Education Conference Features Women of Steel May 17—Cobo Center
Make plans now to attend the annual UL&STD Education Conference, Saturday, May 17th at the Cobo Center in Detroit. The program will convene at 8 a.m., running through 1:30 p.m., and includes a breakfast and a steak lunch.
The conference is hosted by the Michigan State AFL-CIO Union Label and Service Trades Council.
A committee of Michigan labor leaders headed by Jennie Chatman, Chairwoman of the Michigan AFL-CIO UL&STD Council, has developed the agenda for the conference which will include presentations by Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee and representatives from USW’s Michigan Chapter of Women of Steel, the organization which has spearheaded the “Get the Lead Out” drive, an aggressive campaign to alert consumers to the threat presented by lead-tainted toys and other consumer goods from China.
Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney and Secretary-Treasurer Tina Abbott will discuss labor’s campaign to deal with the threat of Right-to-Work legislation pending in the state legislature.
The $55 registration fee covers a continental breakfast, a filet mignon lunch, and a chance to win an all-inclusive round trip for two to Walt Disney World ($1,000 value) donated by Union Vacations.
Conference accommodations are available ($125) at the Marriott Renaissance Center, a union hotel. Pre-registration is encouraged. Copies of the registration form are available from Patty Farhat (pfarhat@miaflcio.org). Phone: 800-684-1256 or 517-487-5966.
The Executive Board of the Union Label & Service Trades Department has approved the selection of Detroit as the site for the 2008 America-at-Work Union Industries Show, along with significant changes in how the Show will work—including the sale of union-made-inthe USA products and services from the Show floor.
Arrangements are underway to showcase and sell automobiles, motorcycles, sporting goods, clothing, housewares, appliances, food stuff, glassware, computers, furniture—the entire gamut of goods typically on display. The Department will be encouraging local contractors to also market union services—from painting, roofing, electrical and brickwork, plumbing, and more.
Since 1938, the Union Industries Show has been held in Detroit only twice: 1961 and in 1995. The 2008 Show is expected to spotlight the newest products of the United Auto Workers (UAW) from its own back yard in Detroit’s massive Cobo Hall—a 700,000 square foot convention and exhibition center in the city’s downtown.
Named for Alfred Cobo, Detroit’s mayor through most of the 1950s, the center was built in 1960 and renovated in 1989. The last time the Show visited Detroit was in 1996. In the 12 years since, Cobo Hall management has instituted a number of improvements in how the facility operates. “In our negotiations with Cobo Hall management we discussed the concerns that exhibitors raised from the 1996 experience and we have been assured that those concerns have been resolved,” said UL&STD President Charles Mercer. “We’re looking forward to working with the Michigan State AFL-CIO and the Detroit Central Labor Council to make this Show a breakthrough for our exhibitors and the Department,” he said.
A new service of the UL&STD the Label Flash contains information important to the union consumer. We will be distributing the "Label Flash" via our newsletter broadcast list and they are also available for download on our website.
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