Union Label Department, AFL-CIO
Encyclopedia
The Union Label and Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO was founded on April 12, 1909, to promote the products and services produced in America by trade union
members—especially those products and services identified by a union label
, shop card, store card and/or service button. The department is a constitutionally mandated department of the AFL-CIO
.
The Department's offices at located at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Department has a large number of state and local councils and committees, and works closely with AFL-CIO state and local labor bodies to carry out its functions.
The ULS&TD also coordinates national boycotts that have been endorsed by the AFL-CIO executive council. The department maintains and publishes the "Do Not Buy" list of companies being boycotted and the products and services involved. The "Label Letter" publication is the most visible means the Department uses to publicize boycott updates. The Label Letter features special interest stories, alerts, a "Do Buy" section, and other information of interest. Member unions of the AFL-CIO and their local affiliates often reproduce sections and articles of the newsletter to spreading the "union label message" to union members and their families.
One of the more widely known activities of the Department is the annual AFL-CIO Union-Industries Show. Held in a different city each year, the show is a cooperative effort of unions and the companies with which they have contracts. Unions and employers exhibit union-made and American-made products and services. Free to the public, the event often draws large crowds.
ULS&TD also exclusively endorses the "Shop Union Made" Web site as an "official" Internet shopping site for union-made products and services.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
members—especially those products and services identified by a union label
Union label
A union label is a label, mark or emblem which advertises that the employees who make a product or provide a service are represented by the labor union or group of unions whose label appears, in order to attract customers who prefer to buy union-made products...
, shop card, store card and/or service button. The department is a constitutionally mandated department of the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
.
The Department's offices at located at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The Department has a large number of state and local councils and committees, and works closely with AFL-CIO state and local labor bodies to carry out its functions.
Activities
The ULS&TD primary function is to promote the union label. These emblems demonstrate that the employees who make the product or provide the service are union workers, and that they are treated fairly by their employers.The ULS&TD also coordinates national boycotts that have been endorsed by the AFL-CIO executive council. The department maintains and publishes the "Do Not Buy" list of companies being boycotted and the products and services involved. The "Label Letter" publication is the most visible means the Department uses to publicize boycott updates. The Label Letter features special interest stories, alerts, a "Do Buy" section, and other information of interest. Member unions of the AFL-CIO and their local affiliates often reproduce sections and articles of the newsletter to spreading the "union label message" to union members and their families.
One of the more widely known activities of the Department is the annual AFL-CIO Union-Industries Show. Held in a different city each year, the show is a cooperative effort of unions and the companies with which they have contracts. Unions and employers exhibit union-made and American-made products and services. Free to the public, the event often draws large crowds.
ULS&TD also exclusively endorses the "Shop Union Made" Web site as an "official" Internet shopping site for union-made products and services.