The Senate Finance Committee is getting ready to debate a health care bill that does not come close to meeting the needs of America's working families. Nor does it meet the standards President Obama laid out in his address last week to Congress. There is no employer mandate, no public...

On Labor Day 2009, we honor the tremendous contributions and sacrifices of workers who built this great nation. We must never forget that workers organized, marched, went on strike, and even gave their lives in the struggles that resulted in the 40-hour workweek, safe working conditions, secure retirement benefits and...

In nearly 47 years spent serving the American people, Ted Kennedy never stepped away from a fight, never stopped being a champion of the middle class, never ceased being a friend to labor and working families. From civil rights to health care, right until the end, he was our strongest...

All across the country, the opponents of health care reform are spreading misinformation about President Barack Obama's proposals to improve health care coverage for all Americans. We shouldn't be surprised about that. The insurance companies, the right-wing radio hosts, the K-Street lobbyists and the Republican leadership who are spreading...

AFSCME filed the first shareholder "say-on-pay" proposals in 2005. In the four years since then, we've put together a broad coalition of investors fighting to get shareholders a voice on executive compensation. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected later today to vote on "say-on-pay" legislation crafted by Chairman Barney...

Earlier this month, we saw new evidence that our country has entered a real era of change when President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on all Americans to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. "As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled,...

In recent days, two generally progressive commentators have written in favor of taxing all or part of the value of employer provided health benefits as a way of paying for some of the costs of health care reform. They've suggested that AFSCME might "kill" health care reform because...

Every day, more Americans get a pink slip, more stores shutter their doors and more families find the American Dream growing dimmer and farther from their grasp. Our 1.6 million members are on the frontlines of this crisis. The vital services they provide are taking huge hits - which means...

America's top CEOs -- the clueless millionaires whose greed, ignorance and arrogance drove our economy off a cliff -- have declared their top legislative priority for 2009. It isn't the president's budget. It's not promoting jobs or health care for their workers. And it's certainly not limits on CEO pay.

On Tuesday night, President Obama spoke to the nation about how we will rebuild our economy. Like many Americans, I was heartened to hear him renew his commitment to pursue health care reform and to do it THIS YEAR. He told us that the "cost of our health care...

America is losing 20,000 jobs a day. Unemployment just hit 7.6% and states are looking at shortfalls this fiscal year that amount to 14% of their total budgets. Current projections for the next fiscal year are deficits that total 17% of budgets. And fiscal year 2011 is shaping up to...

For years, AFSCME has been leading the fight to rein in the grotesque and excessive paychecks that unaccountable boards of directors have been giving too many of America's CEOs. We've fought shareholder battles and taken our case to the media, arguing that directors who approve exorbitant salaries for executives...

This week's historic vote by the House of Representatives in favor of President Obama's plan to revitalize our economy and protect the jobs of millions of working Americans is proof that the change we voted for has finally arrived. The House acted boldly to protect jobs and create opportunity by...

President John F. Kennedy called Inauguration Day "a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning - signifying renewal, as well as change." This year, that is dramatically true. President-elect Barack Obama will place his hand on the same Bible President Abraham Lincoln used to take...

Not since the darkest days of the Great Depression has an American President taken office with so many challenges awaiting him. But here's the good news: America has overcome similar challenges before. And we can do it again.

Our broken health care system hurts everyone. Health insurance premiums are going up three times faster than pay, with many working families shouldering a growing share of those costs. They are paying more and getting less -- while being forced to fight with insurance companies to get the care they...

This morning, more than 20 leading progressive organizations and unions, including AFSCME, announced the creation of the Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery Now, a major campaign to pass President-elect Obama's jobs and economic recovery package.

The President-elect's dramatic, bold and innovative program is a clear sign that...

President-elect Barack Obama holds an unprecedented meeting tomorrow with the nation's governors at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. He has called the meeting to discuss the impact of the ailing economy on state budgets and to outline key steps that need to be taken to revive the nation's economy. This...

Right-wing critics of public employee pensions will use any angle to convince folks that these plans are bankrupting states, cities and towns. In the Wall Street Journal this week, Steve Malanga blames pension plans for today's economic difficulties and in the same piece urges governments to sell off their...

The election of Barack Obama and a new Congress demonstrated that the American people are hungry for real change. The vast majority want policies that are neither left nor right. Instead they want change that moves the country forward and solves the problems they face every day. The American people...