The 2006 Union Industries Show rolls into Cleveland, Ohio’s I-X Center May 5 –7 with a new name and new, sharper focus.The show will be promoted under the name America@Work, followed by the tag-line: “100% Union-Made, American-Made Products, Services and Jobs.” Exit surveys from the 2005 show revealed that more than half the show attendees are not union members but favored unions. They viewed the show as a chance to demonstrate their support for unions, to investigate job and training opportunities and to and learn about union-made products and services.
“America @ Work is a catchy name with a modern feel,” explains Union Label and Service Trades Department President Charlie Mercer.
The show will also focus more on educating the public about trade unionism and the role unions play in the economic and political life of the community. It will highlight (and encourage people to join) vital pro-worker organizations, including the Alliance for Retired Americans and Working America.
“Cleveland could be our biggest show ever,” Mercer said. “This is a heavily unionized, densely populated area. The I-X Center is conveniently located near several large highways connecting dozens of towns and cities, like Columbus, Akron, Canton and Toledo.”
The show will have more convenient hours, too, running 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (closing one hour later than before) and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. (The show will no longer run on Monday, a day that has rarely drawn large crowds.)
“We are excited to be working closely with the Ohio AFL-CIO and the Cleveland Federation of Labor and all the individual unions across Ohio. This region is full of fine unionized companies with great products and services, and the public is going to learn a great deal about them. The public will also learn a lot about the Alliance for Retired Americans, Working America and the important political and organizing work that our unions are doing. That, too, is a very exciting and promising development,” Mercer said.
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