Buy a Book, Help a Laid-Off Union Member
This from Alfonso Nevarez in the AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department.
Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., is in the process of laying off 7 percent of its workers due to declining sales. International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5 units at Powell’s Burnside and Beaverton stores, as well as the Hoyt Street and Northwest industrial warehouses, will be affected by the layoffs. Local 5 President Ryan Van Winkle said that Powell’s was proactive in notifying workers of their bumping and separation rights.
Local 5 has coordinated with Powell’s to establish a shop-in, which will send 7.5 percent of each purchase to a fund to assist displaced workers.
Now’s the time to stock up on books for friends, family and yourself. Each purchase you make will assist a laid-off sister or brother. To make sure the funds are directed appropriately, follow the link at the ILWU Local 5 website.
Work Songs, Bargaining for Work and Family and More from Cool Tools
 |
|
Our latest edition of Cool Tools includes a look at successful Blue-Green coalitions, working songs from labor’s long musical history and educational resources to help you put vital family life issues on the bargaining table. The AFL-CIO’s Cool Tools assembles the latest hot picks for union activists and allies. (If you can’t locate the items at The Union Shop Online,TM try Powell’s Books, the nation’s largest union bookstore, or get a list of union stores at The Union Shop Online.TM)
Union and environmental activists are finding new power and success in the growing Blue-Green movement. University of Florida sociologist Brian Mayer’s new book, Blue-Green Coalitions: Fighting for Safe Workplaces and Healthy Communities, finds that
attempts to build blue-green coalitions are likely to succeed when [workplace and environmental] health is the starting point for finding a common ground.
