More and more workers want to assert their right to bargain for a better future. Like the song says, “Who you gonna call?” The answer, for many companies, is simple: Union busters!

As the cover story of the latest issue of In These Times reports, union busting “has become a multibillion-dollar industry encompassing more than 2,500 lawyers and consultants offering their services.”

One such outfit is Jackson Lewis, which Steve Perez describes in his Daily Kos diary as “one of the go-to law firms” in the blossoming field of “union prevention” (a.k.a. denying workers their right to organize).

To find out more about Jackson Lewis and the dirty tricks of union busters, check out this must-read In These Times article.

Are you in debt? If that’s the case, you are not alone. The average U.S. household, consisting of college graduates who borrowed money for school, have a mortgage and own more than one credit card, owes about $112,000.

That’s right, $112,000. Meanwhile, worker’s wages remain stagnant and the cost of living keeps going up.

Luckily, being an AFSCME member doesn’t just get you power in the workplace - it also gets you benefits from AFSCME Advantage and its many affiliated services, including the new Union Plus program Debt Help.

Debt Help seeks to assist working families in handling their debt. Its website offers advice on how to assess your debt, managing mortgage debt and numerous other programs get you back on your financial feet. Debt Help is provided by Union Privilege, an AFL-CIO organization that offers valuable consumer benefits to union members and their families.

Never mind the doomsayers. In spite of the Bush administration’s repeated efforts to undermine union membership, the labor movement remains strong.

According to documents filed with the U.S. Labor Department, between 2004 and 2006 AFL-CIO unions grew by a combined 1.42 percent, a net growth of 136,000 members. Leading the pack is AFSCME, which gained more than 120,000 members. Numerous workers joined AFSCME during the period, including child care providers in New York, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, bus drivers in Indiana and thousands more across the country.

Imagine what would happen if workers were actually free to join unions and didn’t have to fight tooth and nail to assert their right to bargain for a better future. Just take a look at some examples of organizing amid employer intimidation from this recent issue of AFSCME WORKS magazine. Remember that over 60 percent of Americans approve of labor unions and some 60 million workers say they would be part of one if they could.

This is why we support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), an initiative to allow people to join unions – either by ballot elections or majority sign-up – without employer interference. This is also why supporting a candidate that’s friendly to working families will be so important in ’08.

Next week, the U.S. House is expected to vote on the bipartisan Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill that would make it illegal to fire someone because of his or her sexual orientation. It is a national disgrace that in more than 30 states, competent and qualified workers can still be fired simply because of their sexual orientation.

In his statement on ENDA, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said, “Congress now has an opportunity to right this wrong. Immediate enactment of ENDA will send a clear message that the American Dream belongs to all of us… It is time to pass ENDA. It is the right thing to do.”

One of America’s most revered and respected labor leaders, Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO and a former AFSCME International vice president, heads home to San Antonio and a well-deserved retirement on September 21.

The daughter of cotton sharecroppers, Chavez-Thompson worked tirelessly for civil, human and workers’ rights and became the first woman of color elected as a top officer at the national AFL-CIO.

She rose through AFSCME’s ranks, as business manager of AFSCME Local 2399 in San Antonio and then as founding executive director of Texas State Council 42. In 1988, she was elected an AFSCME International vice president, serving in that post for eight years. Chavez-Thompson also was a member of AFSCME’s Judicial Panel.

Her life changed in 1994 when President McEntee asked her to become part of John Sweeney’s New Voice slate. She agreed and the next year, Chavez-Thompson was elected the AFL-CIO’s first executive vice president.

Despite her retirement, Chavez-Thompson is not ending her four-decade commitment to the Labor Movement. She now becomes the AFL-CIO’s first executive vice president emerita, and will also continue to chair the AFL-CIO Immigration Committee, and lead the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (ORIT), and the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) regional organization for the Americas. In addition, Chavez-Thompson will be an advisor to state federations and labor councils.

Read more about Chavez-Thompson on the AFL-CIO Now blog and at AFSCME.org.

That means there’s no better time to get the word out that Cervical Cancer Prevention Works! Although cervical cancer is preventable, approximately 11,150 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with the disease in 2007 and 3,670 of them will die.

The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is taking action with Cervical Cancer Prevention Works, a program that empowers union women with the information they need to prevent this deadly disease.

Learn the facts and take action! Visit CLUW’s website for more information. Also, check out Tamika and Friends, an organization started by AFSCME member and cervical cancer survivor Tamika Felder to raise awareness about prevention.

The House of Labor must be doing something right. According to the latest Gallup poll, sixty percent of Americans approve of labor unions.

That’s right. Sixty percent, even though unions are under constant attack by one of the most anti-worker administrations in recent history.

And here’s why: When it comes to fair wages, better health care and pensions, a union makes all the difference. Union members earn 30 percent more than nonunion workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Likewise, 80 percent of union members are covered by pension plans versus just 47 percent of nonunion workers. Furthermore, nonunion employees are five times more likely to lack health insurance coverage.

It is not surprising that 60 million U.S. workers say they would join a union if they could. So, what’s the hold up? Employer intimidation. Our nation’s labor laws are enforced so feebly that employers routinely get away with breaking them.

Anti-worker lawmakers recently derailed Senate passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, an initiative that would allow workers to join unions – either by ballot elections or majority sign-up – without employer interference.

Despite clear approval from the American public, George W. Bush seems to think it’s fine that workers aren’t free to join unions or bargain for a better future for their families. He’s promised to veto the bill should it reach his desk.

Just one more reason for us to lead the battle to elect a pro-working family President in 2008!

All of us at AFSCME paused today to remember the victims of the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001.

On the Huffington Post blog, President Gerald W. McEntee shares his thoughts about the innocent victims and those who gave their lives in service to others on that fateful morning six years ago.

Firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, 911 operators, transit workers, nurses, hospital and health care workers, city engineers and air traffic controllers sprang into action on September 11, and in the days and months that followed. Many were AFSCME members. They did what AFSCME members always do. They are always there when tragedy strikes or disaster threatens. They make America happen. We will always be proud of them.

Read the full post.

Iraq War veteran and AFSCME member David Watchous talks to reporters about the need to fully fund veteran provisions in the labor-HHS funding bill. Watchous is a corrections officer at the Topeka Corrections Facility in Topeka, KS.

Congress has a lot on its plate now that it’s back in session. And one of the most important priorities for AFSCME members is a bill that funds the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education – or the Labor-HHS bill.

For months, AFSCME and partner organizations, through the Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities, have been putting pressure on Members of Congress to pass this bill. It would begin to reinvest our tax dollars in vital services for regular Americans – things like child care, education and job training. In July, the House overwhelmingly passed the bill – despite a threat from President Bush to veto it.

The bill also provides funding for homelessness prevention and mental health services for American veterans. And that’s why AFSCME veterans have been coming out in full force across the country calling on their senators to follow the House’s lead.

Click these links for a small sample of press coverage from our events in Indiana, Oregon and Kansas:

• Indiana Veterans Calling for Lugar’s Support (WISH-TV)
• Indiana Vets Call for More Health Care for Soldiers
(WTHR-TV)
• Vets Call on Senator Smith (1190 KEX-AM)
• Military Suicide Rate Highest in 26 Years… Vets Urge Support (WIBW-TV)
• Vietnam Veterans Urge Senators to Pass Mental Health Funding (KBSD-TV)

Labor Day has barely ended and we are already witnessing new examples of employer abuse. This time it’s the University of Minnesota, which refuses to give its nearly 3,500 clerical, technical and health care workers a decent wage increase.

Represented by AFSCME locals 3937, 3800, 3801 and 3260 (Minnesota Council 5), these hardworking members are now on strike. Picket signs went up across the university early Wednesday morning after frontline staff workers overwhelmingly rejected the administration’s meager salary raise offer.

Over the past five years, workers at the U. of Minnesota have seen inflation steadily outpace their wage increases. Meanwhile, administrative salaries have grown an average of 27 percent. Faculty wages have likewise grown by 19 percent. Learn more by watching this video.

Take a stand and support the workers – call the strike hotline at 612-234-8772 or visit the Local 3937 site for more ways to help.