefits, just lift the cap on the Social Security tax so millionaires and billionaires pay the same rate as working families. Take a look as he explains it in this video. 

In July, House Democrats released the When Women Succeed, America Succeeds: An Economic Agenda for Women and Families. The overall goal of this economic agenda is to address the realities, disparities and opportunities for working women and families through effective policy and legislation. 

Here's a roundup of blog posts this week from the working moms series on Blogher and Hello Giggles, brought to you by the AFL-CIO, that highlight the need for paid sick days, pay equity and child care for working women and families (see blog posts after the jump). 

AFL-CIO Health and Safety Director Peg Seminario told a Senate committee on Thursday that the current system for developing and issuing worker and workplace safety rules is:

A broken and dysfunctional system, which is failing to protect workers and costing workers’ lives.

President Obama today ordered federal agencies to develop new rules to address the handling and storage of industrial chemicals such as the ammonia nitrate fertilizer that caught fire and exploded in West, Texas, killing 15 and leveling large portions of the town in April. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the executive order was:

Urgently needed to improve chemical safety and security throughout the country...and provides the direction and road map to address chemical hazards.