After her husband was murdered while working as a journalist in the Philippines, Marivir Montebon arrived in the United States seeking political asylum with the hope of finding a better, safer life for herself, and for her daughter who arrived two years later.

“I always thought of a green card as a second birth certificate—a second life,” Montebon says.

When she presents at the Writing Across Borders Conference in New York on June 1, Montebon will join other women and people of color on a panel to tell their stories about escaping abuse, oppression and the legacy of slavery. See more.

Leading up to the AFL-CIO convention in September 2013, the AFL-CIO is hosting a crucial conversation about the future of working people and of unions—in union halls and online at www.aflcio2013.org.

Southern Tier Women’s Equality Coalition Delivers 500 constituent signatures to Senator Libous urging passage of the Women’s Equality Agenda

On May 17th, the regional Women’s Equality Coalition (WEA) delivered over 500 constituent signatures to the Binghamton office of Senator Libous, in coordination with eight other regional Women’s Equality Coalitions around the state. The WEA is petitioning Senators around the State, including Senator Libous, to support passage of the 10-point Women’s Equality Agenda before the state Legislature recesses on June 20.

Before delivering the petitions, WEA held a press conference to highlight why passage of the ten-point agenda is so important to women and families. Speakers were Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, NYS Legislature, Mayor Matthew Ryan, City of Binghamton, Councilwoman Teri Rennia, Binghamton City Council President and Co-Owner of Enviren Calibrations, Samantha Suggs-Brown, 2013 Graduate Binghamton University, and Councilwoman Lea Webb, Binghamton City Council, Co-Chair Southern Tier Women’s Equality Coalition.

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Kathy D'Arminio, PEF, was the recipient of the "Special Recognition Award" presented at the NYS/PEF 2013 statewide Health and Safety Conference.

The award was presented for her dedication and advocacy in promoting the health and safety of all New York State workers. Kathy is a member of PEF Division 399 and co-chair of the PEF Region 5 Women's Program.

And Sally Weibel, PEF, who works at the DOL office at Glendale, Endicott. and is also a member of PEF's Region 5 Women’s Program, was recently honored with the IAWP (International Association of Workplace Professionals) Workforce System Customer Service Award for her work during hurricane's Irene and Lee.

Congratulations to Sisters D'Arminio and Weibel.

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Rana Plaza, the Bangladesh factory that collapsed three weeks ago, killed more than 1,100 workers, many of them young women. This tragedy adds to the more than 1500 Bangladeshi workers killed in preventable fires and building collapses since 2005. Documents found at the factory show that the workers produced for big names in global retail revealing the link between poor workers in Bangladesh and major retail brands.Obviously, the government must improve local laws and their enforcement to stop these tragedies, but brands must also take responsibility for their supply chains. They must be held accountable to the tragedy that happened in their supply chain. Read more >>>

Marcus Hedger will have to wait even longer to get his job back if Senate Republicans continue to block President Obama’s bipartisan nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Call your senators toll free at 1-888-264-6154 and tell them to confirm the board nominations now. Hedger was illegally fired in 2010 from his pressman’s job at an Illinois printing company for his union activities on behalf of his fellow union members in the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters. Last September, the full NLRB—two Democrats and one Republican, at the time—ruled he should get his job back with back pay. Read more >>>

Most voters agree that big corporations and the wealthy should start paying their fair share in taxes. But, of course, big corporations and the wealthy don’t want to do that. They want to pay less, and they are used to getting their way. So what do you do? Some people in Washington think the answer is a “grand bargain.” In a “grand bargain,” Republicans agree to stop protecting millionaires from having to pay a single penny more in taxes. In return, Democrats agree to cut Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Read more >>>