Last Saturday, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, the United Way and other organizations teamed up for the eighth annual "Back-to-School Free Haircut Day" at the Pfeiffer-Burleigh School playground in Erie County. Nearly 800 children attended, according to Ron Oliver, AFL-CIO's community services liaison for the area.  Nearly all of the volunteers and funds to run the event were provided by the AFL-CIO and its affiliates. Children were given free haircuts, a free backpack and free food. Games and activities also were held to make the event even more fun for the children and families who participated.

Jake Long, chair of the Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council’s COPE committee and a baker by trade, does not spend most of his days in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg, but it did not take him long to form an opinion of the proceedings surrounding the court’s review of the state's contested voter ID law.

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.

If you're in Pennsylvania and want to help get out the vote, time is running out. Check out the remaining canvassing and phone bank opportunities in your area. 

PHILADELPHIA

Contact: Liz McElroy, 267-455-8191, emcelroy@philaflcio.org

Joseph Desprez, a Philadelphia voter, saw the My Vote, My Right event at PennDOT today and volunteered to be a poll watcher this November. Desprez already had a state-issued voter ID, and wanted to make sure everyone who wants to vote would be able to.

Pennsylvania voters went to the PennDOT office in the Oxford Levick Shopping Center in Philadelphia, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 22, to obtain voter IDs.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision to send the voter ID law back to the lower court for evaluation on whether the law disenfranchises voters "is a positive step," says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. 

But it is also a reminder of how cumbersome voter ID laws have become to voters. We are less than 50 days away from a critically important election, and many voters are going to face problems voting because of confusing voter ID laws. In Pennsylvania alone, more than 758,000 residents lack a state-issued ID and nationally the problem is even bigger. 

A little rain never hurt anybody and it certainly didn't stop hundreds of Pennsylvania voters from getting their voter IDs today at the Driver & Vehicle Services office in Pittsburgh. 

Pennsylvania voters who need IDs—thanks to a new state law that disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents, including civic-minded seniors— were assisted by representatives from the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), along with the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO and various community groups. Because of the new law, Pennsylvania state officials say that more than 785,000 voters don’t have a state-issued photo identification.

Sometimes support can come from the most unlikeliest of places. CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer tweeted today his father is one of the 750,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania who does not have a state-issued ID and won't be able to vote this November because of a voter ID law passed by state Republicans. 

Cramer tweeted: "I have a problem. My dad, a vet, won't be allowed to vote in Pa. because he does not drive, he is elderly, and can't prove his citizenship."

This morning in Carnegie, Pa., union activists and allies were on hand to greet Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan to protest his and Mitt Romney’s plan to end Medicare as we know it and shower even more tax breaks on the wealthy and corporations, with working families footing the bill.

The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO partnered with the United Way of Erie County last week to host an unemployment resources fair for jobless workers as part of Project Back on Track, a new program intended to help the unemployed. Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Richard Bloomingdale says several more resource fairs are planned around the state.