Taking a Break at the Convention

by James Parks, Sep 17, 2009

Images of unemployed workers are core to an exhibit sponsored by IAM (top), while the AFL-CIO Union Shop traveled to Pittsburgh for the convention.

When delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention take a break from the serious business on the floor, they’ve had a wide choice of interesting things to do and see in the lobby outside the hall.

The hall outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center offers balconies overlooking the impressive skyline above the Allegheny River, which runs alongside the David Lawrence Convention Center. Inside, our Union Shop has set up a booth with union-made buttons, T-shirts and books, and the lines of delegates and guests often has been long, as many delegates take advantage of the opportunity to buy a worker-related book or labor pin to take back home after the convention.

Another exhibit that’s drawing a lot of interest is the Union Plus “Tell Your Union Story” booth, where union members are videotaped as they tell how and why they got involved with union activities and what a union means to them. The booth is sponsored by Union Privilege, which provides consumer benefits to members and retirees of participating unions. “We want to help tell the union story,” says Jon Ross, vice president of Union Privilege.

So many people don’t know the union story. We want to help spread the word. Every union member has a story about why they became a union activist or how unions help their community. We wanted to capture that.

Union Plus also provides a special service in this electronic age. They provide a charging station where delegates can recharge their Blackberries, cell phones and other devices.

Hundreds of workers also check out the face of the nation’s unemployed in a special exhibit sponsored by the Machinists (IAM). Three photographers, including frequent AFL-CIO photographer Bill Burke, whose work composes most of the exhibit, traveled across the country and Canada shooting photos of the workers.  

The latest research by the Labor Project for Working Families is available at another booth and for those who want to know more about the global union movement, the Solidarity Center booth showcases its international projects, like the effort to help workers in Africa organize unions to provide a better life for their families.

The Green Jobs booth highlights the opportunities for the new green jobs revolution, and there are booths by the National Labor College and the Working for America Institute.

But mostly, the delegates do what most delegates do between sessions—talk to each other, form new friendships and renew old ones. Across the wide, window-lined expanse outside the meeting hall, delegates sit at tables talking, discussing what’s happening in their locals, sharing information and making those contacts with other union leaders that help build the solidarity that eventually helps workers everywhere.

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