Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s attempts to strip unions of collective-bargaining rights is far from a done deal, but he would not have gotten even this far if not for Big Labor's precarious position. For the first time in more than a century, labor is playing a minor role, at best, in a Democratic-led Washington. Party strategists say President Obama’s success in 2008 highlighted the deep plunge in union membership and in its influence within the Democratic Party.

Rupert Murdoch's commercial rivals, unswayed by arguments that spinning off Sky News into an independent company should appease concerns over a lack of media plurality in Great Britain, are claiming the arrangement is "pure window dressing." As one critic charged, "This deal will create a hugely powerful newspaper, television, online and ISP media conglomerate which will dwarf every other media organization in the UK, and would not be permissible in most other democracies."

Labor is planning a mass mobilization nationwide on April 4 to support workers’ rights, specifically the right to collectively bargain. The decision was reached at the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Washington, March 1-2, according to a nationwide conference call of activists. But the council did not formally announce it. Instead, the word was passed to activists from the Communications Workers, the Teachers, other unions, allied student, civil rights and environmental groups and others.