After four decades as a labor activist and more than five years as the executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, Arlene Holt Baker will be retiring from her position in the coming months. Holt Baker announced she was leaving the position she's held since 2007 after the AFL-CIO national convention in September. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who is up for re-election at the convention, said he would replace Holt Baker on his ticket with Tefere Gebre, who is 45 and is the executive director of the Orange County Labor Federation in California.

The deadline for the 2013 Berger-Marks Foundation Edna Award is Aug. 16. The award recognizes a young woman who has made an extraordinary contribution to social justice and to improving the lives of working women and men.

Fill out the nomination form here, and read more about the Edna Award here. 

For centuries, people move to make a better life for themselves and their families. This is illustrated in the experience of immigrants who uproot their lives and move to the United States to achieve the American Dream. 

Recipients of Union Plus scholarships this year have expressed how union benefits offer their families greater security, more dignity and respect in the workplace, better wages and more protection for workers, including rules that prohibit discrimination on the basis of national origin.

Let’s say you want to walk on a tightrope across the Grand Canyon without a tether or a net—in whose hands would you put your life? If you are Nik Wallenda, a Guinness Book of World Records-holder seven times over for acrobatic feats—including walking across Niagara Falls on a similar tightrope—you turn to union members.

While working families, civil rights groups and people from all over gathered in cities across the United States yesterday to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, AFL-CIO affiliate unions, constituency groups and allies also expressed their shock over the verdict. 

AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in the fight for justice, it's time to stand our ground.

On Saturday, July 6, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed while landing in San Francisco, leading to two deaths and more than 100 injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the cause of the tragedy.

This week we're highlighting American products and services. What are your favorite Made in America products? 

What could be more “Made in America” than a good old USA summer vacation that’s union-made, too? Here are some tips from Union Plus.

We at the AFL-CIO would like to wish you a happy, healthy and safe 4th of July. 

In case you missed it, here's our July 4th shopping list (if you're running out to the store at the last minute) and some grill and fire safety tips brought to you by the Fire Fighters (IAFF). 

If you plan on shooting off your own fireworks, here's a great Facebook graphic from IAFF on fireworks safety.

This week, leading up to July 4, we're highlighting American products and services. What are your favorite Made in America products? 

If there was a union for dogs—and if they had opposable thumbs—I’m sure my two German Shepherds would sign authorization cards and I would respect their majority sign-up choice. But until non-traditional alt-organizing takes a major step outside the box, our pets will have to find solidarity and some tasty treats in a variety of pet products that carry a Made in America union label.

The fifth season of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA's) “Brotherhood Outdoors,” a unique hunting and fishing series that showcases the talents and passions of union members, kicks off at 11 a.m. EDT Sundays, starting July 7, on the Sportsman Channel. Encore airings will be broadcast on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.