The nation’s unemployment rate in January fell to 8.3 percent, down from December’s 8.5 percent, and the economy added 243,000 jobs, according to the latest figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The nation’s unemployment rate continues it steady decline, dropping by 0.8 percentage points since August and to the lowest point since February 2009. The number of jobless workers dropped to 12.8 million, down from December’s 13.1 million. But the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.5 million, about 42.9 percent of the unemployed. Read more >>>

Over the weekend, all eyes were on the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, where tens of thousands traveled to see the event and hundreds of thousands more watched it on television. But while the spotlight was on the game, workers across the city took to the streets to protest the outrages happening to working people. Read more >>>

On Thursday, February 2nd, the Connecticut AFL-CIO's Young Workers Committee hosted a program and discussion on the challenges and opportunities facing young workers and the benefits of belonging to a union. The labor movement’s relationship with the Occupy and progressive movements was also  discussed. The event included union members and activists with the Hartford Organizing Group, an outgrowth of the Occupy Hartford movement. Read more >>>

Warehouse workers, school, bus drivers, teachers, mechanics, telecommunication and manufacturing worker all have recently won a voice at work with AFL-CIO unions. More than 350 employees at IKEA Distribution Center in Perryville, Md., voted by an overwhelming margin to join the Machinists (IAM ) despite opposition from IKEA managers who hired Jackson-Lewis, the well-known union-busting law firm. District 4 Business Representative Joe Flanders says the workers, “were able to see through the scare tactics.” Read more >>>

The Ninth Biennial Convention of the Connecticut AFL-CIO was held September 14 - 16th at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort.  The following is a summary of the proceedings of the convention and the full text of the resolutions is attached.  Click on the resources line and scroll through the resolutions.  Read more >>>

 “Behind the unemployment statistics are people like me who are trying to provide for their families - pay the mortgage, keep food on the table and send their kids to college, said unemployed construction worker Mark Bourgeois at a recent round table on creating jobs and fixing the economy.  "Construction workers like me are hungry for work. Congress needs to invest in building and repairing our crumbling infrastructure and put us back to work.”

The Connecticut AFL-CIO was part of the "We are One" coalition that spearheaded around table discussion with Congressman Murphy who met with 25 people from community and labor organizations on Thursday, August 11th at Right Now Ministries in New Britain. Read more>>>

New Haven, CT -- Fixing the economy and creating new jobs was the topic of an August 8th roundtable discussion with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and community and labor organizations. The roundtable, held at Second Star of Jacob in New Haven, included a student, teacher, manufacturing worker, construction worker and unemployed worker who told personal stories about how the economic crisis has affected their lives. Read more >>>

Workers Memorial Day in Connecticut was commemorated on Thursday, April 28th.  The Connecticut AFL-CIO held a ceremony at 12 noon at the Capitol and the Southeast Labor Council and the United Way of the Southeastern region held its sunrise ceremony at 6:00 AM in Washington Park in Groton.  See our pictures in our photo album by clicking here:  http://ct.aflcio.org/statefed?action=album&albumid=fcb4efce-6c0a-4edd-b24e-0776782796f9 Read more>>>

The Connecticut AFL-CIO urges its members to join the Greater New Haven Labor History Association.  Its mission is to collect, preserve and share the history of working people in the greater New Haven area and throughout the state of Connecticut. Its goal is to work with you to document your history and make it known. Read more>>>