While government in Washington, D.C., remains divided and marked by long-term gridlock, governments in the states are much less divided. Of the 50 states, 37 now feature state governments where the governor and majorities in both legislative houses are controlled by one party—24 of those are controlled by Republicans. Extreme, anti-working family Republicans have repeatedly assaulted the rights of people in recent years and, by all accounts, the trend looks to expand in 2013. Working families are mobilized and fought back in 2012 and will continue to fight in 2013.  The response to the "right to work" for less push in Michigan was so strong, that governors in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have since declared that they won't push for right to work in their states.

It’s a double whammy for low-wage workers when they get hurt or fall ill on the job.

A new policy brief, “Mom’s Off Work ’Cause She Got Hurt: The Economic Impact of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in the U.S.’s Growing Low-Wage Workforce,” examines the growing problem. 

If you are hurt or made ill on the job, navigating the workers’ compensation system in your state can be confusing and difficult. Now a newly launched website, Workers’ Comp Hub (www.WorkersCompHub.org), gives you a road map.

The new website, a joint effort of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) and the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), provides:

AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer Cathy Sherwin sends us this report.

Opponents of working people in Michigan are pushing a bill that would gut protections for workers hurt on the job and give employers more power to dictate where injured workers could seek treatment. The bill also would slash benefits by factoring in “imaginary” wages and pensions and deducting from benefits—reducing workers’ compensation by the amount someone might be able to earn, regardless of the availability of an actual job.

The Michigan House of Representatives voted yesterday to gut the state’s workers’ compensation system (H.B. 5002).

This is a cross-post from the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO by Karen Hickey in AFL-CIO Field Communications.

One hundred years ago today Wisconsin’s Republican governor put aside partisan politics to sign a law protecting workers. On May 3, 1911, Wisconsin Republican Gov. Francis McGovern signed the nation’s first constitutionally upheld workers’ compensation law.

In a landmark ruling, U.S. Judge Paul Crotty of the Southern District of New York issued an injunction today requiring all NFL teams and owners to stop seeking to reduce the workers’ compensation benefits due to former NFL players as a result of injuries they suffered while playing the game.