UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT EXTENSION. A deal between President Obama and congressional leaders would extend emergency unemployment benefits through the end of next year, in exchange for tens of billions of dollars in tax cuts for millionaires. Will this bill help boost the economy and create jobs?

Guests: Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor, The White House, Washington, DC; Eliseo Medina, Secretary-Treasurer, Services Employees International Union, Washington DC; Rebecca Smith, Coordinator, Immigrant Worker Justice Project, National Employment Law Project, Seattle, WA. rsmith@nelp.org , www.nelp.org

ALSO, OBAMA SIGNS LAW TO END CHILD HUNGER. Today, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Act, the most significant investment in the National School Lunch program in thirty years. The law seeks to get junk foods out of schools, improve school lunches, and end the epidemic of child obesity and hunger.

SOLÍS. Hilda Solís has stepped down as U.S. Secretary of Labor. This edition offers an exclusive interview with the outgoing secretary, discussing her tenure during one of the country’s most difficult economic periods. Solís has said she is proud of securing backwages for immigrant workers, and of the job training programs she administered.

Guest: Hilda Solis, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Los Angeles, CA.

ALSO, UNSAFE CONDITIONS. Poultry workers in Alabama work hours on end in cold rooms, hanging, gutting, and slicing more than 100 birds in a single minute. According to a recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, poultry workers often endure debilitating pain in their hands, gnarled fingers, chemical burns, and respiratory problems. The researchers say federal poultry industry regulations set to take effect in April threaten the health and safety of poultry workers.