Teamsters Joint Council 42 President Jim Santangelo says like unions here in New York , his Los Angeles-based union is strongly supporting Helmets To Hardhats. It’s a program  helping vets get into union construction trades.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in New York gave auto-parts maker Delphi permission to void health care benefits for 15,000 retirees on Tuesday. Benefits for the salaried retirees will come to end by the end of March. The company has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since 2005 and believes the elimination of healthcare will save the company more than $1.1 billion in liabilities. Workers filed more than 1,500 objections to the decision to cut healthcare.

LaHood: Stimulus Amtrak funding will be provided to regions that have shown committment

The state of New York is watching manufacturing decline at the fastest rate since tracking began in 2001. Manufacturing in the state is tracked by the Empire State Manufacturing Index and follows shipments, new orders, employment and other trends. This is the tenth straight month of declines for the index. The employment index dropped substantially, by 13-points, and the average workweek index saw a seven point drop to a record low.

 Gm and Chrysler are supposed to present their viability plans to the federal government today as a condition of the multi-billion dollar loans they’ve received. United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger says the U.S. auto industry must be saved while being fair to workers and retirees.

[Gettelfinger]: “Millions of jobs in this country will be lost if we lose this industry.”

The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in the state legislature would establish labor standards for 200,000 New York domestic workers. Domestic Workers United Ai-Jen Poo. 

[Poo]: “It’s a very important bill and has the potential to affect over two million workers across the country. Domestic workers are excluded from most of the major labor laws in this country, so this bill would set a precedent for this kind of legislation nationally.”

Workers are in very trying times economically but for the first time in a very long time the President of the United States is pro-union. 

[Obama]: “We know that you cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement. We have to reverse many of the policies toward organized labor that we've seen these last eight years. I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it's part of the solution."

 AFSCME’s Gerald McEntee says his 1.6 million - member union is supporting President Obama’s economic recovery act. 

[McEntee]: “The plan is a good plan, we think it’ll put people back to work and we’re supporting it. AFSCME has launched a new campaign called Make America Happen, and it’s to support President Obama’s efforts to revitalize our economy and then to provide health care for all and strengthen the middle class.”

Amy Peterson is President of NEW – Non-traditional Employment for Women. It’s a program that helps women get into the union construction trades. 

[Peterson]: “They get a good entry level wage that then goes up dramatically as they learn their trade. They have a real skill and it transforms their lives. They are able to provide for their families, they do things they couldn’t imagine that they could do when they walk through the door of our program.”

By Doug Cunningham 

John Coli is President of teamsters Joint Council 25, in President Obama’s hometown of Chicago. He ís hopeful that Obama’s infrastructure economic plan will give a boost to the Helmets To Hardhats program, which brings veterans into union construction trades. 

“These are the jobs that are still decent middle class wages, And you never, ever get as good of an employee or union member as when you get one of these returning veterans.”