Barack Obama is the only candidate in the presidential race who is on the side of working people, and we must defeat attempts to divide workers by race and put him in the White House, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka says.Speaking to the United Steelworkers’ (USW) convention in Las Vegas this week, Trumka said:

First McCain said he doesn't know much about the economy. Lately, he's saying he never said it. Which is it? George W. Bush's solution to our nation's economic mess—that his failed policies helped create—is to applaud people who must work three jobs to make ends meet.

Tax cuts for corporations, coupled with tax hikes and higher health care costs for working families? That’s no way to turn around the economy and the country. Yet, it’s the likely result of John McCain’s economic agenda, according to analysts.

With its two leaders still awaiting trial, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has condemned the continuing violence and intimidation of union members in the country as the government of discredited President Robert Mugabe tries to hold on to power. The violence against union members is taking place within a countrywide surge of brutality against Mugabe opponents.The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, along with the international labor movement, is supporting Stand Up for Zimbabwe, a global campaign to end violence in Zimbabwe and show solidarity with its people.

Jobs tanked again in June, with U.S. employers cutting 62,000 jobs, for a sixth consecutive monthly decline, according to the Labor Department today.The jobless rate remained at 5.5 percent after jumping in May by the most in two decades.The Labor Department today also issued a report showing initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 16,000 to 404,000 last week.

Charles Clark, Labor 2008 state director for Indiana, reports on union members’ response to a McCain appearance this week.When John McCain arrived in Indianapolis on Tuesday morning, he was greeted by dozens of union members chanting “Shame on McCain” and “McSame as Bush” in protest of the presidential candidate’s visit to the state capital.

In a global economy where multinational companies operate across borders, unions are developing global strategies to better represent their members and sustain the middle class.Today, the United Steelworkers (USW) and Unite, Britain’s largest union, took a giant step in that direction by formally joining together to form the world’s first global union.

Top row from left: Ed Wright, Ironworkers Local 7; James McCallum, former alderman and retired president of Sheet Metal Workers 17; Alderman Robert Trane, Ward 7; Alderman Bill Roche, Ward 1; Dennis Sullivan, president, Board of Alderman; Tony Perrone, business agent, Laborers Local 22; Reese Thornton, member, Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35; Reese Thornton's son. Botton row from left: Rich Rogers, executive secretary-treasurer, Greater Boston Labor Council; Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone; and Frank Callahan, president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council. If construction contractors want to do business with the Boston suburb of Somerville, they must show they are "responsible employers" as a result of new contracting standards. The city's Board of Aldermen passed the new contacting standards after Boston-area unions pressed for the legislation.

Frank Snyder, Labor 2008 state director for Pennsylvania, reports on a union rally outside a John McCain campaign stop.More than 70 union members and activists gathered outside Worth and Co. in Pipersville, Pa., to highlight Sen. John McCain's anti-worker record as he held a town hall meeting inside the building.

Asserting that “our time is now,” United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard opened the union’s convention by calling on the more than 3,000 delegates to “seize the moment” to bring fundamental change to the nation’s economy and politics.