Initially, Mr. Bachmuth, 45, did not think his children were terribly affected when he lost his job nearly a year ago. But now he cannot ignore the mounting evidence. "I'm starting to think it's all my fault," Mr. Bachmuth said. As the months have worn on, his job search travails have consumed the family, even though the Bachmuths were outwardly holding up on unemployment benefits, their savings and the income from the part-time job held by Mr. Bachmuth's wife, Amanda. But beneath the surface, they have been a family on the brink. They have watched their children struggle with behavioral issues and a stress-induced disorder. He finally got a job offer last week, but not before the couple began seeing a therapist to save their marriage.

Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The study, the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade, also found that 68 percent of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week. "We were all surprised by the high prevalence rate," said Ruth Milkman, one of the study's authors and a sociology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the City University of New York. The study, to be released on Wednesday, was financed by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes and Russell Sage Foundations.

The debate over the Employee Free Choice Act, or Card Check, which has raged for months, has taken an interesting turn - straight through church doors.

At its heart, the EFCA eases union organization rules and, in theory, clears a path for organized labor to eliminate a secret ballot in elections on whether to unionize. Republicans and business leaders say union leaders will use the open voting process to intimidate workers they know oppose unionization.

The Obama administration is defending its claim that the $787 billion economic stimulus plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs before 2011 even while conceding that unemployment will likely continue to rise beyond its earlier predictions. A report Monday by the White House Council of Economic Advisers said the projections were based on conservative estimates and widely accepted assumptions. The 3.5 million job estimate remains valid, the report said, now that stimulus money is starting to pay for various projects throughout the nation. Many Republican officials and some prominent economists question the administration's optimism, and the White House report is the latest reply to such critics.

An effort to combat climate change and its effects on the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet has attracted support from an unusual coalition of religious and retired military leaders. While they view the issue from different perspectives, be it protecting God's creation or bolstering national security, they all want climate-change legislation being negotiated on Capitol Hill to provide protections for the less fortunate. For one of Virginia's newest congressmen, Tom Perriello, D-5th, the legislation would ideally fill an obligation not only to the planet but also to its inhabitants. And in his district, he hopes combating climate change will translate into putting people back to work.

Led by Interfaith Worker Justice, religious organizations and faith groups have been working hard for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. A dozen faith groups and 50 faith leaders came together March 9 at the Methodist House on Capitol Hill to reaffirm their support for the Employee Free Choice Act and to discuss the theological foundation of that support from Judaism, Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity. The Rev. Adam Taylor of Sojourners quoted liberally from both the Old and New Testaments, including Isaiah 58, Jeremiah 22 and St. Luke, to make the point that God commands the faithful to fight poverty and inequality. He went on to say that in a society and economy as unequal as ours, organizing unions and restoring collective bargaining is one of the most important ways to fight poverty and inequality.

It took more effort and resulted in more "blood on the floor" than pundits predicted, but our lawmakers have at last settled upon an economic stimulus package. With that must-do measure in the rearview mirror, Congress and the Obama administration are turning their sights elsewhere. Bills regarding health care, immigration and other pressing items are being introduced daily. I wish I could report brighter prospects for harmonious resolution of any of these weighty matters. But realistically, when legislators answer the bell for the second round of the bout called Politics 2009, we may expect just as little true bipartisanship and just as much acrimony as we saw in the opening weeks of the Obama presidency.

Pope Benedict XVI said labor unions have an important role to play in finding a way out of the global financial crisis and establishing a new culture of solidarity and responsibility in the marketplace. "The great challenge and the great opportunity posed by today's worrisome economic crisis is to find a new synthesis between the common good and the market, between capital and labor. And in this regard, union organizations can make a significant contribution," the pope told directors of the Confederation of Italian Labor Unions Jan. 31. The pope emphasized that the inalienable dignity of the worker has been a cornerstone of the church's social teaching in the modern age, and said this teaching has helped the movement toward fair wages, improvement of working conditions and protection of vulnerable categories of employees.

As a rising number of Americans sign up for unemployment benefits, many of the state-funded trusts that pay them are on the decline. At least 12 of them are on the brink of insolvency. In 20 other states, the funds have lost value, even before the big job losses of the past two months. While unemployed workers will get their benefits - federal law requires it - the trust fund woes are putting states into a peculiar squeeze. They're loath to raise taxes or cut services in a recession, so many are racking up new loans. That debt burden will affect residents for years to come. The demand for benefits, meanwhile, is likely to soar.