alex hannah is a graduate assistant at the university of wisconsin madison and a co-president of the teachers' assistance association of the american federation of teachers. stand up, please, alex. [applause] now, alex stood up for teachers and other public workers in madison over the last couple of months even as he built solidarity with workers in the middle east. you see, his family comes from egypt, and he's strengthened links between movements for change all around the world. and, alex, i want to thank you for your inspiration and everything that you've done so far. you've been a wonderful example for all of us. i'd also like to thank those democratic senators in wisconsin who stood up and walked out on behalf of working people. [applause] and those democratic senators in indiana who did the same thing. [applause] and brought a screeching halt to right to work. [applause] and, quite frankly, i'd like to thank our democratic and republican friends in the ohio legislature that stood up for workers. [applause] they deserve a round of applause. you see, alex embodies the fact that we

alex hannah, a member of the wisconsin american federation of teachers, co-presidents of the teaching assistants association, a guest of the speaker. sabrina eaton, washington correspondent for the cleveland plain dealer. arlene baker is the afl-cio executive vice president and a guest of the speaker today. skipping over the podium, marilyn is senior business editor at npr. thank you for all your work. skipping over our guest speaker, rod is a member of the press club's speakers' committee organized today's even. thank you for that. john sweeney, you'll recognize him, president emeritus of the afl-cio, guest but the speaker. thank you for being here. jennifer depaul, reporter for the fiscal times. beth ward, a reporter with platts. and craig gilbert, milwaukee journal sentinel washington bureau chief. let's give them a round of applause. [applause] as you probably know by now, organized labor in america has been under renewed attack this year. while it has not been as physically violent as seen in our nation's history, it has often been bitter at times. the benefits of collective barg