Earlier this week, we told you that a coalition of unions and community groups were able to move a paid sick leave bill to near fruition in New York City, while we also brought you a column by Ellen Bravo, director of Family Values @ Work, that explored the momentum behind the growing paid sick leave drive in cities across the country.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka condemned the actions of Gov. Rick Snyder and the radical Republicans in Michigan who announced today that "right to work" for less legislation would be pushed forward in the state's "lame-duck" session. Working families filled the Lansing Capitol building Thursday, outraged at the attempts to strip them of their voice in the workplace. Snyder is the latest in a line of extreme Republican governors, such as Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Scott of Florida, who are assaulting the rights of working families.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas, who last month struck down the Wisconsin law (Act 10) that eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights, refused a request on Monday by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration to stay the order while the case is on appeal.

Colas said the state "failed to show that they will suffer irreparable harm if the stay is not granted."

More than 300 union and community activists "unwelcomed" Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) to Kalispell, Mont., yesterday with signs and chants letting him know that there’s no room in Big Sky Country for the anti-worker, anti-union, education and health care cutting policies that mark his record.

If you were building a bridge, would you hire a work crew with a few hours of metal shop on their résumés, or trained and certified Ironworkers? Would you go into surgery with someone who only has a CPR certificate, or a real doctor with a medical degree?

If you’re NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, or one of the 32 NFL team owners, you'd go with the newbie—at least it seems that way, given their decision to lock out professional NFL officials and instead use untrained, unprepared and in-over-their-heads replacement referees.

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt and Secretary-Treasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale send us this.

On Friday, Sept. 14, Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas granted summary judgment in favor of Madison Teachers Inc. and others, finding many basic provisions of Act 10 violate the U.S. and Wisconsin constitutions and are therefore null and void.

Judge Colas found that the restriction limiting the increases on general municipal employees’ base wages only to the consumer price index (CPI) if bargained by a union burdened employees’ rights to free speech and freedom of association, since the limitation applied only to municipal employees represented by a union.

The judge held the prohibition against payroll dues deduction and the annual recertification election requirement by 51% of those eligible to vote burdens freedom of speech and association rights of those employees who support unions.

Friday’s ruling by Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas striking down the Wisconsin law (Act 10) that eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights, “Shows as we have said from day one,” says Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt:

Scott Walker’s attempt to silence the union men and women of Wisconsin’s public sector was an immoral, unjust and illegal power grab. Now, a court has ruled that the essential provisions of Act 10, Scott Walker’s draconian attack on public worker’s right to collectively bargain, is unconstitutional. 

Workers in New Hampshire have fought for two years to block attempts to pass "right to work" for less laws and dismantle collective bargaining. Now, depending on the election in November, they could face two more years of attacks on their rights.

An anti-labor Republican who has labeled himself "Scott Walker on steroids" swept the Republican nomination in New Hampshire's gubernatorial race last night. Ovide Lamontagne, a Manchester lawyer and perennial candidate for New Hampshire's higher offices, is a Koch brothers' dream candidate: he vocally supports "right to work," believes in abolishing the minimum wage and supports funneling taxpayer dollars for education into private religious schools.

Bashing unions and working people seems to be the unifying theme of the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC) held in Tampa, Fla., this week.

Josh Eidelson wrote for Salon that the RNC's choice of speakers and agenda is "a full-on embrace of the same anti-union agenda that helped earn Scott Walker and Nikki Haley their Tuesday night speaking slots."

The new platform reflects a Republican Party even more hostile to organized labor than the one that nominated John McCain four years ago.

Nearly 300 workers at Journey Mental Health Center in Madison, Wis., voted overwhelmingly to join AFSCME Council 40 last week. The two groups that chose AFSCME are the professional staff and the center’s paraprofessional workers. Journey is a private, non-profit organization and the workers provide mental health services at nine sites in Dane County.