President Obama Delivers State of the Union

President Obama gave his first State of the Union address to both houses of Congress and selected guests last week. Obama has been in office for just more than a year. While he has done a commendable job to stabilize our nation, grow our economy, provide for our security, improve our health, and build on our foundations for long-term prosperity, there is still much work to be done.

Taking a signal from the voters in Massachusetts, President Obama highlighted a refocused agenda on economic strength, job growth, long-term stability and new prosperity.

As a first order of business, Obama called on Congress tonight to pass a robust jobs bill aimed at jumpstarting the private sector with investments in small businesses; green jobs and clean energy; roads, bridges, rail, and port projects; and other policies aimed at increasing exports of American made products. The focus on jobs will be crucial for the President and the country as record unemployment continues to put a heavy strain on the American middle class.

The President also called on Congress to enact financial reforms and to finally create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency that he has been pushing for over the past 6 months. Obama believes that we must protect average Americans from predatory lending practices, bait and switch financing, and the power of the large banks on Wall Street in order to ensure that the financial crisis we have experienced does not reoccur.

During his address, the President asked both Democrats and Republicans to continue working on health care reform in order to deal with continuously rising premiums, and to alleviate Americans' struggles to afford even the most basic health services. A healthy America is a strong America.

Domestically, Obama called on Congress to pass education and energy reforms to ensure that America is powered by clean energy and that our students are prepared for the unique challenges of the future.

On foreign policy, the President discussed his administration’s plans to continue work that ensures the security of America. He discussed that we are in the midst of two wars, have a new plan in Afghanistan and thousands of troops are still fighting abroad for our freedom at home. He also mentioned the country's recent efforts to help aid those suffering in Haiti.

The President also addressed a fiscal deficit, a growing concern among voters. He implemented a freeze on all discretionary spending, which will not impact entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or the Department of Defense's budget, but it will limit how much his administration spends on education, agriculture, and other programs. This will reduce the deficit by about $250 billion over 10 years, and many of his other policies will eventually have deficit benefits as well, such as health care reform, which, if passed, could significantly reduce our deficit.

Lastly, the President stressed that our work is not yet done. Change does not come easy, nor does it come quickly. The America that President Obama inherited when he took office was on the brink of complete financial collapse. His policies have saved millions of jobs - many of them union jobs - and have brought stability to the banking system.

During the next three years of his administration, Obama said that he intends to rebuild the economic security that has historically been at the core of American prosperity. Small businesses need to be bolstered so that they can grow and create new jobs, education needs to be affordable and accessible for all Americans, health care needs to be a right and not a luxury, and the system needs to work for the people instead of for corporations and wealthy special interests.

Local 556 Member Featured on Escape to the Wild

The chance to hunt the game laden plains of Africa is only a dream to the average hunter. Such a safari requires travel to a different hemisphere and is wildly expensive, financially out of reach for most. But to one TWU Local 556 member's surprise, she won just that, the hunt of her dreams.

Karen Carrolan, a Southwest flight attendant and hunting enthusiast, was working a return flight to her home base, Chicago, when a stranger asked her if she'd fill in for a hunting buddy of his who had unexpectedly canceled on him. Carrolan knew something unusual was going on when she noticed a camera pointed directly at her and the stranger. Then, over the aircraft's public address system a co-worker announced that Carrolan had just won a hunting trip to Africa and the plane full of people burst into applause.

That was when she found out the stranger next to her was actually Tom Ackerman, the host of Escape to the Wild. Escape is a television show that rewards union men and women with trips to fantastic hunting locations around the world and airs their excursions. The show often highlights participants' commitments to species conservation, one that is particularly strong in the community of union sportsmen and women. Union Sportsmen's Alliance (USA), the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), both affiliated with the AFL-CIO, support the show.

Carrolan started hunting several years ago with her oldest son and her boyfriend; mostly in central Illinois with an occasional trip to Minnesota. Carrolan lived in Africa for a brief period of time as a child when her father was working as a carpenter in Nigeria. But Carrolan's mother became very ill while they were there so they returned to the United States. Carrolan never dreamed she would have an opportunity to return to Africa.

Carrolan loves her job as a Southwest flight attendant, which she has performed for than nine years. She always keeps an eye out for the hunters on board. "I always chat with passengers, particularly those that look like they are going hunting," she said. "Anyone wearing camouflage clothes." Carrolan said that people think it's "cool" that a woman enjoys the outdoors and hunting wild animals.

Carrolan's hunting trip of a lifetime will be broadcast on January 24 at 8:30 p.m. on the Versus Country television network. Check with your cable company for the proper channel in your area. You can also go to the Versus website to find a clip of the show and other web exclusive materials after it airs.

TWU Among First to Support IPCC Targets

The Transport Workers Union and two other unions released statements in favor of science-based emissions targets called for by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the global climate summit in Copenhagen last month. The TWU's statement, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) joint statement released at the summit both called for a 25 to 40 percent reduction on 1990 levels for developed countries by 2020.

"The American labor movement has become an enthusiastic supporter of expanding 'green jobs' that fight global warming," writes Brendan Smith on The Huffington Post's green blog. Smith refers to the three unions' statements on science-based emissions targets as a "significant breakthrough" in terms of Labor's involvement with the issue extending beyond support for green jobs.

International Vice President and Strategic Planning Director Roger Toussaint traveled to Copenhagen to attend COP15 and represent TWU's position on emission reduction targets and green jobs. Read TWU's statement on the issue here .

Smith also explains the importance of Labor's position on climate legislation:

"Union positions can make a big difference on climate legislation […] Strong union support for science-based targets could play a significant role in strengthening current legislation [...]

The US will also face an enormous number of climate related policy decisions in the near and more distant future, ranging from what provisions should be in international treaties to national policy on fuel efficiency standards to sidewalks and bicycle lanes for local streets. Organized labor can be a significant player in all of them. It can also play a big role in how those policies are actually implemented in industries and workplaces. And it can help educate its sixteen-and-a-half million members about what climate change means for them and their children and what has to be done about it."

Read Smith's full blog post here.

Jobs is Job One

A red velvet curtain set the backdrop for the somber faces of three laid off United Auto Workers members. They sat on stage as part of the panel at the AFL-CIO King Observance Town Hall meeting on jobs. The hundreds of union members in the audience were surrounded by dozens of bold red and blue posters printed with the powerful image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s face and the message "Honor the Dream, Create Jobs."

The audience listened with an almost palpable empathy to the UAW members as they told their stories at the podium. Tears swelled in some listener's eyes when one of the UAW brothers explained the hardship he faces. He has been laid off for more than six months, is unable to find work and is caring for his wife, who suffers from a terminal illness, without the benefit of health insurance.

The AFL-CIO planned the King Observance Event to remain true to the great leader's vision, one that extended beyond black and white. While the speakers and participants addressed the complex issues of race, prejudice and discrimination, they also extended beyond these discussions to address broader social and economic issues of our day, just as Dr. King did in his. Based on the country's current economy, one of the most pressing issues addressed was that of jobs in America.

"What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a hamburger?" said Dr. King in 1968. What good is the right to sit at a lunch counter if you have to choose between a hamburger and your wife's medicine, or your child's schoolbooks? Too many Americans understand this struggle, including many that are employed, but forced to work two or three low-paying jobs just to make ends meet.

There are 15 million unemployed people in our country right now. The unemployment rate is more than 10 percent. Businesses are failing, jobs are continuously being shipped overseas, and banks can or will not lend money to those in desperate need. The need for good paying union jobs is desperate.

In an interview with the Transport Workers Union, Vice President of the AFL-CIO Arlene Holt Baker spoke on this point:

"We need to make sure that good jobs are sustainable jobs that people can actually raise and take care of their families on. A good job not only means a living wage, it is one that provides a real pension when one retires after they've given their service, one that we make sure has health care that allows us to provide for ourselves and our families."

Holt Baker stressed the AFL-CIO's five-point plan in her speeches and in the interview. The TWU supports the plan which proposes to: extend the lifeline for jobless workers; rebuild America's schools, roads and energy systems; increase aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services; put people to work doing work that needs to be done; and put TARP funds to work for Main Street.

"Without a strong middle class the economy can and will not be rebuilt sustainably," said James Andrews, President of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, who hosted the Town Hall meeting. "A recovery in the country's financial community does not matter without the creation of jobs." Andrews and other Town Hall panelists, which also

included Greensboro's Reverend Nelson Johnson, Greensboro city council member Dianne Bellamy-Small, and AFSCME Secretary Treasurer and CBTU President William Lucy, touched on many points made in the AFL-CIO's five-point plan. They cited the infrastructure issues in this country, and the need to keep our bridges from collapsing and our highways from deteriorating, the need to be included in the country's green agenda, the need to resuscitate Main Street and the need to keep good paying union jobs here at home.

Several of the speakers emphasized the importance of buying American, union-made goods and services. Tony Hawkins, one of the UAW speakers, who has been laid off from his job building trucks, explained that by buying American "the job you save may one day be your own." Hawkins also touched on the danger of foreign made products, such as the kind of trucks that are poorly manufactured in Mexico instead of built according to the highest industry standards by people like Hawkins here in the U.S. Foreign workers are paid despicably low wages and often work under appalling conditions. The companies who forfeit quality for the bottom line have left union men and women here in the U.S. out of work or, if they can find work, forced to work low-paying jobs without benefits that do not enable them to care for their families in the way every working American should be able to do. The unemployed today "are people who want jobs but can't find them," said Holt Baker in her exclusive interview with the TWU.

City council member Dianne Bellamy-Small spoke on the role of politics in the revitalization of jobs in America. She urged listeners to continue to get out the vote for politicians who support labor's cause and to hold the government accountable for the placement of stimulus funds and policies that affect American jobs. Reverend William J. Barber II, President of the North Carolina NAACP, who spoke on the first night of the King event, also emphasized how politics, specifically "coordinated political power," can be used to accomplish King's dream. Barber explained that if civil rights was there with labor every time labor moved on an issue, and vice versa, the two groups would have the power to change the landscape of politics in favor of the everyday people.

Unionists know the power of organization better than most, and the AFL-CIO succeeding on getting the message of unity and power to its participants. At the end of her speech, Small spoke to that point with an African proverb describing the power of unity: "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion."

Unions Highlight Dangers of Fatigued Maintenance Workers

The Transport Workers Union of America and the International Association of Machinists are committed to raising their member's awareness of an industry killer, "the fatigued worker." Working with the Federal Aviation Administration and sleep study experts, the TWU and IAM expose the dangers of sleep deprived aviation maintenance workers in an industry that operates 365 days a year, 24 hours per day. The inherit risks posed by extreme hours, irregular shifts and outside distractions, are substantiated by medical studies and reported by medical experts like Dr. Bill Johnson, Dr. Katrina Avers and FAA Human Factors Researcher Erica Hauck. These informative articles are included in the second edition of "MX Fatigue focus," available here. Learn about the importance of the biological processes that regulate an individual's sleep patterns, the homeostatic and circadian process and why they are important to workers' safety and the safety of others. Your life may depend on it.

Help TWU Send Aid to Haiti

The people in Haiti and their families here in the United States and around the world need our help. Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti has brought the country to its knees and left it reeling for any and all kind of aid. TWU International President James C. Little established the TWU Disaster Relief Fund to help people in Haiti through this catastrophe. "These people and families in Haiti need all the help we can give," said President Little. "I urge all TWU members to give what they can to aid us in our efforts to alleviate the tragic suffering in the country."

President Little also noted that the TWU has many members of Haitian decent throughout the organization and the TWU must come together to support our Haitian members and their families, as well as others in Haiti.

Donate to TWU's fund, planned in coordination with other affiliates and the AFL-CIO. A financial donation can be made out to:

"TWU Disaster Relief Fund"
The Transport Workers Union
Attn: John O'Donnell
1700 Broadway 2nd Floor,
New York, NY 10019

TWU Creates Disaster Relief Task Force

The TWU Disaster Relief Task Force was formed on Saturday, Jan. 16, to enable the union act immediately to help Haiti and stay for the long run. The Task Force will be headed by TWU Int'l Organizer Georges Exceus with the assistance of Legislative and Political Representative Alex Garcia and COPE Political Field Assistant Terry Daniels, and locals in the Miami area (locals 568, 291, 570).

Outreach to local media and radio stations has been implemented, and the Task Force has started coordination and distribution plans for getting donations to Haiti and those in need.
The TWU International Building in Miami will be used for the storage of donated supplies, and a drop off location for any "TWU Disaster relief fund" checks from the south Florida area. TWU state conferences and others will be contacted to help the Task Force establish other locations around the TWU system, specifically in the Northeast.

All donations can be sent to:

TWU of America
5705 NW 38 ST
Miami Springs, Fl 33166
305-871-6090

The Task Force can be reached at 305-790-9120 and by email:
Georges Exceus: gexceus@twu.org
Alex Garcia: agarcia@twu.org
Terry Daniels: tdaniels@twu.org


Remember, every little bit helps! So please send what you can!

“The Greensboro Four” Sit-In for Justice

More than 400 unionists and activists gathered in Greensboro, North Carolina for the AFL-CIO's Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday Observance event earlier this month. They also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the famous sit-ins at a Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter.

The three surviving members of the monumental Woolworth sit-ins, the "Greensboro four," spoke on a panel on Saturday morning. The three, Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan and Franklin McCain, spoke about their brave decision to stand up for their rights on February 1, 1960, their experience starting the sit-in movement and the lasting impact their actions had, and continue to have, in this country. Watch the panel in the video above.

Nearly 70 TWU members participated in the eventful weekend, which included speakers, a town hall meeting on unemployment and jobs, panels, workshops, music and a community service project on Friday, January 12. Watch and hear from TWU members who volunteered their time to the project in the video above on our blog or by clicking on the TWU Video Library.

Members from more than 25 different unions joined together for the service project at a distribution center called the Welfare Reform Liaison Project. At 7 a.m. on Friday busloads of union members arrived at the large center and were assigned tasks that helped prepare items like school supplies, daily necessities and jackets to be distributed for free or at a reduced cost to Greensboro community members in need. Many TWU members and officers spent the morning sorting boxes of school uniforms for children.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to help a lot of people who are less fortunate," said Louis King, a shop steward from TWU Local 514. "I am happy to have a chance to physically participate in the community service today."

Unionists celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King's memory, vision and the progress the country has made since the Greensboro sit-ins, but they also engaged in serious, intellectual, and, at times, heart-breaking discussions about the work that still needs to be done to achieve true social and economic justice for all people.

More on panels, discussions and speakers to come on http://www.twu.org . Watch for videos and articles this week to learn more about the important work that union brothers and sisters from across the country performed this weekend in honor of Dr. King, his memory and his work.

TWU's Decades of ‘Principled Support’

The TWU's participation in the AFL-CIO's MLK event is one way it continues to support civil and human rights. From its founding in 1934, the TWU has fought for equal treatment for all members and citizens. That commitment produced landmark contracts through the years, establishing equal pay and opportunities for all members, regardless of race or creed. During the turbulent ‘60s, TWU and others in the labor movement joined Dr. King and other civil rights advocates in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march, the 1968 March on Washington and other historic events of the day.

Roosevelt Watts, TWU’s first African-American International Secretary-Treasurer, said he looked backed proudly on TWU’s decades of “principled support” for the civil rights struggle -- “with our prestige, money and manpower.”
The union’s support for civil rights continues today in the work of TWU’s Civil & Human Rights Department, under the direction of Sandra Burleson, and its participation in the AFL-CIO’s yearly tribute to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. One of TWU’s most memorable and proudest moments came in 1961 when Dr. King delivered a moving keynote address to the union’s convention, praising TWU for its dedication to the cause of equal rights and liberties for all people. The union’s current leaders take great pride that TWU continues to be a part of achieving Dr. King’s dream.

Mass. Working Families Push for Coakley

Tuesday's election in Massachusetts will decide who will fill the senate seat long held by Senator Ted Kennedy. The results can have a major impact on the Employee Free Choice Act and other issues important to working families. Attorney General Martha Coakley is a strong supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act and job creation and her opponent, Republican Scott Brown, strongly opposes the Act.

As reported by the AFL-CIO yesterday: "Massachusetts working families have been on the phones, doorsteps and worksites over the last few days–mobilizing a get-out-the-vote drive for Martha Coakley in Tuesday’s special election for the U.S. Senate."

Click here for the full story on AFL-CIO's Now Blog.

MLK Observance, Union Values at Work

More than 500 unionists and activists gathered this weekend in Greensboro, North Carolina for the AFL-CIO's Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday Observance event, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the famous sit-ins at a Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter.

Nearly 70 TWU members participated in the eventful weekend, which included speakers, a town hall meeting on unemployment and jobs, panels, workshops, music and a community service project on Friday, January 12. Watch and hear from TWU members who volunteered their time to the project in the video above.

Members from more than 25 different unions joined together for the service project at a distribution center called the Welfare Reform Liaison Project. At 7 a.m. on Friday busloads of union members arrived at the large center and were assigned tasks that helped prepare items like school supplies, daily necessities and jackets to be distributed for free or at a reduced cost to Greensboro community members in need. Many TWU members and officers spent the morning sorting boxes of school uniforms for children.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to help a lot of people who are less fortunate," said Louis King, a shop steward from TWU Local 514. "I am happy to have a chance to physically participate in the community service today."

The three surviving members of the monumental Woolworth sit-ins, the "Greensboro four," spoke on a panel on Saturday morning. The three, Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan and Franklin McCain, spoke about their brave decision to stand up for their rights on February 1, 1960, their experience starting the sit-in movement and the lasting impact their actions had, and continue to have, in this country.

Unionists celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King's memory, vision and the progress the country has made since the Greensboro sit-ins, but they also engaged in serious, intellectual, and, at times, heart-breaking discussions about the work that still needs to be done to achieve true social and economic justice for all people.

More on panels, discussions and speakers to come on http://www.twu.org. Watch for videos and articles this week to learn more about the important work that union brothers and sisters from across the country performed this weekend in honor of Dr. King, his memory and his work.

TWU's Decades of ‘Principled Support’

The TWU's participation in the AFL-CIO's MLK event is one way it continues to support civil and human rights. From its founding in 1934, the TWU has fought for equal treatment for all members and citizens. That commitment produced landmark contracts through the years, establishing equal pay and opportunities for all members, regardless of race or creed. During the turbulent ‘60s, TWU and others in the labor movement joined Dr. King and other civil rights advocates in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march, the 1968 March on Washington and other historic events of the day.

Roosevelt Watts, TWU’s first African-American International Secretary-Treasurer, said he looked backed proudly on TWU’s decades of “principled support” for the civil rights struggle -- “with our prestige, money and manpower.”
The union’s support for civil rights continues today in the work of TWU’s Civil & Human Rights Department, under the direction of Sandra Burleson, and its participation in the AFL-CIO’s yearly tribute to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. One of TWU’s most memorable and proudest moments came in 1961 when Dr. King delivered a moving keynote address to the union’s convention, praising TWU for its dedication to the cause of equal rights and liberties for all people. The union’s current leaders take great pride that TWU continues to be a part of achieving Dr. King’s dream.

Honoring MLK’s Memory

The TWU proudly joins the AFL-CIO in honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s memory at the AFL-CIO's King Holiday Observance this weekend. On Thursday, January 14, union members from around the country gathered in Greensboro, North Carolina for five days of activities, including community service projects, a jobs town hall meeting and workshops and commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins.

The TWU has been involved in this Observance weekend for the last several years. Many of TWU International's top officers, staff and TWU members will join more than 400 participants at the event to remind the nation that without economic justice, MLK's vision is unfulfilled. "The MLK celebration is an event the TWU is always proud to attend and it is a great honor for our union to be invited to share in the memory and reflect on our own history joining Dr. King's fight for justice," said International President James C. Little.

The weekend kicks off with a call on the White House and Congress for meaningful jobs creations policies.

Today, attendees will be participating in a variety of community service projects. The rest of the event features two days of speakers and presentations that address issues of social and economic justice, the environment, and job creation. Participants will hear from trail blazers of the Greensboro sit-ins: Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan, Franklin McCain and Duke professor William Chafe, Ph.D., and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker among many others.

One of the TWU's most memorable and proudest moments came in 1961 when Dr. King delivered a moving keynote address to our convention. King praised the TWU for its dedication to the cause of equal rights and liberties for all people and we take great pride in having been a part of Dr. Kings dream. Thousands of TWU members participated in the March on Washington D.C. to hear King's “I have a dream” speech, and we eagerly joined other civil rights demonstrators in the famous 50-mile Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march in 1965. Three years later, over 2,500 of our members joined the Poor People's March in Washington D.C.

In addition to this weekend's Greensboro celebration attended by activists from around the country, working Americans will hold roundtables, marches, and rallies nationwide to remind their representatives that Dr. King’s vision for the nation included not only civil rights but also economic justice for all Americans—a vision that is far from fulfilled.

Visit TWU.org for photos and information about the event over the next few days.

Health Care Call-in Blitz Jan 13th!

It's now or never for health care reform: The House and Senate have passed health care reform measures, but now they have to hammer out a final bill they all can agree on. We have to keep the pressure on to ensure that the final version will help, not hurt, working families.

Today, Wednesday, Jan. 13th, please join the Transport Workers Union and other AFL-CIO affiliates in “blitzing” for Health Care Reform!

Join your union brothers and sisters today and CLICK-TO-CALL your senator or congressional representative and urge them to ONLY support health care legislation that:

• Does NOT TAX our healthcare benefits
• Requires employers to pay their fair share
• And includes a public health care option

Please let them know that any tax on our middle class health benefits is unacceptable!

We are weeks away from a final bill that merges the versions passed by the House and Senate. Both bills greatly increase the number of people who will have health care coverage and end some of the most egregious insurance company abuses. But the bill passed by the House is far better for working families – and now is our time to tell representatives to stick to their guns and vote for health care reform that will make a true difference for working families.

The Senate bill is badly flawed. It would tax middle-class health care benefits, allow employers to escape responsibility for paying a fair share and does not include a public health insurance option to reduce costs and hold insurers accountable.

We’re down to our final opportunities to make sure that health care reform passed this year works for us so CLICK-TO-CALL now and make your voice heard.

Women: Take Pearl of Wisdom Pledge this Month

Cervical cancer is the second leading cancer in women worldwide. But fortunately, cervical cancer is almost always preventable – with the Pap test, the HPV test and the HPV vaccine. The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), as a partner in the Pearl of Wisdom Campaign to Prevent Cervical Cancer, and the TWU want women to know that they can prevent this type of cancer and to share this information with their mothers, daughters, sisters and friends.

January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and the Pearl of Wisdom campaign to prevent cervical cancer is a united, global effort to raise awareness of the opportunities now available to prevent the disease. The campaign increases awareness of the new means of preventing cervical cancer, encourages women to take full advantage of these methods, and advocates for the implementation of these tools for girls and women everywhere. Specifically, the campaign encourages women to “Take the Pearl Pledge" to: schedule their annual gynecologic examination; tell 5 friends about their pledge and ask them to join them; and wear a Pearl of Wisdom in support of cervical cancer prevention.

Visit www.PearlofWisdom.us/Pledge to participate. The campaign aims to secure 4,070 pledges – the same number of U.S. women who were projected to die of cervical cancer in 2009 – by Mother’s Day (May 9, 2010). Women can wear their own pearls to participate, or they can purchase a Pearl of Wisdom pin through the campaign at www.PearlofWisdom.us/Pledge . All proceeds go to the U.S. Pearl of Wisdom Campaign fund, which supports U.S.-based cervical cancer prevention activities.

In the U.S., the campaign is led by Tamika and Friends, Inc., a national nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about cervical cancer, and includes approximately 20 national partners. The U.S. effort is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from QIAGEN, Inc.