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Give union-made gifts 

Did you know all Hasbro toys and games including Monopoly, G.I.Joe and My Little Pony are made by union “elves”?

Also look for union-made household items, clothing, shoes, even espresso machines and other popular small kitchen appliances.  Check out this UAW Consumer Buying Guide for more ideas.

Is the iPhone 4S on Santa’s list? Shop AT&T and you’ll be supporting fellow workers at the only nationwide unionized wireless provider.  You can also save 15% on AT&T wireless service when you use your Union Plus discount.

And for made-in-the-USA gift ideas, check out this DailyKos article.

And you can even support unionized actors – and save with your union member discount – by purchasing theater tickets and other entertainment discounts through the Union Plus Entertainment Discounts program.

Buy union-made holiday treats, turkeys, hams and more

Check your favorite brands to see if they support America’s workers on the UFCW site.  “Buy union” when it comes to everything from coffee, turkey and ham for holiday dinners to chocolates, chips and beer for parties.

Don’t forget to use your Union Plus discounts (more…)

Nick Hanauer is another multimillionaire who says its time to tax the rich. The venture capitalist, who has launched more than 20 companies and is an original investor in Amazon.com, says Republicans are completely wrong when they claim that raising taxes on the rich—the so-called job creators—would kill job growth because “Rich people like me don’t create jobs, middle-class consumers do.”

So let’s give a break to the true job creators. Let’s tax the rich like we once did and use that money to spur growth by putting purchasing power back in the hands of the middle class. And let’s remember that capitalists without customers are out of business.

Hanauer also points out that the 99 percent have not gotten a fair shake.

If the average American family still got the same share of income they earned in 1980, they would have an astounding $13,000 more in their pockets a year. It’s worth pausing to consider what our economy would be like today if middle-class consumers had that additional income to spend.

Click here to read his full column at Bloomberg.

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Re-Posted from the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

Terry Maile’s supervisor called her into a conference room with all of her co-workers to hear the news: It was their last day of employment at Level 3 Communications in Pittsburgh.

That was it. The jobs were gone to India.

“I couldn’t stop crying,” said Maile, a divorced mother of one, who until that moment had spent her professional life as a telecommunications worker before being laid off first by Verizon and then by Level 3.

Even then, Maile said, she still believed in the American Dream.

You’ve got to work hard… work hard.

Maile owned her own home. Although she had been forced to liquidate her retirement after the Verizon layoff, she had begun to build it back up. Then came the Level 3 layoff. It shook her to her core. (more…)

Professors from Western Michigan University discuss the devastating effects — including lower wages and higher poverty — of so-called “Right to Work” laws.

If you’re getting ready to board a plane home after Thanksgiving or still fretting about safety in the crowded holiday skies for the upcoming holidays, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)—the people who guide you home—offer five reasons to feel better about air travel.

Here they are in a nutshell, and click here for more details.

• There are more controllers on the job, nearly a 4 percent increase of fully certified controllers.

• Runways are safer than ever, with the number of serious runway incursions having dropped by 50 percent between 2009 and 2010 after falling by 52 percent the year before.
• Major steps have been taken to reduce controller fatigue this year, including staffing that ensures at least two controllers are on duty at all times.

• The aviation community is collaborating to mitigate delays with pilots, aircraft dispatchers, airport operators and other members of the aviation community and the system wide delays are decreasing, especially around the holidays.
• The aviation safety culture is at its strongest with NATCA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) committed to improving the safety of the air traffic control system, including a voluntary safety reporting program, the Air Traffic Safety Action Program.

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This entry originally appeared at the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

 

Conventional wisdom says don’t talk politics at big family gatherings, especially with Uncle Earl. But our friends at Working America are offering a unique guide on how to talk about today’s biggest political topic, the Occupy Wall Street/99 Percent movement, without sending Uncle Earl into one of his legendary fits.

Working America’s Turkey Talk Guide is designed to help you continue the national dialogue on economic fairness sparked by the Occupy movement and help you draw out the real issues behind the massive protests against inequality and injustice taking place in Ohio, Wisconsin and across the country.

It offer tips, facts and responses to myths and spin, as well as online resources to people at their homes and online. Says Working America Executive Director Karen Nussbaum:

We want to help ordinary Americans have productive conversations, and avoid picking fights with the uncle who thinks the Department of Education should be abolished. So many people are not able or willing to occupy parks to protest the vast inequality in this country, but they want to do something. We’re bridging the gap between the tent cities where the protesters are, and the neighborhoods where people might have family members who aren’t normally receptive to these ideas.

(more…)

From a midnight pajama party in a Madison bar to a rally in front of Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) Wauwatosa home, thousands of Wisconsin volunteers kicked off the official signature gathering period to put Walker’s recall before the voters next year. Recall forces now have 60 days to gather some 540,000 signatures.

At the pajama party, where participants were set for action at this morning’s official 12:01 a.m. start of the signature gathering clock, Erik Kirkstein a spokesman for United Wisconsin told the Badger Herald:

The people of Wisconsin have been waiting for this for months. This is the culmination of citizens all across the state, and we can’t wait to recognize them and start [the recall] off on the right track.

The broad recall coalition, which includes the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, brings together the same citizen energy that fueled working families’ win in Ohio last week. By an overwhelming 61 percent margin, voters overturned Gov. John Kasich’s S.B. 5, which eliminated the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

(more…)

From a midnight pajama party in a Madison bar to a rally in front of Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) Wauwatosa home, thousands of Wisconsin volunteers kicked off the official signature gathering period to put Walker’s recall before the voters next year. Recall forces now have 60 days to gather some 540,000 signatures.

At the pajama party, where participants were set for action at this morning’s official 12:01 a.m. start of the signature gathering clock, Erik Kirkstein, a spokesman for United Wisconsin, told The Badger Herald:

The people of Wisconsin have been waiting for this for months. This is the culmination of citizens all across the state, and we can’t wait to recognize them and start [the recall] off on the right track.

The broad recall coalition, which includes the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, brings together the same citizen energy that fueled working families’ win in Ohio last week. By an overwhelming 61 percent margin, voters overturned Gov. John Kasich’s S.B. 5, which eliminated the collective bargaining rights of public employees. (more…)

Every November, late in the month as the leaves at long last leave their branches even in the summer-sweltering South, we gather together with our families in the spirit of gratitude. What we give thanks for changes from year-to-year. This time around there’s a lot less turkey with all the trimmings on a whole lot of tables.

In 2011, millions and millions of able-bodied Americans are either unemployed or greeting shoppers at WallyWorld.

Here in Fayetteville, N.C., —and in a handful of other fortunate cities being economically bolstered by the power of high-quality, domestic manufacturing—thousands of fortunate USW-represented tire industry workers are still clocking in and out for good wages and benefits.

Many of us have friends who would like to walk a mile in our steel-toed moccasins, especially on payday. We also know most of them couldn’t hang day-by-day, year-by-year.

This message is just a gentle reminder to the select few among our membership who need a nudge. Most of us are smart enough to know when to look up and say “Thank you!”…to Whom It May Concern.

This Thanksgiving, as we break bread with our brothers and sisters, let’s consider this: everything we have fought for over the years is negotiable every contract season. This year, we, the dues and tax paying people here in Fayetteville, are well-covered in more ways than one.

Thanks for listening. Now share those blessings, and save me some pumpkin pie!

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Gary Villani serves on the Executive Board of USW Local 959, and as editor of their newsletter, The Local Express. In 2010, while performing his duties as co-captain of the Goodyear-Fayetteville Fire Brigade, Villani suffered a broken neck during the rescue operation of a co-worker. He is continuing to recover.

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On Nov. 8, Ohio voters repealed SB5, which took away the right of public employees to bargain for a middle-class life. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined working families at the phone bank and walking door to door to get-out-the-vote against the law, pushed by Gov. John Kasich and passed early in 2011.