The UAW and American Axle Manufacturing have reached a tentative agreement to end a strike by 3,600 UAW members at American Axle plants in Michigan and New York. The workers have been on strike since Feb. 26. The tentative pact was announced late yesterday.Says UAW President Gettelfinger:Our members at American Axle have displayed extraordinary solidarity during this strike. the bargaining committee worked extremely hard to achieve this tentative agreement and they have voted to recommend it to the membership.

Relations between workers and employers don’t always have to be hostile and contentious. Yesterday, two awards at the 2008 America@Work Union Industries Show in Detroit prove that when corporations respect workers, everyone wins.

Sen. John McCain took his campaign to Seattle and Bellevue, Wash., this week, and, as usual, he was confronted with AFL-CIO union members asking him for answers about the economy.

Two new reports show today’s young workers are being squeezed by high costs of living and low or stagnant wages and they want the government to do more to solve this nation’s economic mess.The Economic State of Young America by Demos presents a statistical study of the economic condition of young workers, and The Progressive Generation: How Young Adults Think About the Economy by the Center for American Progress (CAP) analyzes public polling of young workers. Click here for a copy of the Demos report and here for the CAP report.

Robert Masciola, deputy director of the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research, describes this week's Pulte shareholder meeting in the Detroit area. Some 100 activists gathered on May 15 in Birmingham, Mich., at the annual shareholder meeting of Pulte Homes, with a straightforward message: Pulte must be held accountable for the conditions on its job sites!

The House yesterday voted (256–166) a measure to help long-term jobless workers who face difficult times finding new work in the sputtering Bush economy with an extra 13 weeks to 26 weeks of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. The UI extension was added to a supplemental spending bill to fund the war in Iraq.

Poll after poll shows that most Americans believe this country is on the wrong track, going in the wrong direction. We’re worried about a failing health care system, stumbling economy, stagnant wages, disappearing jobs and an endless war.

Barbara Easterling Barbara Easterling, who in 1995 became the first female AFL-CIO officer when she was elected secretary-treasurer, has spent her life helping others. This week, she received two major accolades in recognition of her years of charitable work.

This week, while embarking on a national media tour, Sen. John McCain was asked directly about whether he’d privatize Social Security. Unfortunately, the presumptive Republican nominee didn’t offer any straight talk.

John McCain paid a visit to Portland, Ore., this week. As usual, AFL-CIO union members came out to try to speak to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee about important issues—and, as usual, they were turned away.