Last night in St. Louis, a Reverend and SEIU member was assaulted at a town hall dedicated to discussing our national healthcare crisis. The incident is being spun by GOP operatives as SEIU thug violence--which couldn't be further from the truth.

The SEIU Missouri State Council released a statement from Executive Director Brandon Davis today:

[...] The Reverend, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, and others who attended in hopes of a peaceful dialogue about our nation's healthcare crisis, endured the latest attempt by right-wing fringe groups to hijack the democratic process through violence if necessary. Last night, the Teabaggers' violent tactics broke and dislocated the shoulder of the Reverend.

"Let's be clear: These groups, backed by insurance companies and corporate front groups, want nothing more than to preserve the status quo system of rationing, where HMOs choose doctors, and insurance companies deny us the care we need. Their dearest hope is that by resorting to outrageous charges of Nazism and euthanasia, they can make the American public too afraid to support real reform.

"But SEIU and hardworking women and men all over this country are standing up to their bullying tactics. We deserve a national conversation about how we will fix our failing healthcare system and help make this an economy that works for everyone."

Yesterday, your U.S. Senator, Arlen Specter, announced that he would vote against even allowing a debate about the leveling the playing field with the Employee Free Choice Act.

Honestly, I was shocked. It doesn't make sense. How can someone who is such a strong supporter of the democratic process refuse to allow even a meaningful debate about such an important issue?

Senator Specter and his staff need to hear from you. Please take 5 minutes to call his office and tell him that you're not happy with his decision.

Click here to make a free phone call to Senator Specter.

Senator Specter said he doesn't think we should give employees free choice at work until the economy improves. That's backwards. If we're going to get out of our current economic mess, Pennsylvania will need those secure jobs now, more than ever.

If the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law, it can help almost 1 million Pennsylvanians and pump more than $2 billion into the state's economy every year.

Can you believe that? That's what Senator Specter is denying your state by not supporting a debate on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Click here to make a quick, free call to Senator Specter and urge him to allow a debate. Just 5 minutes of your time will go a long way.

For Senator Specter's whole career, he's stood up for working people. He knows the struggle of working people who want to join a union.

We need Congress to act as swiftly on real economic recovery for working people in America as they did to bail out Wall Street. Senator Specter can bring this change - but he needs to hear from you now.

Please make this call.

The announcement of Representative Hilda Solis as President-elect Obama's Secretary of Labor is great news for America's workers. Solis comes from a union family and has never forgotten her roots in her public service career. Her appointment is a win for the prospects of the Employee Free Choice Act and the economic future for the people of this country who get up and go to work every day.

As you can see from the video above, Rep. Solis was a strong advocate for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act in the House in 2007. But she didn't stop her advocacy when she left the floor of Congress on March 1, 2007. The next day she penned a blog post for Huffington Post explaining why the Employee Free Choice Act is so important for our economy.

Unions are vital to the health and strength of our communities, and our workers are the bedrock of our economy. Unionized workers earn 30 percent more than non-unionized workers, and 80 percent have health insurance, as opposed to just 49 percent of non-union workers. In this day and age when the number of women and new immigrants in the work force is increasing, it is important that they become a part of the American fabric. One of the ways to ensure that these new workers are skilled and valued members of the work force is to join a union.

When union workers earn higher wages to support their families, that income helps to strengthen their community. It helps to provide a vibrant economy. It helps to send their children, like me, a daughter of immigrants and a union household, to college and to eventually run for office. This is the American Dream. We should realize that dream by supporting workers and signing the Employee Free Choice Act into law, and I will continue to champion increased wages, right and protections for working families in the 110th Congress.

While working hard for American families in-session, Rep. Solis has made her progressive views on labor and workers' rights a centerpiece of her campaigns to represent California's 32nd District. Her campaign website included a detailed agenda for how Rep. Solis has fought and will continue to fight for America's workers. Here's just a brief look at how Hilda Solis is defending rights at work:

Hilda staunchly supports strong protections for all employees in their places of work. In Congress, she tirelessly defends the 40-hour work week and overtime pay requirements against the constant attacks by the corporate wing of the Republican Party. She was proud to vote with her Democratic colleagues in the House to pass a federal minimum wage increase for working families in the first 100 hours of the new Democratic majority.

One's place of employment must be a safe and healthy place to work. Hilda supports legislation that strengthens existing standards for working conditions and advocates for additional funding for the U.S. Department of Labor to combat poor working environments.