Companies that do not allow union elections violate human rights, said Bob King, president of the UAW, which is talking with some foreign auto companies that have plants in the United States about a set of principles aimed at ensuring fair elections. Such principles are necessary, King said, because National Labor Relations Board procedures are outdated and allow companies to intimidate workers and spread misinformation. Transplant companies are foreign-owned companies that have plants in the United States.

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) has brought union representation to a growing group of workers who do not fit the traditional union model: freelance writers and producers who work on nonfiction TV shows.

Jennifer Wright Dorr at Union Plus sends this latest news on the iPhone and AT&T.

The big tech news in the past few days is that Verizon will begin selling the much-sought-after Apple iPhone—at least for those with phone envy—in February. Previously, it was an AT&T exclusive.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) reached a tentative agreement with Kaiser Permanente today. The three-year contract includes more than 20 important professional and economic enhancements and, significantly, no reductions in patient care protections or economic or professional practice standards, according to the union.

The 1,300 Dane County, Wis., workers approved new contracts effective through 2014, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

When workers decide they want to come together and form unions, it’s a well-documented fact that management is none too happy about it.

Kay Tillow, a veteran union activist from Louisville, can inspire us all as we start the New Year. “Set a stout heart to a steep hillside” is an old Scottish proverb that reminds me of Tillow, who’s executive director of the Nurses Professional Organization.

The union movement received a fresh dose of solidarity today with the signing of a historic agreement with the 2.8 million National Education Association and the approval of new charters that bring two more unions into the AFL-CIO fold.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council, holding its winter meetings this week in San Diego, today unanimously approved an unprecedented new partnership with the National Education Association that will further strengthen and unify the labor movement and bolster its ability to meet the needs of working families.