Alcoa Sweatshops in Honduras: Important Progress

I'm glad to report some initial progress at the Alcoa wire harness plants in Honduras, but we and the workers still have a long way to go. The union leaders who were summarily fired in June for daring to exercise their legal right to organize a union at Alcoa have been offered reinstatement. This first step forward took place last week at a hastily ... more

Testimony of Charles Kernaghan before United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation

Senator Dorgan, I want to thank you for holding this very important hearing investigating the illegal sweatshop conditions under which our children’s toys are made. In 2006, the American people spent $22.3 billion purchasing over three billion toys and sporting goods. Last year, China accounted for over 86 percent of all toy imports to the U.S., and to date in 2007, China’s toy imports have surged another 16 percent. The timing of your hearings could not have been more appropriate... more

Our Union and the Environment

“Securing Our Children’s World, Our Union and the Environment” is an updated report developed by the USW’s International Executive Board Environmental Task Force which was presented to the IEB on February 28, 2006 in Pittsburgh, Pa. As its title suggests, the report builds upon the landmark work of the original report, OUR CHILDREN’S WORLD, which was ... more

Current Contract Summaries

Negotiating teams work hard to get the best agreement they can for their members. The following are summaries of the proposed agreements that were distributed to members prior to their voting for ratification. These documents are Acrobat Reader PDFs. If you do not have Acrobat Reader CLICK HERE for a free download. Alcoa Proposed Agreement between Alcoa ... more