May 27, 2008

ILCA Now Posting On Labourstart

Labourstart.org, the Internet-based international news service for trade unionists, helps build the worldwide labor movement by providing up-to-the-minute feeds of union-related headlines.  Now that ILCA Media Coordinator Mariya Strauss is a Labourstart correspondent, ILCA members with print publications can reach a wider audience.  Here's how to get your stories on Labourstart:

Select a news or feature article you think would be interesting to a wider audience than just your membership. Possible examples: A story about your union's participation in a national labor struggle, or a feature about a labor issue and its impact on your members.

Email an electronic version of the story to Mariya at mstrauss@aflcio.org. This can be a Word document or a .pdf file. Photos--either .gif or .jpg files-- are welcome as long as you provide a photo credit.  If the story makes it into the Swapping Stories section of our site, we'll post it there and put the link on Labourstart.

If you'd like to become a Labourstart correspondent and start posting your own links, just visit their website here.

Any questions? Call Mariya at 202-637-5015, or email her at the address listed above.

USW to Merge With Britain's Largest Union

The United Steelworkers and UNITE the Union--Great Britain's largest union--announced Sunday they plan to merge, creating the first trans-atlantic labor organization. The merged unions will boast membership rolls of around 3 million. Read the Associated Press article and listen to the Marketplace radio segment on NPR.

The USW began laying the groundwork for the merger over a year ago, when it met with UNITE's leadership in Ottawa, Canada.  Those interested in finding out more about global labor unions as a response to globalized capital can check out the USW's Global Solidarity page, as well as the blog Global Labor Strategies and The Solidarity Center.

Help Head Off War With Iran: New Video Campaign

The media company Agit-Pop has partnered with grassroots activist group TrueMajority.org to create a video aimed at getting voters to push their members of Congress to halt Bush's propaganda-driven march toward a war with Iran.  ILCA has added the video and call to action to its McCain Tool Kit for Communicators.

Also new in the McCain Tool Kit: Two pieces of media to help you talk about McCain's lobbyist problem: a San Francisco Chronicle story that mentions the union member protests at McCain's recent fundraisers, and a new nonpartisan website called firethelobbyists.com where you can sign a petition urging McCain to fire the rest of the lobbyists on his campaign staff. Plus it has a fun jingle!

ILCA Trains Union Webmasters

ILCA is helping union leaders take on the Internet, with a collection of new trainings pairing the labor movement's online brains with its activists.  In partnership with the Metro Washington DC Labor Council, ILCA has begun a summer-long series of 1-hour skill-building sessions for union leaders. Sessions are led by online communications experts from unions and their allies. Session topics include Search Engine Optimization, RSS Feeds and Content Management Systems.

Similar sessions are planned in Waterloo, Iowa for the Midwest Labor Press Association in June. 

Please contact  ILCA's office at 202-637-5068 or email ilca@aflcio.org for information on how ILCA can help your union use online tools for organizing and union-building! 

Labor Movement and Energy Legislation

In his in-depth feature article, Mark Gruenberg of PAI explores three ways American unions are approaching energy policy reforms.  Gruenberg examines the AFL-CIO Industrial Unions' Council's clean energy jobs plan; the Building and Construction Trades Department's emphasis on new nuclear power plants; and the maritime unions' and Teamsters' support for drilling oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Each approach would create union jobs; read the article and weigh the options for yourself.

ALSO IN SWAPPING STORIES THIS WEEK:

PAI Contributor and ILCA Secretary-Treasurer Michael Kuchta of the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters has a story on Minnesota's new rules to prevent employer misclassification of construction workers.

Mark Gruenberg reports that children and families are being badly hurt by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) raid on the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa earlier this month.