Labor Union Blog

A lockout at Grain Processing Corporation in Iowa has entered month 15. To mark the occasion more than 200 workers gathered this weekend and asked security guards to let them through the gate so they could return to work while a new contract is negotiated. The company didn’t budge and continues to stand by the last contract presented to the union. The company has said the workers will be allowed through the gates if they ratify the contract. More than 100 workers have retired or moved on to other jobs over the last year.

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Lede: Labor is coming together for the American Banker’s Association’s party in Chicago Tuesday. Doug Cunningham explains.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the rally is expected to draw thousands of people to protest bank greed and the irresponsibility that nearly collapsed the financial system. Trumka says after being bailed out by taxpayers to the tune of $700 billion, banks still aren’t using their capital to fuel economic recovery for working people. SEIU President Andy Stern says bankers will get this message from labor at the Showdown In Chicago on Tuesday.

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A strike has been authorized by San Francisco hotel workers. More than 9000 hotel workers are represented by UNITE-Here local 2. Ninety-two point three percent of those workers voted in favor of strike authorization at 31 upscale hotels. According to the union the hotels are seeking to increase workloads by cutting shifts and combining jobs. The hotels have also sought to shift more of the health care burden onto employees. Some of the hotel chains involved in the contract negotiations include Hyatt, Hilton, and Fairmont corporations.

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In this cross-post from the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Steve Capozzola highlights a fun and educational children’s book that shows why it’s important to buy American-made products.

Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) Field Coordinator Rachel Bennett Steury has forwarded information on a new book that explains the importance of Keeping it Made in America:

“Bye, America”

Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 688 President Lance Biglin in Mansfield, Ohio, has taken a creative approach to help educate Americans on the importance of buying American. Biglin, together with his wife, has published a children’s book, “Bye, America” to help teach children, and in some cases their parents, why it is important to buy American-made products.

In his letter introducing the book Biglin writes, “This is the story of 4 million American families who have seen their jobs disappear over the last eight years.”

The story follows one worker who loses his job at a vacuum cleaner factory when his factory moves to China. The father takes his children to “Walrus Mart” to show them why it is important to buy American-made products. Sadly, every product they looked at was labeled “Made in China.”

“The United States has lost 3,500,000 jobs since the year 2000. Most of these were jobs that paid Americans a fair wage for a hard day’s work. When these jobs leave our country, there is very seldom an opportunity for a better job for these displaced workers. This book gives you a chance to sit down with the next generation of Americans and explain to them the importance of supporting their fellow countrymen. We are not losing these jobs because we are unproductive; we are losing these jobs because other countries are exploiting their workers, producing unsafe goods and just plain cheating,” concludes Biglin.

The book is beautifully illustrated by the author’s wife, Kristi Biglin. To order copies of the book, which is “proudly union printed in the U.S.A.,” click here.