Netroots Nation: Tell Us Your Ideas for the Labor Caucus

by Tula Connell, Jul 13, 2010

Netroots Nation, the annual gathering of some 2,000 progressive bloggers and activists, is coming up fast—July 22–25—and we need your input on topics we should focus on at the Labor Caucus we hold there every year.

Labor communicators from the AFL-CIO, Change to Win and independent unions take part in the Labor Caucus, as well as allies from groups such as Jobs with Justice. This year, Matt Browner-Hamlin from SEIU and I are co-hosting it, and we want your input to help frame the agenda.


Participants in the Labor Caucus focus on issues affecting our work as labor communicators—how we can improve what we do and effectively reach union members and the public. Last year, we explored how to build our own online union community, connecting labor to the progressive blog world and utilizing our resources to make changes at the state and local levels, to support union members and campaigns

Netroots Nation: Vote on a Union Beer

by Laura Clawson, Jul 13, 2010

By popular demand, Working America and the AFL-CIO are bringing back last year’s “Raise a glass for the working class” booth—otherwise known as the beer booth—at Netroots Nation. If you come by our booth anytime the exhibit hall is open and take an action for working families, you’re entitled to come back and sample union beer during the happy hours we’ll be holding next week on Thursday and Friday of the convention.

We’ll have updates coming soon about what actions you can take and exactly when beer will be served. (Last year the actions included writing to your members of Congress about health care reform or the Employee Free Choice Act, or joining Working America.) But right now, the big question is: What beer should we serve?

WWW Center Hosts Historic Merger Summit

United Airlines Senior VP of Labor Relations Doug McKeen (left) and Continental Airlines Human Relations & Labor Relations Senior VP Mike Bonds (right) visited the Winpisinger Center and answered questions from IAM representatives and members regarding the proposed United-Continental merger.

Thu July 8, 2010

The prospect of a greatly consolidated airline industry is responsible for an unprecedented conference taking place at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Southern Maryland.

More than 100 IAM representatives and members from Districts 141, 142 and 143 are taking part in the first-ever Transportation Merger Summit, designed to coordinate resources for upcoming representation elections at Delta Air Lines and to consider implications of the pending United-Continental merger.

As the largest union in the airline industry, the IAM represents employees at each of the carriers involved in this latest round of consolidation. District 141 represents more than 16,000 employees at United Airlines; District 142 represents about 11,000 Flight Attendants at Continental Airlines, Continental Micronesia and Express Jet; and District 143 represents 12,500 employees at the former Northwest Airlines.

Local 1297 Hosts Annual ‘Ride For The Guide’

Nearly 300 Years: Delbert Fruth, 89, Ed Souder 83, John Groves, 74, and Dick Zerger, 74, rode the entire 100 miles in their second Ride for the Guide. All plan to return for next year’s event

Thu, July 8, 2010

Members of Local 1297 in Ashland, OH, held their 19th annual “Ride for the Guide” to benefit Guide Dogs of America (GDA). Nearly 550 riders, members and friends participated in the 100-mile poker run.

The event raised more than $10,000, which will provide guide dogs and instruction in their use – free of charge – to blind and visually-impaired men and women in the United States and Canada.

Volunteers from Local 1297, led by President Fred Confer, prepared more than 500 pounds of BBQ to serve at the rally. The event also included contests, drawings and live music

Washington State Workers Rally to Keep Tanker Made in America

In this cross-post, Kathy Cummings, communications director of the Washington State Labor Council, reports on a rally Friday in support of Boeing workers. Boeing is in competition with European-based Airbus for the Air Force’s $35 billion tanker contract.

With as many as 50,000 jobs at stake across the country, members of the Machinists (IAM) and SPEEA/International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 2001 rallied along with Washington State’s congressional delegation and a host of community and business leaders Friday in Everett. We rallied in support of Boeing, as the company turned in their bid for the contract to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of air re-fueling tankers

Call-In Day, July 13: Tell Congress to Pass Currency Legislation

by James Parks, Jul 12, 2010

Now that the Treasury Department once again has refused to label China as a currency manipulator, it is more important than ever for Congress to pass strong legislation quickly to stop the unfair and illegal advantage against U.S. producers that China and other nations gain by undervaluing their currency.

On July 13, tens of thousands of manufacturers across the country—members of the Fair Currency Coalition and the Coalition for a Prosperous America—will join with union members and citizen trade groups in a National Currency Call-In Day to ratchet up the pressure on the Obama administration and Congress to hold currency manipulators accountable.


A bipartisan group of senators is considering attaching S. 3134, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2010, to legislation that may pass at anytime. Introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the legislation would give our government the tools it needs to address currency manipulation.

Work and Walk in Union-Made Boots with Discounts for Union Members

by Mike Hall, Jul 11, 2010

With apologies to Nancy Sinatra, these boots are made for working. And, they’re made by union members in Wausau, Wis.

The American-made, union-made boots by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) locals 668 and 717 members at the Weinbrenner Shoe Co., are available online at TheUnionBootPro.com—and union members get a 27 percent discount. Walter Brown, owner of BootPro Solutions LLC, says roughly 98 percent of the work boots sold in the United States are made overseas, primarily China.

“As other well-known brands move operations offshore, the UnionBootPro has become the go-to website for union members to find the work boots they demand—boots made by American workers.”

APALA Mobilizing Asian Americans for Organizing and Political Action

About a dozen workers testified before the first national workers’ rights hearing for Asian Pacific American workers last November.

by James Parks, Jul 10, 2010

One of the fastest growing segments of the union movement, Asian Pacific Americans, are mobilizing to make their voices heard in politics and in the workplace. With the crucial midterm elections just four months away, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) is urging workers and their communities to take action and make a difference in the upcoming elections. The Asian Pacific American vote could be especially decisive in Nevada where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in a tough bid for re-election.

Late last month, several Asian Pacific American leaders visited Las Vegas seeking to mobilize local residents in political action. They also urged Asian Americans to register and vote during elections.