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 A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

members—especially those products and services identified by a

union label A union label (sometimes called a union bug) 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 cust ...

, shop card, store card and/or service button. The department is a constitutionally mandated department of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. The department's offices are located at the AFL–CIO headquarters in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The department has many 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 A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

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" website as an "official" Internet shopping site for union-made products and services.

Leadership

Presidents

:1909:

John Brown Lennon John Brown Lennon (October 12, 1850 - January 17, 1923) was an American labor union leader and general-secretary of the Journeymen Tailors Union of America (JTU). In 1890, he was elected treasurer of the American Federation of Labor and served in ...

:1911: John F. Tobin :1916: John W. Hays :1926: George William Perkins :1934: Matthew Woll :1956: John J. Mara :1960: Richard F. Walsh :1975: Joseph D. Keenan :1980: John E. Mara :1982: James E. Hatfield :1997: Charles Mercer :2008: Richard Kline

Secretary-Treasurers

:1909: Thomas F. Tracy :1917: John J. Manning :1932: George W. Perkins :1933: John J. Manning :1934: Ira M. Ornbum :1950: Raymond F. Leheney :1957: Joseph Lewis :1971: Edward P. Murphy :1976: Earl D. McDavid :1982: John E. Mara :1988: Sidney Heller :1989: Richard J. Perry :1994: Charles E. Mercer :1997: Dennis L. Kivikko :2003: Matthew C. Bates :2000s: James H. Dunn

References

Sources

* Foner, Philip S. '' History of the Labor Movement in the United States. Vol. 3: The Policies and Practices of the American Federation of Labor, 1900–1909''. New York: International Publishers, 1964. * Maurice F. Neufeld. "Structure and Government of the AFL–CIO." ''

Industrial and Labor Relations Review ''Industrial and Labor Relations Review'' (ILR Review) is a publication of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. It is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research on all aspects of industrial relations. The ...

''. 9:3 (April 1956). *
Union Industries Show features American-made goods
'' ''nwlaborpress.org''. Retrieved 2024-11-29.

External links

Union Label Dept. website
* "Union Label and Service Trades Department, Secretary-Treasurer's records" at the

University of Maryland Libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.–Baltimore area. The system includes eight libraries: six are located on the University of Maryland, College Park, College Park campus, while ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Label Department, AFL-CIO AFL-CIO Trade unions in the United States 1909 establishments in the United States Trade unions established in 1909