About 75 telecom workers and community supporters rallied in support of a Verizon technician in Lynn, MA who was recently threatened by a supervisor while acting in his capacity as an IBEW Local 2321 steward during a "captive audience" safety meeting.

It’s been only a month that a union for the unemployed has come into existence through an ingenious grass-roots organizing campaign. In case you haven’t heard about it, the union’s name is “UR Union of the Unemployed” or its nickname, “UCubed,” because of its unique method of organizing.

UCubed is the brain-child of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), whose leaders feel that the millions of unemployed workers need a union of their own to join in the struggle for massive jobs programs.

The idea is that if millions of jobless join together and act as an organization, they are more likely to get Congress and the White House to provide the jobs that are urgently needed. They can also apply pressure for health insurance coverage, unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits and food stamps. An unemployed worker is virtually helpless if he or she has to act alone.

The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Executive Board named Massachusetts AFL-CIO Vice President Mary Mahoney to serve as Secretary-Treasurer, effective January 1, 2010.  Click on the headline to read a statement from Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes and a press release from OPEIU.

On Tuesday, November 10^th, dozens of union organizers and labor leaders gathered at IBEW Local 103 for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Organizing Roundtable, where Dr. Elaine Bernard of Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program offered her insights on topics of labor law ranging from organizing to wages and pensions, to the right to strike.

Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 will be sending over $32,000 to area charities that benefit children this holiday season, thanks to generous donations gathered through Local 17's annual Friends For Children celebration.

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The Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development is proud to announce that Department of Labor director George Noel is the distinguished recipient of the Richard M. Fontera award. The award is presented to those individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to education and the ideals of democracy and social justice.

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October's Organizing Roundtable featured presentations from Tom Raiche of IAM Local 1726, currently organizing Delta workers at Logan Airport, and Organizing Roundtable Chair Bill Corley, an organizer for IBEW Local 103 who recently reached a first contract agreement for installation technicians at DirecTV/Multiband.

The Boston Newspaper Guild sent out a message on Wednesday April 29, 2009 regarding negotiations between the New York Times Co. and the Boston Globe, and included a petition that you can sign saying that you support saving the Boston Globe. Click the headline to read more and sign the petition.

Click the headline to view a memo released by the Rhode Island Committee on Occupational Safety and Health with tips for union representatives on how to deal with the "Swine Flu" situation.

On Thursday April 16th the Massachusetts AFL-CIO’s COPE Political Roundtable came together at the Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 Union Hall in Dorchester with the theme of “green jobs.” Members of the panel stressed the importance of such jobs not only in protecting the environment, but also stimulating the economy, providing lasting and family-sustaining employment for workers, and creating long-term savings for those who decide to invest in energy efficient homes and infrastructure. The roundtable discussed the nature of these jobs, their benefits, and also included updates on the political action of Massachusetts labor in the past month.