Don Machacek, a Minnesota DOT worker and member of AFSCME Local 2792 ^[1] (Council 5 ^[2]), rescued a mom and her two kids from their sinking car on Tuesday.

As part of Mn/DOT’s Freeway Incident Response Safety Team, Machacek has spent the last four years helping motorists and assisting law enforcement on area highways.

His reaction to suggestions he’s a hero? “Nah. I was just doing my job.”

Judge for yourself:

Read more from the Minnesota Star Tribune ^[3].

Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA)

“I worked for 20 years taking care of people — making sure they had a warm bath or a hot meal — so they could have a decent life at home. Isn’t that work important? By the wages, you wouldn’t think we do an important job, but home care workers help people stay at home, close to their families. In some cases, we are their family.”

— Evelyn Coke, a home care worker ^[4] who passed away a year ago, on July 9, 2009.

In honor of Evelyn Coke, who she calls “an American heroine,” Rep. Linda T. Sánchez is introducing legislation to extend labor protections to home care workers ^[5], expanding minimum wage and overtime rules which currently apply to the rest of the nation’s workforce under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Rep. Sánchez writes about the need to eliminate this discrepancy once and for all in a guest post on the American Rights at Work blog ^[6]:

The fact that she died a champion for humanity is not surprising; those who knew Ms. Coke witnessed her strength and compassion for the men and women she cared for. As a home care worker, Ms. Coke struggled for more than 20 years to make ends meet, often working 70 hours a week for a mere seven dollars an hour. Despite her dedication, she was denied full compensation, including time-and-a-half for overtime.

Ms. Coke was among the more than two million workers, including many new Americans like her, who assist elders and people living with disabilities with activities of daily living such as getting in and out of bed, dressing and undressing, cooking and eating, toileting and bathing. Without people like Ms. Coke, many of our family members and friends would be unable to enjoy the autonomy and quality of life that we all hold dear.

Sadly, this essential workforce is excluded from the basic protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Low pay and poor working conditions have hindered recruitment and retention which, in turn, negatively affect the quality of care that millions of Americans receive. Ms. Coke saw that in order to protect her family and the people she cared for, she had to stand up for change.

Read the full post ^[6].

^[7]This full-page ad ^[7] is running in the Louisville Courier-Journal.

This week, the National Conference of State Legislators ^[8] is holding a legislative summit in Louisville, KY, to discuss issues important to state legislatures in the midst of record budget shortfalls across the country.

Scheduled to address the conference today is none other than Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate and the chief architect of a strategy to block critically needed federal aid for states, putting the national economic recovery at risk by forcing layoffs of thousands of teachers, police officers and firefighters.

We couldn’t resist the opportunity to hold McConnell accountable.

AFSCME is running a full-page ad ^[7] in today’s Louisville Courier-Journal highlighting editorials from around the country calling on Congress to approve badly-needed federal aid for cash-strapped states.

We’re also projecting a giant video on buildings in downtown Louisville near the NCSL meeting to call out McConnell for his efforts to block the aid, force layoffs and stall the national economy for political gain. Politico’s Mike Allen called it the “ad of the day” in today’s Playbook ^[9], and CNN’s Political Ticker notes the ad targets McConnell on his “home turf” ^[10].

See the larger-than-life message to McConnell and the Republicans here:

By a 64-30 margin, Americans think reducing unemployment is more important than deficit reduction according to a Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday ^[11]. While the Senate was finally able to pass the long-delayed extension of unemployment benefits ^[12] this week, that is just the first step in keeping our economic recovery going — and much more needs to be done.

AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee urged President Obama and Congress to “heed the lessons of this poll ^[13],” and pass a real jobs bill that includes crucial federal aid to state and local governments to prevent the potentially devastating loss of up to 1 million additional public and private sector jobs.

“This poll confirms that Republican rhetoric in Washington is out of sync with average Americans. By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Americans believe that saving and creating jobs is more important than reducing the federal deficit to move our economy forward. Considering how tone-deaf Washington has become on jobs, it’s no wonder Americans are gloomy about the nation’s economic recovery.

Read the full statement ^[13].

Over 2,000 online progressives are gathering in Las Vegas this week for the 2010 Netroots Nation conference ^[14], and AFSCME will be there. The annual event, held this year July 22-25, brings together political powerhouses like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ^[15] (D-CA) and Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and progressives from across the country for workshops, panels and speaking events.

Don’t miss AFSCME’s contribution to the opening keynote program ^[16] being held on Thursday, July 22 from 7-9pm featuring Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Also scheduled to appear are MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas, among others.

On Friday night, join us at McFadden’s Bar in the Rio Hotel as AFSCME hosts Chairman’s Quiz Night ^[17] starting at 7pm — your chance to dazzle everyone with your knowledge of all things political.

Learn about the perils of privatization during the “Pay More, Get Less” panel ^[18] being held on Saturday at 1:45pm in Brasilia 2. AFSCME’s Research Director Kerry Korpi (who you’ll remember from her recent appearance on CNBC ^[19]) will discuss the high cost of handing over core government functions to big business.

Also on Saturday afternoon, we hope you’ll join us for the Labor Caucus ^[20] from 4:00-5:15pm in Miranda 5 where attendees will focus on issues affecting our work as labor communicators ^[21] — how we can improve what we do and effectively reach union members and the public.

In between panels, keynotes and events, visit the AFSCME booth (#808) in the exhibit hall ^[22] where we will be giving away prizes including USB drives and computer bags. You can also enter a raffle to win $250 in hotel gift card.

And be sure to visit the AFL-CIO/Working America booth as well where you can “Raise a Glass for the Working Class” ^[23] — visitors who take an action on behalf of working families will be invited back to attend a union beer tasting during happy hours on Thursday and Friday evenings.

Can’t make it to Las Vegas? You can follow the conference at home ^[14] via Twitter (the Netroots Nation 2010 hashtag is #NN10 ^[24]) and streaming online video. In addition, some sessions will be carried live by C-SPAN. We’ll be providing coverage as well, on this blog as well as on Facebook ^[25] and Twitter ^[26].

For more agenda highlights and Netroots Nation coverage, check out the AFL-CIO blog ^[27].

Wednesday morning on the Bill Press Radio Show ^[28], AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee talked P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S during a segment covering topics ranging from the extension of unemployment benefits, legislation to give public safety workers ^[29] the right to collective bargaining, and the very urgent need for Congress to pass federal aid to states ^[30].

When it comes right down to it, said McEntee, while the Republicans have been “recalcitrant” and have done their best to block every attempt to get the economy back on track, the Democrats and Pres. Obama need to do a lot more to fight for working families.

Pres. McEntee said the AFSCME members he spoke with during the union’s 39th International Convention ^[31] earlier this month were distressed, discouraged and angry about what’s happening — or not happening — in Washington, and he predicted it could have an impact on the upcoming midterm elections.

Bill Press: Do you think the base is going to be there?
Pres. McEntee: Right now? No.

Listen here (9 min. 21 sec.):

Update: on her blog, Digby says Pres. McEntee has “sounded a frightening alarm” and asks: Is unemployment about to go back up? ^[32]

^[33]

It’s simple: Working women are the experts on the challenges working women face at work, at home and getting by in a tough economy. And if you want to know something, the best thing to do is ask an expert.

That’s what Working America and the AFL-CIO are doing with the 2010 Ask a Working Woman survey ^[33], and they could use your help.

If you’re a working woman (whether you work outside or inside your home), please take seven minutes to complete the survey ^[33]. This is your chance to share how you feel about your job, how the recession has affected your family and what you hope and worry the next five years will bring.

For more than 12 years now, Working America and the AFL-CIO have been surveying women every two years or so, asking about their concerns and experiences, the challenges they face and the hopes they hold. You can be sure decision makers and the media will hear what you and tens of thousands of other women have to say. Please, take the survey now ^[33].

By a 60-39 vote, the Senate finally passed Wall Street reform legislation ^[34] on Thursday and sent it to President Obama for his signature. The victory capped a nearly yearlong fight that pitted an army of Wall Street lobbyists against a grassroots movement of financial reform activists from union, consumer and community groups. At one time the financial industry was spending an estimated $1.4 million a day to derail Wall Street reform.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, says the bill, which will rein-in some of the most reckless Wall Street/Big Bank practices that shoved the nation’s economy over the cliff,

represents a historic shift of power — away from big bankers and CEOs to working families and Main Street. For years, Big Banks have profited on the backs of working families. Millions of working families lost their jobs and still can’t find work because of the reckless and selfish actions of Wall Street and the big banks.

The bill includes new rules on how banks handle derivatives. Derivatives are the complex and risky financial products developed by Wall Street and Big Banks that were at the heart of the financial collapse. The bill regulates banks’ hedge fund operations and gives shareholders more of a say on corporate governance.

It also creates a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to rein in subprime mortgages, payday lending and abusive credit practices. The bill protects taxpayers from footing the bill for failing financial institutions by giving government regulators the authority to liquidate the companies by breaking them apart, selling assets and forcing creditors and shareholders to take losses — not the taxpayers.

Read more on the AFL-CIO blog ^[35].

Watch AFSCME Director of Research Kerry Korpi stand up to attacks on public employees and our pensions during an appearance on CNBC ^[36]. At issue: should states cut public pensions to balance ballooning budgets?

Despite being outnumbered 3 against 1, Korpi didn’t let a single myth or untruth — and there were plenty of them — go unchecked.

“Our members have taken furloughs in a number of states, they’ve taken layoffs, wage freezes and cuts in pensions. When we’re talking about public employee pensions, let’s talk about facts. The average member of AFSCME makes a pension of about $20,000. That’s after a career of service contributing anywhere from 4% to 8% of their salary, year in and year out. A number of those folks don’t get Social Security, so that pension is all they’ve got in retirement.”

Watch the full segment:

Working families recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act ^[37], the primary law protecting workers’ right to form or join a union and engage in collective bargaining.

Thanks to the NLRA, unions have built America’s middle class and lifted million of workers from poverty to prosperity. Still, too many naysayers claim that given our nation’s current economic predicament, we cannot afford to have unions.

Seriously?

As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said ^[38] when he signed the Act into law on July, 5, 1935, the NLRA will help us achieve “common justice and economic advance.” This is exactly what the NLRA has done, despite the numerous obstacles Big Business and other anti-union forces keep throwing in its way.

Without organized labor, many of the things we take for granted – things workers in other nations can only dream of – would not exist. The eight-hour work day, the 40-hour week, safety and health regulations, pensions, vacation and sick days were all won through the power of collective bargaining. Do our detractors think employers provided these benefits out of simple generosity?

As Labor Secretary Hilda Solís pointed out ^[39] recently on The Huffington Post, thanks to collective bargaining:

“Working people were able to share in the gains of their productivity and labor and management together forged creative solutions to create the powerful engine of the American economy we all are proud of.”

To really jumpstart our economy, we must rescue the middle class and help it grow. This is why AFSCME also supports initiatives such as the Employee Free Choice Act ^[40], a bill that would make it easier for millions of workers to join unions and stiffen penalties to employers who violate their right to do so.

Now – when our country needs it most – is time to fulfill the promise of the National Labor Relations Act and give workers the chance of a better tomorrow.