September/October 2012 – In a bitter labor dispute between The Chicago Teachers union and Chicago Mayor Rham Emanuel, Chicago Teachers went on strike protesting new proposed contract terms that included increasing the length of the school day, Teacher evaluations being tied to performance and wages. Seven days of work were lost in the highly publicized walkout that sparked a national debate over education reform. The strike ended with the teachers union, representing the nation’s third-largest district, and the city agreeing to terms on a 3 year contract.

In one of the worst natural disasters to hit the northeastern United Stated in recent history, that left hundreds of thousands of people affected, It has been union workers who have come to the aid in areas related to the clean up, rebuilding as well as in charitable actions including food and clothing drives done by all Philadelphia area unions as well as IBEW #98 who sent hundreds of their members to the aid of Hurricane Sandy Victims in Long Island and other Jersey shore points.

In late November, fast food workers from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and KFC bravely protested around New York City to demand of a living wage of $15 an hour in pay – a step up from the minimum wage many employees currently earn – and the right to form a union.

After more than a year of intense negotiations and mediation and a two-week strike, workers represented by the CWA and IBEW reached an agreement with Verizon Communications. The ensuing contract protected middle-class jobs and retirement security of 45,000 workers from Virginia to Massachusetts.

Dane County Judge Juan Colas struck down Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s law repealing most collective bargaining rights for local and school employees. While the law remains largely in place for state workers, the decision returns city, county, and school workers to the organized status they enjoyed before Walker signed the legislation in March 2011. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Colas ruled that the law violated workers’ constitutional rights to free speech, free association, and equal representation under the law by capping union workers’ raises but not those of their nonunion counterparts.”