Great news from California, where premiums in the new ACA exchanges are going to be lower than they were before the exchange.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer attacked by legislators from her own party as she tries to accept expanded Medicaid funds.

The same is happening to governors in Michigan and Ohio.

A scary bridge collapse in Washington state.

Which raises an important point: How about we put people to work actually building stuff?

Marcus Hedger, fired for trying to organize, might lose his house thanks to the ongoing Senate Republican obstruction of the NLRB.

Bank lobbyists are drafting bank regulation bills.

How it works: Look at the language Citi wrote compared to the final House bill.

Saxophonists, bakers and Fox News camera operators: Jobs you didn’t know were union.

An Ohio investigation shows the pointlessness of voter suppression rules.

A happy Memorial Day to everyone and a special thanks to those who have served and their families.

Okay, not really.

Here’s the story so far: Both the New Mexico House and Senate passed a bill raising the state minimum wage to $8.50. On the Friday before the long Good Friday weekend, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed the bill, calling it a “gimmick.” She then scrubbed all mention of the veto from her website, and workers wanting to ask questions about her veto have been rebuffed.

So, New Mexico workers found the next best thing. They launched the Susana Minimum Wage Listening Tour, featuring a cardboard cut out of the governor who would listen to testimonials of workers who were affected by her veto.

“We’re here to ask: Why did you sell us out and throw us under the bus?” asked Working America organizer David Garcia Diaz, “How can you reconcile giving out-of-state corporations a multi-million dollar tax break while our people continue to struggle?”

Like the real Governor Martinez, the cardboard cutout did not respond to questions.

Want to have a listening session with the cardboard governor in your town? OLE and Working America organizers are holding sessions across the state. Email Brenda at brrodriguez@workingamerica.org to set up an event in your community.

Six of our members have stepped up to form an Advisory Board for REEL Working America. These six volunteers will each take on a role advocating on different issues in film. They’re eager to take the practical steps that will mean more jobs and better working conditions for people who work on all aspects of film production.

With a strong, energetic Advisory Board in place, REEL Working America is ready to make New Mexico’s film industry the best it can be. We’re proud to introduce the new Advisory Board:

Top row:

Actors Outreach Chair: Ross Shaw’s passion is acting. He has been fortunate enough to have been found a path in film and television acting in his own backyard. His great new career also includes theater and commercials. For him, being the Actors Outreach Chair means exploring the acting community and striving to help aspiring actors succeed.

Fundraising and Membership Chair: Actress Dalisa Marlene Contreras has been in the film industry since 2009. She was born and raised in Albuquerque. She was first introduced to New Mexico Films with her first role as a background performer in Terminator Salvation. She has been involved in shows like Breaking Bad, Scoundrels, In Plain Sight and The Odds ,as well as many films. She joined Reel Working America so that way we could make a difference not only in our film community but also to increase opportunities for those who want to become actors. She joined the Advisory Board to bring people together to help New Mexico Film grow and make it better.

Events and Publicity Chair: Catharine Pilafas received her Bachelor of Arts in Acting and minor in Dance from the University of Northern Colorado. After making her New York theatre debut in Victory Garden’s off-broadway production of “Conviction,” Catharine shifted her career focus to film and television in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Catharine has appeared in: Longmire, In Plain Sight, Fatal Encounters, Void, Dead Billy, and Billy Shakespeare. Also, a member of New Mexico Women In Film, Catharine is excited to continue to contribute to the film industry in New Mexico, and bring her passion for event producing to Reel Working America. An avid athlete, and practitioner of yoga, Catharine loves to be active along side her husband, writer, Adam James Jones, and their pug, Tobey.

Bottom row:

Political Chair: Patrick Wier is a screenwriter and college instructor living in Albuquerque. A New Mexico native and graduate of the University of New Mexico, he worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines in Texas and Oregon for about 25 years before entering graduate school, where he was awarded an M.A. in literature. He is a self-described life-long political junkie.

Independent Filmmaking Chair: Shelley Carney is the producer of New Mexico Media Makers at UPublic TV as well as an 8-part web series called “Joysticks”. She is an actor and screenwriter and she is working on the team producing the Albuquerque Film and Media Experience. She is excited to take part of the Advisory Board as Independent Filmmaking Chair.

Background Performers Outreach Chair: J. Nathan Simmons is originally from Oklahoma but has worked in the film industry in New Mexico since ‘91. He founded newmexicoactors.com in 2000 and now he is writing and producing his own work, with the help of talented friends and colleagues. He is excited to take part as the Background Performers Outreach Chair for Reel Working America.

UC hospital workers’ strike ends after 2 days.

Republicans are even blocking Republicans from being on the NLRB.

Check your gag reflex: Scott Walker wants to be POTUS.

Related: Scott Walker <3’s ALEC’s education agenda.

We’re so glad bank lobbyists are helping write our financial rules.

0.002397 percent of Ohio voters attempted fraud in 2012. Hide your kids!

Why Apple is a sociopathic company.

Jim Hightower: The new crime of eating while homeless.

Finally: Cartoon of the Day.

This new reality show sounds like everything wrong with our economy, played as entertainment.

Fast Food Crime Wave: Employees share their stories of wage theft.

The problems with Penny Pritzker.

Unemployment: It’s mostly a demand problem, not a skills problem.

The vicious cycle of austerity: “corporate hoarding is both a symptom of shaky economic growth and a contributing factor to it.”

A calm, reasonable explanation of why the argument for austerity is bunk.

Michigan’s car factories are seeing higher demand, putting more people to work this summer.

Bernanke to Congress: You’re blowing it, guys.

Senators of both parties go along with a terrible proposal on food stamps.

Related: two House members who quoted the Bible in support of food stamp cuts are themselves benefiting from huge farm subsidies.

Sen. Mitch McConnell thinks rich people’s political spending needs special protection.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is a small, petulant child.

Public Policy Polling, which independent studies have shown to be one of the most accurate pollsters in the country, asked Minnesotans about minimum wage along with a battery of other issues. The question “Would you support or oppose raising the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour?” received 54 percent supporting, 37 percent opposing, and 10 percent undecided.

To put that in perspective, that large minimum wage increase was more popular with those surveyed than Gov. Dayton (49 percent approval), DFL legislators (36 percent), Republican legislators (23 percent), and using money from the cigarette tax to pay for the new Vikings stadium (35 percent).

In fact, the only question that unified Minnesotans more than raising the minimum wage was allowing liquor sales on Sunday (62 percent).

The increase also receives support from:

• 58 percent of self-identified moderates.
• 24 percent of those identifying as “very conservative.”
• 59 percent of women.
• 45 percent of independents.
• 29 percent of Republicans.
• 61 percent of 18 to 29 year-olds and 51 percent of those older than 65.

The Minnesota House passed a bill earlier this month raising the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2015 and indexing it to inflation, but the bill did not receive a full vote in the Senate before the end of session. The Senate passed its own version, which raised the wage to a meager $7.75 and ignored the question of inflation.

These numbers show what many Working America members already know: that fighting to put more money in the pockets of workers has support across the ideological and partisan spectrum, and that pursuing policies that raise wages can only help, not hurt, an elected official’s standing with the public.

The issue of raising the minimum wage can next be brought up in Minnesota in February 2014.

Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff to the summer holiday season. While the day honors those who have given their lives defending the nation—and Jimmy  Gilbert, director of the AFL-CIO’s Union Veterans Council, will write more on that next Monday—the weekend also marks the start of grilling season. Here’s some union-made food and drink to get your barbecue off to a great start.

Our list comes courtesy of Union Plus, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor’s LA Labor 411′s website. You can find these and other union-made products on your smart phone with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Buy Union app for iPhones, Androids and other phones.

Hot Dogs, Sausages, Other Grill Meats

Ball Park, Boar’s Head, Calumet, Dearborn Sausage Co., Fischer Meats, Hebrew National, Hofmann, Johnsonville, Oscar Mayer. See MORE.

Condiments

French’s Mustard, Guldens Mustard, Heinz Catsup, Heinz Ketchup, Hidden Valley Ranch, Lucky Whip, Vlasic. SeeMORE.

Buns and Bread

Ottenbergs, Sara Lee, Vie de France Bakery. See MORE.

Sodas and Bottled Water

Bart’s, Coke, Diet Sprite, Pepsi, Sprite, American Springs, Pocono Northern Fall’s, Poland Spring. See MORE.

Beer

Budweiser, Bud Light, Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Mad River, Michelob, Miller, Rolling Rock. See MORE.

Snacks and Dessert

Breyers Ice Cream, Flips Pretzels, Frito-Lay Chips, Good Humor Ice Cream. See MORE snacks and MORE sweets.

Visit our Made in America board on Pinterest.

Senate HELP Committee approves Obama’s five NLRB nominees.

Does that mean we’ll get Senate rules reform? Ask Harry Reid.

Why Penny Pritzker is wrong for Commerce.

Letter: “I pushed a Trojan horse into the White House.”

Milwaukee workers to protest McDonald’s shareholder meeting.

Students and faculty arrested for protesting in North Carolina.

Finally: Average CEO salary reached record high in 2012.

More than 50 Chicago public schools are being closed down.

A view from this week’s DC protests by low-wage workers and homeowners.

How student debt is dragging down the housing market.

Washington state passes a bill protecting employees’ Facebook passwords from their employers.

Sen. Harry Reid delays key nomination votes to set up a showdown over the filibuster.

The loathsome “pitchbook” of one of Wall Street’s most notorious firms.

How to make voting easier.

Gov. Rick Scott reverses himself and restores early voting days in Florida.

Iowa’s Gov. Terry Branstad is the latest Republican to accept expanded Medicaid funds.

In the deep South, people overwhelmingly want Medicaid expansion funds even as their governors reject them.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has an important question for Ben Bernanke.

Immigration bill advances in the Senate.

Now other corporations want to copy Apple’s tax avoidance strategy.

How to close Apple’s favorite loopholes.

Minnesota: Minimum wage got lost in the politics.

The story of Marcus Hedger.

California: Strikes continue at UC medical centers.

Missouri: Miners rally against Peabody Energy.

Wisconsin: OSHA files eight violations against Palermo’s Pizza.

North Carolina: Over 100 arrests in the last three weeks resisting right-wing actions.

Finally: Cartoon of the Day.

Gov. Scott Walker can sell basically any state asset he wants to anyone he wants now.

Wounded veterans who relied on food stamps speak out against cuts.

With unions facing challenges, how can workers stand up for themselves?

When fewer people have a union at work, it’s everyone’s problem.

How organizing and bargaining build the middle class.

President Obama launched a new presidential commission on voting and elections today.

Budget cuts could endanger our ability to predict severe weather.

The truth behind Michelle Rhee’s fictional stories about education “reform.”

Naming names: the chief lobbyist attacking Wall Street reform.

Oregon’s health exchange could be a model for the nation.

However, relief for over 300,000 minimum wage workers in Minnesota was kicked to the curb, as the session ended Monday at midnight with no action on HF 92, the bill that would have raised the minimum wage to $9.50 and tied it to inflation.

Legislators arrived at an impasse after the Senate passed its own minimum wage bill, which raised the wage to only $0.50 above the federal minimum and had no ties to inflation – meaning years upon years could pass without another increase.

Outside the capital, support for a minimum wage increase is broad. A recent Star Tribune Minnesota Poll showed nearly 70 percent of Minnesotans support an increase in the state minimum wage, with 41 percent supporting the House’s $9.50 per hour increase.

Republicans were uniform in their opposition the increase in both houses. Unfortunately, too many DFL senators also fell prey to the influence of restaurant industry lobbyists and other special interests like ALEC and the Chamber of Commerce. Rumors suggest that the minimum wage increase may have been used as a bargaining chit in negotiations on other issues.

“We’re talking about a pay increase for 350,000 Minnesota workers that would help the economy and make a big difference in their lives,” said Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley), the sponsor of HF 92 in the House, “And if the people who say they’re Democrats aren’t willing to do that then I question whether they’re being honest about their own values.”

“Hard work should pay for all Minnesotans and a minimum wage increase would ensure that low-wage workers are part of Minnesota’s economic recovery,” said MN AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson, “We’re not going to give up on them.”

Working America, along with the Minnesota AFL-CIO and other allies, will continue to advocate for a minimum wage increase over the summer and into the 2014 legislative session. In the meantime, we can recognize some of the 2013 session’s other accomplishments including: the extension of unemployment benefits for locked out workers, improvements to workers’ compensation, an infrastructure bonding bill, the passage of an MN “Dream Act,” and an incredible investment in education that includes universal all-day kindergarten.

The National Labor Relations Board: Since the 1930s, workers who are subject to abuse on the job have had a federal body tasked with hearing their complaints and remedying them. But right now, the very ability to enforce laws protecting workers’ rights at all is in doubt. As former chair Wilma Liebman notes, the board hasn’t been fully staffed with Senate-confirmed appointees in 10 years and has been in chaos since 2008 thanks to court cases and the refusal of Senate Republicans to allow nominations to proceed. That has real consequences for workers like Marcus Hedger, who was fired for advocating for a union. That’s illegal, but without anyone to enforce the law, it doesn’t matter—it’s as if Hedger’s house had been broken into, and when he called 911, he was told that the police had been shut down.

President Obama has nominated a bipartisan slate of five people to the NLRB, but they have to get Senate confirmation before the board can function.

The Department of Labor: Thomas Perez, currently an assistant Attorney General, is a great choice to be the next Secretary of Labor. He has a long record of enforcing civil rights and workplace law, and last week, his nomination was approved by a Senate committee. So naturally he’s the target of a filibuster threat, for the most tenuous of reasons. But why rush to fill the position? After all, all the Department does is oversee wage and hour laws, workplace safety, medical leave and pensions (among other things).

The CFPB: Here we go again. This week Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, will schedule a vote on Richard Cordray’s nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Board. The CFPB is a huge success—one of the best things to come out of the 2010 Wall Street reform bill that most Senate Republicans opposed. Rather than let a duly-passed law take effect, Republicans are attempting to nullify it by preventing a vote on Cordray. Without a director, the CFPB can’t do its job.

By blocking these nominees, Senate Republicans are wiping the laws they’re meant to enforce off the books without taking a single vote. These are laws that protect people from mistreatment by corporations that have enormous power over their lives. This is not an accident—Senate Republicans know exactly what they’re doing here.

The first attempt at fixing the Senate’s nominations process this year fell flat. Sen. Reid is looking at the possibility of giving filibuster reform another try. As Ed Kilgore notes, it’s about time.

Thanks to what Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller calls a “historic, robust bipartisan effort,” the Texas Legislature approved on Monday a “Buy American” provision for water projects that establishes a preference for iron, steel and manufactured goods produced in the United States. Says Moeller:

For the first time in memory, Texas, under this legislation, will give strong priority to American goods and products in the course of major construction projects. The Texas Legislature deserves high commendation from working families for sending a message that buying American creates jobs. This bill will benefit our economy.

The Buy American provision included a major water development bill (H.B. 4) and includes a requirement that iron and steel products and manufactured goods used in the project be produced in the United States. The bill received overwhelming support, passing 141-4 in the House and 30-1 in the Senate.

Earlier in the session lawmakers approved a “Buy Texan, Buy American” bill that applies to state purchases of manufactured goods. Texas AFL-CIO Communications Director Ed Sills says both bills ”have the potential to create jobs in Texas and in the U.S.”

The labor movement has always been about good jobs. In a legislative session that had the look of potential disaster on several fronts at the start, seeing two “Buy American” ideas succeed in bipartisan fashion is a signal accomplishment that is at the core of what we do.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is expected to sign the bill.

While rescue operations continue in Moore, Okla., after one of the worst and deadliest tornadoes on record that has claimed more than 50 lives, with the toll expected to climb, relief efforts are being organized. The Oklahoma State AFL-CIO and central labor council community service liaisons are working through the United Way.

Relief efforts are in their early stages and the United Way of Central Oklahoma has activated its disaster relief fund. Information on the fund can be found at www.unitedwayokc.org. Donations may be made through their website or by mail to United Way of Central Oklahoma, P.O. Box 837, Oklahoma City, OK 73101, with notation for May Tornado Relief.

Emergency officials are urging people to stay away from the devastated area so as to not interfere with the rescue efforts.

If you’re in Oklahoma and need assistance, you can call the OKC HeartLine 2-1-1 (877-362-1606). Find more info on 2-1-1 here.

Currently the Oklahoma State AFL-CIO is asking every local union (affiliated or not) to forward them the following information of any union member affected by the storms of the last few days:

Name:
Local Union:
Home Address (Even if it was destroyed):
Contact Phone Number:
Immediate Needs:

Please send the above information to okaflcio@okaflcio.org.

The Oklahoma State AFL-CIO will compile a database so to ensure their members’ immediate needs are taken care of now, as well as in weeks to come.

We will bring you updates and more information on relief efforts as they develop.