Registered nurses in Wisconsin are asking that the state legislature ban mandatory overtime. Jesse Russell reports from Madison:

At a hearing on Wednesday concerning SB 512, a bill before the Wisconsin State Senate, six registered nurses expressed why the state needs to step in and ban mandatory overtime. In concept mandatory overtime is only supposed to be used in extreme situations, but according to the nurses on Wednesday overtime has been increasingly used at Wisconsin hospitals to fill permanent holes in staffing schedules. As a result nurses are fatigued and overworked, resulting in dangerous situations for patients, as well as lower morale in a profession already seeing a shortage of workers. Ann Louise Tetreault, a registered nurse at the University of Wisconsin Hospital:

By Doug Cunningham

A strike by the UAW at American Axle caused by the company attacking wages and benefits is forcing the shutdown of GM’s Pontiac, Michigan Truck and Bus plant. The unfair labor practices strike is about defending the livelihoods of thirty-six hundred workers and their families. American Axle is profitable – it made $37 million last year – but it’s trying to cut wages in half and wipe out retiree health benefits and defined benefit pensions for future retirees. Eighty percent of American Axle’s business is with GM. So if the strike is a long one, it could shut down GM production.

Supporters of the Bush administration’s Medicare reform have touted private plans as being a big bargain for seniors. But the truth is that the private plans, known as Medicare Advantage, cost seniors more, congressional investigators say.

The New York Times reports today that a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found many people in private Medicare plans face higher costs for home health care, nursing homes and some hospital stays than the traditional government-run Medicare program. In fact, the report shows the government will spend an estimated $54 billion in extra costs for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries from 2009 through 2012.

Two special elections for crucial U.S. House seats are coming up, setting up a preview of this fall’s congressional elections.

On March 8, an election will be held for the open 14th Congressional District in Illinois, and on March 11, a special election will be held in Indiana’s 7th Congressional District.

In Indiana’s 7th District, the Indiana State AFL-CIO has been active in support of city Councilor André Carson. A Democrat, Carson is running for the seat left vacant by the passing of his grandmother, Democratic Rep. Julia Carson. He faces off against Republican state Rep. Jon Elrod in the special election.

Hey! Tomorrow, there's a nationwide rally to drum up support for the Healthy Families Act in Congress that would guarantee paid sick leave for workers to recover from an illness or take care of a sick family member.

You can be there even if you don't feel like marching in the streets or fighting winter weather because it's online.

The National Partnership for Women & Families is holding the first-ever online rally for paid sick days, and it starts tomorrow. Click here to take a look at the rally site where you can learn how you can take action, share your story and more.

According to the National Partnership, nearly half of private-sector workers have no paid sick days and low-income workers fare even worse—76 percent have no paid sick leave. Overall, 57 million private-sector workers in this country have no paid sick days, and 94 million cannot use their paid sick day to care for a sick child.

Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for trade union members. Over the past 22 years, more than 2,500 union members have been murdered and another 6,500 have been threatened, attacked, kidnapped, tortured or harassed.

Despite a promise by Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe to crack down on violence, not one of the killers of trade unionists has been brought to trial in two years (see chart). Yet the Bush administration is rushing to pass a trade deal with Colombia before the November elections.

Economic Report

Recession fears continue to drive down the value of the American dollar. On Tuesday, for the first time in history, the value of the Euro passed the $1.50 mark. Negative economic news coming out of the United States continues to make investors fearful of the dollar. Investors try to hold currencies that are tied to rising inflation rates, but the U.S. Federal Reserve has been cutting the US interest rates. The Euro broke a record previously set on November 23, 2007.