After 20 years, longtime Boston mayor Tom Menino is stepping down. And after Tuesday, the people of Boston are one step closer to electing a pro-labor champion to follow in his footsteps.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman released the following statement following the election of Congressman Ed Markey to the U.S. Senate (see statement after the jump).

Last week's debate in the special Senate election in Massachusetts shows a sharp contrast in the positions of the two candidates hoping to replace new Secretary of State John Kerry. Democrat Edward Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez differ greatly on the rights of government workers. Markey gave a spirited defense of the collective bargaining rights of first responders and others who work for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Activists rallied in front of the Beacon Street Dunkin' Donuts in Boston to build support for a bill in the state legislature that would require employers to give earned sick leave hours to their employees. The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Dan Wolf and state Rep. Kay Khan and would ensure that workers get one hour of sick time for each 30 hours they work, up to a maximum of at least 40 hours a year, depending on the size of the company (smaller companies have some exemptions).

Chances are everyone around you is sick. Not a pleasant thought, but recent reports show the flu season is one of the worst we've seen in a decade. Check out this Google map to see your risk factors for catching the flu in your state. 

Frank Callahan, president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, sends us this open letter.

I am sure that many of you share my frustration at trying to sift through campaign commercials and talking points to find out where the candidates for president really stand on issues that are important to you. Part of the problem is Mitt Romney’s habit of changing his positions to suit his audience.

One thing he can’t change is his record. I had a front-row seat for Mitt Romney’s term as governor of Massachusetts. His positions and his actions on the issues that have a direct impact on building and construction trades workers were not good for our members.

AFT’s "Your Vote–Your Right–Their Futures” bus tour is rolling through Florida this week building support and getting out the vote for President Obama and other working family candidates. AFT President Randi Weingarten, AFT Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson, along with local and state AFT officials and members, will meet with union and community election volunteers and activists for rallies, marches and neighborhood walks.

Check out the AFL-CIO's new Innovators website feature, "Not Your Daddy's Labor Movement," here.

Leave behind what you know about Robert's Rules of Order and structured union meetings. A new generation of emerging labor leaders across the country is bringing young workers together in paintball games, music festivals, trivia nights and pub crawls—all with an activist edge.

Massachusetts Voters Beware. Millionaire candidate Sen. Scott Brown portrays himself as an “average guy in a pickup” when in reality he’s a big backer of Wall Street, not Main Street.

“Scott Brown: Wall Street’s Favorite Senator,” a new website launched by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, highlights Brown’s two-year anti-worker voting record in the Senate.

Aliza Levine, council organizer for the North Shore Labor Council, AFL-CIO, sends us this.

Immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, more than 50 union members and community allies rallied outside of Greater Lynn Senior Services in Massachusetts to celebrate the decision. The crowd, which included members of the North Shore Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and Massachusetts Senior Action Council, noted that although the Supreme Court upheld the health care decision, the very services it protects are at risk if the budget proposed by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) passed.