Holiday Gifts for the Activists on Your List
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Most of us still have some holiday shopping to do and here are a few suggestions that can keep you out of the lines at the malls and big-box stores and warm the heart of any good trade unionist or progressive on your list.
David Prosten reminds us that Union Communication Services (UCS), the labor movement’s all-union, 100 percent labor books bookstore, is a good place to find the gift of solidarity. They have a sleigh full of great stocking-stuffers for the labor activist in your life, union hall or workplace.
Click here to see a special selection of books and other goodies from the UCS catalog. Some of the best of the best are featured here, including two brand-new, just-added titles—Working Words, a collection of prose and poetry from Bob Dylan to Eminem to Amiri Baraka, and Rebel Voices, the IWW anthology.
Also at UCS, check out the recently published children’s book Which Side Are You On? The Story of a Song. It tells the story of the song, written in 1931, that has become an anthem for people fighting for their rights all over the world, through the eyes of song author’s Florence Reece’s 11-year-old daughter. The song was written as the Reece family huddled under the bed as bullets from coal company thugs tore through their Kentucky home.
Your holiday gifts can fight human trafficking and modern-day slavery when you Read the rest of this entry »
Show Some Union Love This Valentine’s Day
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Monday is Valentine’s Day and the last-minute rush is on this weekend to get the right candy, flowers, wine or champagne to show your loved one how much you care. How about showing some love for union brothers and sisters at the same time by buying union-made products.
Several websites highlight union-made treats such as candy–like the ever-popular candy hearts and chocolate treats made by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM); snack foods by members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); or fruit and nuts from members of the United Farm Workers (UFW).
The Union Plus website has a wide-ranging list devoted to union-made candy products. Click here to see what Valentine’s day treats will help support other union members. As with a lot of traditionally union-made products, more are being cross-produced (some union-made, some not; some U.S.-made, some not), so be sure to read labels to ensure that your candy is union-made in the United States.
Buy Union for the Holidays, and All Year Long
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This holiday season, union families can use their power to help keep good union jobs in the community by purchasing union-made goods and services. The AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department (UL&STD) has compiled a list of union-made products you can buy and another list of products and services that the AFL-CIO has approved for boycott.
Start your shopping list with a visit to the Union Label website, www.unionlabel.org, and click on Search for Union Products to see if a product is union made and what union produces it. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, move on to the websites of individual unions that show up as links on the page.
Another great place to find a wide assortment of union-made products is the AFL-CIO Online Store, where you will find unique apparel, buttons, mugs, decals and other outstanding union items.
If you’re buying a wireless phone, check out AT&T’s Mobility, the only union wireless company. About 42,000 Communications Workers of America (CWA) members work at Mobility, providing quality service along with the very latest in technology.
Get Ready for Buy Union Week, Nov. 26–Dec. 5
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In these difficult times, it makes sense for union families to use their power to help keep good union jobs in the community by purchasing union-made goods and services. The AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department (UL&STD) has designated the 10 days following Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 –Dec. 5, as “Buy Union” week to encourage union members to look for union-made goods and services when they buy for the holiday season.
Holiday shopping traditionally kicks off on the day after Thanksgiving, also known as “Black Friday,” because it begins the holiday shopping season when many retailers move from red ink to black on their balance sheets. This year, shoppers will find plenty of “bargains” even before the holidays.
But UL&STD President Richard Kline says union family shoppers should look beyond the foreign-made electronics, trendy toys and gadgets to find enduring goods that are union made.
Buy Union Week comes this year in a time of economic hardship for many Americans. Outsourcing of work to foreign lands has been costly to working people and their families, communities and government.
Union Label Celebrates Centennial, Looks Ahead
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The AFL-CIO Union Label and Service Trades Department (UL&STD) celebrated its centennial earlier this month by looking forward to the future. Delegates to the department’s convention in Pittsburgh adopted new strategies to help working families cope with the new American workplace and to help them rebuild the American middle class.
The convention adopted several resolutions to prepare for the next phase of the department’s growth. A key resolution modified the department’s functions to emphasize information and communication sharing. Another resolution called on affiliated unions to help improve the quality of data on union-made goods and services, to link any product lists on their websites to the Union Label website and to regularly advise the department of goods and services made by union members.
The delegates also re-elected President Richard Kline and Secretary-Treasurer James Dunn and chose 17 vice presidents.
In his keynote address at the convention, United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard praised President Obama’s decision to enforce trade laws and provide relief to the U.S. tire industry from the surge of tire imports from China.
Finally, we have a president who is not afraid to act.
[The tire decision] won’t result in the opening of a closed tire plant, but it does send the message that an American president is willing to stand up for workers.
USW President: AFL-CIO Convention Opportunity to Rally Activists
This is a cross-post from the United Steelworkers.
United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard today gave the keynote speech at the Union Label & Service Trades Department convention in Pittsburgh, saying the meeting along with the upcoming AFL-CIO convention is an opportunity.
Gerard said working families should be hopeful after President Obama’s decision last night to enforce trade rules in the 421 trade case that showed a flood of tires imported from China was harming the domestic industry. Thousands of jobs at U.S. tire plants have been lost because of the imports. (Click here for more information on the 421 story.)
Union Label Week Kicks Off on Labor Day
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With the nation’s unemployment rate at the highest level in more than 25 years and U.S. manufacturing jobs especially hard hit, it is more important than ever for consumers to buy union-made products.
The AFL-CIO Union Label and Service Trades Department (UL&STD) is launching its annual Union Label Week, beginning Labor Day through Sept. 12 to remind people that union-made goods are high in quality and help support middle-class communities.
UL&STD President Richard Kline says buying union-made goods helps the entire country.
“Many Americans are hurting in this economy. That’s why it’s more important than ever to support union families by looking for union goods and services. By doing so, you can ensure that the hard-earned money you spend will reward employers who act with integrity, not runaway manufacturers and offshore employers.
“When you buy union, you not only get the highest quality goods and services, but you also help maintain good union wages and benefits that sustain the quality of life in U.S. communities.”
Even in these tough times, we’ve all got to buy essentials like new clothes and supplies for children going to school. Some of us may even need a new car, tools, appliances, furniture or hardware. No matter what you need to buy, Kline says, the main thing is to look for the union label.
“Support quality union jobs, support integrity, and support your community. Make smart decisions about how you spend your hard-earned money and look for union-made choices.”
Click here and here to learn more about union-made goods and services.
‘Walk In My Shoes’ June 11
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Here’s your chance to tell the world what the workday is really like for workers. The AFL-CIO Union Label and Service Trades Department (UL&STD) wants to know what it’s like to walk in your shoes. If you work on an auto assembly line, in a hospital emergency room, classroom, coal mine, mailroom, office, grocery store or one of a million other locations, Union Label wants to hear your story of what it is really like on your job. It doesn’t matter if you’re laid off, unemployed or retired—your story is important as well.
Here’s the idea. Tell Union Label what your workday was like on “Walk in My Shoes Day”—Thursday, June 11, 2009. Union Label wants to hear it all—whether you faced a tough commute, dealt with a grumpy boss, took on a big challenge or had a great success. The best submissions will be posted in the Label Letter and on the UL&STD website.
