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As other states fixate on ways to take rights, services and benefits away from people, Vermont's legislature has boldly passed the nation's first single-payer bill to provide affordable health care for all Vermonters.

CWA members testified, rallied and helped educate the public about the bill, which removes from employers the costly burden of providing health insurance.

"We want health care to follow the individual and not be a requirement of the employer, which we think will be a huge jobs creator," said Gov. Pete Shumlin, speaking on the Rachel Maddow show. He said Vermont wants to be the first state to "treat health care as a right and not a privilege."

From Boston to Sacramento, hundreds of Workers' Memorial Day events last Thursday brought together union members and other activists to honor and mourn working people killed or injured on the job.

Memorial events reminded workers that 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, whose oversight has greatly reduced safety and health risks at U.S. workplaces.

A new $10,000 award from the Berger-Marks Foundation will recognize a young woman who has made extraordinary contributions to social justice early in her career.

The "Edna Award" expands Berger-Marks' commitment to young women, said Linda Foley, foundation president and former TNG-CWA president.

Grammy Award-winning guitarist Tom Morello is donating all profits from his new album of labor songs, Union Town, to a fund benefiting union workers under attack from right-wing governors and anti-labor groups.

Morello, formerly with Rage Against the Machine and now The Nightwatchman, performed songs from the new album with his band at the state capitol in Madison, Wis., in February, as tens of thousands of embattled workers rallied.