Holiday shoppers have a new way to support good jobs as well as please family and friends, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said today in announcing AFL-CIO support for “Buy Union Week,” Nov. 29 – Dec. 7.“Shoppers can take the sweat(shop) out of holiday shopping and can give the gift of good jobs – the gift our country needs most of all,” he said.
Consumers can visit new internet web sites that specialize in selling union-made clothing and other items, Sweeney said. One site – nosweatshop.com – serves as a “virtual mall” populated by such union companies as No Sweat Apparel; SweatX; Union Jean and Apparel; Union Threads and Unionwear. Shoppers can also visit the AFL-CIO’s The Union Shop at aflcio.org/shop and Justice Clothing at justiceclothing.com
“You can fill 10 shopping carts with union-made gifts through these companies. You could shop all day at any mall in the U.S. and have problems filling even one cart with U.S. union-made goods. That’s an indication of how bad the economy is for U.S. workers, but here is a chance for us to start turning things around,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney’s announcement followed a meeting in Washington between leading union garment makers and retailers and representatives from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE!), the AFL-CIO and the Union Label & Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
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