Video Finalists Picked in LabourStart’s Video of the Year Contest

by Mike Hall, May 8, 2011

The five finalists have been selected for LabourStart’s second annual Labor Video of the Year competition and you have until midnight GMT (8 p.m. EDT) May 31 to select your favorite.

The five videos were produced by:
•The United Steelworkers (USW), highlighting Honeywell’s use of inexperienced, temporary workers at a uranium facility following a lockout;
•The Electrical Workers (IBEW), portraying corporate-style “workplace democracy”;
•The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), showing how a union contract means job safety;
•The Transport Workers (TWU), reviewing the fight for workers’ rights in Wisconsin; and
•Melissa Koch, who tracks her father’s outsourced airline mechanic job to China.

Click here to view the entries and vote.

The producer of the overall winning video will receive a subscription to IMDb Pro, worth $100. Winners in the various categories also will be recognized. The overall winning video and runner up will be featured Nov. 18–20 in a special screening at the LabourStart global solidarity conference in Istanbul.

Last year’s winner was “What Have Unions Ever Done for Us?” a Monty Python-like look at a scowling CEO and his minions as they prepare to bring a union to its knees (click here). The video was produced by Your Rights At Work, the Australian counterpart of the AFL-CIO community affiliate, Working America.

Join OSHA’s Safe Workplaces Photo Contest

by James Parks, May 7, 2011

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is sponsoring a nationwide photography contest: “Picture It! Safe Workplaces for Everyone.”

The contest, which is part of OSHA’s yearlong 40th anniversary celebration, will help kick off a national effort to raise awareness about workplace safety and health.

The contest is open to anyone age 18 and older and will run through Aug. 12. Both professional and amateur photographers are welcome to enter. Participants can find contest rules and submit photographs at www.osha.gov/osha40/photo-contest.html.

Photographs must be taken in the United States or its territories. An expert panel of professionals in the fields of photography and public affairs will determine the contest winners. The panel includes photojournalist Earl Dotter; Carl Fillichio, senior adviser to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis for communications and public affairs; Kathleen Klech, photo director for Condé Nast Traveler magazine; Shawn Moore, chief photographer at the U.S. Department of Labor; and George Tolbert, retired photographer for the U.S. Senate.

First-, second- and third-place prizes will be awarded for the most outstanding portrayals of occupational safety and health in areas of artistic value and the ability to raise awareness about safety and health to the general public.

All winning and finalist photographs will be displayed on the OSHA photo contest webpage. The first-place winner also will receive a framed letter of congratulations from Solis, and the three winning photos will be framed and hung in OSHA’s national office in Washington, D.C.

Along with the general public, OSHA contractors and special government employees may participate in the contest. However, federal OSHA, “state plan” state OSHA employees and on-site consultation employees are not eligible.

If you have questions, call OSHA’s Office of Communications at 202-693-1999 or photocontest@osha.gov.