UFCW 8-Golden State President Jacques Loveall announced that the Union established informational picket lines at Fresh & Easy stores in Fresno and Clovis, California today.

Union Plus Scholarship Deadline: Saturday, January 30, 2010

Union members and their children are eligible for $500 - $4,000 scholarships for college graduate and undergraduate programs.

Since 1992, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more than $2.4 million to union members and their families.

Find eligibility details and download the application here.
http://www.unionplus.org/college-education-financing/union-plus-scholarship

According to the AFL-CIO, Nurses in Connecticut recently voted for a voice at work and formed a union with the AFT.

This post was sent in to UR from TWU, National. - Richard

President Obama signed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on February 17, 2009, which included funding for Amtrak capital projects. Over the last few months the TWU Railroad Division has been proud to show that they've played a positive role in putting this money to work. The stimulus package has given Amtrak's maintenance facilities in Beech Grove, Indiana and Bear, Delaware new life. TWU's Railroad Division Director Gary Maslanka said it's been a golden opportunity "for our people to show that they can get the job done."

By Leo W. Gerard
USW International President

A screwy thing happened after the United Steelworkers and eight domestic steel producers won their trade case late in December against Chinese manufacturers of the steel pipe used for oil and gas drilling.

Instead of describing it as an important victory for U.S. industry and workers, one in which they proved to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that China violated international trade rules, the media characterized it as Americans unnecessarily picking a fight with the Chinese.

Cross-posted from the IBEW web site.

IBEW members from throughout the United States are among those who will benefit from the announcement by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis of the release of nearly $100 million in renewable energy training grants.

BERRY CRAIG, our resident history professor, submitted this piece today on the teabagger movement in the United States. He explains what it is really all about and how it is counter to what the real teabaggers were all about.

The Weekly Round-Up is updated just about every Sunday. It is where we post all of the stories that appeared on the site in the last week or so for anyone to revisit, comment, etc.

Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are stepping up a campaign against the proposed sale of telephone lines in 14 states by telecom industry giant Verizon to the much smaller, mostly rural carrier, Frontier Communications.

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced nearly $100 million in green jobs training grants, as authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The grants will support job training programs to help dislocated workers and others, including veterans, women, African Americans and Latinos, find jobs in expanding green industries and related occupations. Approximately $28 million of the total funds will support projects in communities impacted by auto industry restructuring.

This is being cross-posted from the AFL-CIO Now Blog, it was written by Mike Hall.

More than 100 union members, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and UNITEHERE! President John Wilhelm were arrested at a sit-in demanding justice and a fair contract for San Francisco hotel workers last night. The workers have been without a contract since August.

This piece co-authored by Stewart Acuff and Courtney Pecquex it is being cross-posed from Daily Kos, where it was published this morning.

The thwarted terrorist plot on Christmas Day aboard a Northwest Airlines flight renewed the debate about how safe our skies are and the ability of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) to protect the traveling public from terrorist attacks.

The one thing that can't be debated is the fact TSA would be more capable of protecting the nation's skies if it had an administrator to lead the agency. And if Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) wasn't too busy playing politics and blocking Erroll Southers -- President Obama's nominee -- the agency would have someone at its helm.

Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO (WGAE) added 22 digital media companies as signatories in 2009. Thirty writers have become guild members as a result of digital media work covered by guild contracts this year. The exponential increase in digital media projects covered by the WGAE is the result of the union’s focus on new organizing.

The Weekly Round-Up- or the Week in (Union) Review, is updated just about every Sunday. It is where we post all of the stories that appeared on the site in the last week or so for anyone to revisit, comment, and share added thoughts.

This is a great AP article on Labor Secretary Hilda Solis that I wanted to share with UR.

Solis, a former California congresswoman and daughter of immigrant parents who were both union members, is a favorite of labor unions and a longtime advocate for workers’ rights. This article goes into some of the work she has already done in her short tenure.