Cross-posted to DailyKos and America in Solidarity.

Earlier this week, the Employee Free Choice Act failed to gain the 60 votes it needed for consideration by the United States Senate. While this was not unexpected, the defeat of the bill represents a failure by many of those in Washington to stand up for the rights of ordinary workers.

Recently Chinese officials have raided Hongtong Shanxi an area of Northern China and rescued almost 500 workers from slavery type conditions. The workers were forced to work in brick kilns, iron mines and coal mines. Some 29 of the workers were children and some were mentally disabled.

Cross-posted to DailyKos and America in Solidarity.

Labor issues are very important to me. That's why, a few months ago, I contacted both of my U.S. Senators to ask them to support the Employee Free Choice Act when it comes before the Senate.

It took quite some time, but I eventually heard back from U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. The only problem is, his reply didn't address the EFCA. At all.

Cross-posted to DailyKos.

Imagine the following scenario: You work a decent, well paying, union job at a local brewery. The town you live in is fairly small, and the brewery provides the majority of employment for the area. You love your job, and you need to hang on to it, in order to keep your family afloat. If you were to be laid off, you likely wouldn't be able to find anything else in the area. Certainly nothing that pays as well.

I poured this out initially as a letter to Speaker Pelosi, after reading a diary at Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos....

Written by David Sirota, the DK  diary is about the possiblity that Pelosi is selling out  progressives on trade.

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When I started this diatribe wanted to do one about the Homestead Strike, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the Ludlow Massacre as a tribute to the sacrifices made by the labor movement in this country. As I went on I realized that I couldn't put it all in one diatribe. So consider this the first part of a three part series.