Green Options » union

House Demands Audit of the Federal Reserve

Rhonda Winter — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:19:55 +0000

Where Did All of the Money Go?

Ed Schultz interviews Florida Rep. Alan Grayson about Congress finally demanding more transparency from the Federal Reserve, and auditing their massive secret bank bailouts. The recently passed legislation will now allow the Government Accountability Office to independently audit the Fed, and their nefarious Wall Street deals. Alan Grayson and Ron Paul co-authored the amendment, which also had a whopping 311 co-sponsors in the house.

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“We need to stop giving money to the bad banks, they just eat it, they don’t actually hand it out to people and do anything useful with it. We have to give money to the good banks. The fundamental strategy that has been followed since the Bush Administration to try to recover from this is flawed…the good banks will go and make good loans to people, to businesses, to small businesses in particular, and the economy will recover.”

—Rep. Alan Grayson

Green Knives Bide Their Time For Gordon Brown

Chris Milton — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:17:51 +0000

So the Labour Party conference is over for another year and Gordon Brown has survived the attempts to remove him from office. How he managed this is a matter of exceptional luck, not political skill.

As the knives slide back into their sheaths wise old heads know this feat of double handed trickery cannot be repeated again. It’s only a matter of time, the mutterers continue to mutter.

However one rumour needs to be squashed right away: the one that this unrest is all about personality, not policy. Conference showed quite clearly that there are policy differences between Brown and his party, and their colour is Green.

My Obama Yard Sign is a Union-Made, Recyclable Plastic Bag

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:28:23 +0000

I’ve never put a campaign yard sign in my lawn, so when a friend offered an Obama sign, I decided to join the campaign (even though there is a slim chance I may vote for Cynthia McKinney). I envisioned my high school government teacher Mr. Zeigler’s basement walls covered in plywood signs from Kennedy to Dukakis, as well as a cabin on Southfork Mountain that was sided with these sturdy signs. I thought maybe I would start a historical collection of campaign signs documenting my children’s life through the candidates I voted for in their youth. You can imagine my disappointment when my plastic bag Obama sign arrived.

Oh, my plastic bag Obama sign is not just any old plastic bag banned throughout the world for shoppers, but it is a union-made, recyclable bag. This bag proudly displays the union USWA label local 3210, as well as a gentle reminder to “please recycle”. I’m not sure what steelworkers are doing making plastic bags (or if I am reading the label correctly, perhaps it is an endorsement?), and I wish the sign was made from post-consumer recycled plastic content.

Wind Turbine Manufacturer Gamesa Agrees to its First U.S. Union Contract

Maria Surma Manka — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:44:47 +0000

Gamesa, a Spanish wind turbine manufacturer, has hammered out its first-ever U.S. union contract with the United Steelworkers (USW). Workers at two Gamesa facilities in Pennsylvania voted to approve their first contract with 80 percent in favor of it. The agreement lays the foundation for a stronger partnership between one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers – and the only one that makes its blades, nacelles, and towers all in the U.S. – and the 850,000 member union.

The three-year contract raises worker salaries by more than 10 percent, as well as provides for bonuses and benefits for roughly 600 employees. Michael Peck, a Gamesa spokesman, called the contract “a world-class agreement." Tom Conway, USW international vice president, agreed:

“Our union is proud to partner with Gamesa to further grow their domestic manufacturing base and promote wind energy as a source of clean, renewable energy and good jobs.”

Gamesa and other wind power companies have been lured to Pennsylvania by a host of tax incentives and the adoption of a Renewable Energy Standard that doubled the state's renewable energy use to 20 percent. PA is one of the top green power purchasers in the nation according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The United Steelworkers have been longtime supporters of wind power; they and the Sierra Club founded the Blue Green Alliance that advocates for a cleaner environment and good jobs. USW also co-founded the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor, business, and environmental organizations supporting clean energy and a strong economy.

Bucks County Courier Times
Gamesa Corporation
Philadelphia Inquirer, via Topix
Renewable Energy Access
United Steelworkers
The Green Options Interview: Van Jones

Green Style Spotlight: No Sweat Apparel

Victoria Everman — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:42:04 +0000

The kitchen table - many of the world's best ideas are fostered around this raised piece of wood. No Sweat Apparel, also known as Bienestar International, began as a enterprise concept in January of 2000, conceived by Natalia Muina and Adam Neiman in their kitchen.

Working as a Chinese medicine practitioner and a roofing company founder, Natalia and Adam didn't have much experience with the clothing industry, but that didn't stop them from wanting to make a difference. "We differentiated our product just by being different, and that was enough. I experienced the pleasure of taking market share from well established outfits by doing nothing more complicated than trying to treat everyone the way I would want to be treated. And I began to wonder if this notion could have broader applications. Bienestar International is my answer to that question," says Adam, the company's President and CEO.

The concept behind the brand is quite simple: function as an open source, sweatshop free, union made apparel company.

We are the first - we think, the first of many - apparel maker to go open source. We will tell you about our sources, highlight them, show them off. The workers who make our clothes will have living wages and decent working conditions; they will have unions. Will that lead our competition to the same shops? Excellent. We want our sources to thrive. That's the whole point. Or a good part of it, anyway. The other part of open source apparel making is a challenge to our competitors: let them, too, reveal their sources. Let them suffer shame and loss of revenue for favoring sweatshops. Let them reap the rewards of choosing union shops and respecting workers rights.

The previous quote is taken from the company's website, serving as a perfect, direct explanation of the brand's goals and benefits to the industry as a whole. As expected, this open source model has garnered the brand a due amount of attention from the media, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, and al Jazeera TV. Celebrity support has come from a number of unique sources as well, from a Nobel Peace Prize winner and Oscar winning screenwriter to a British folk singer, all of which are highlight on the company's "News" page.

So, what are the items really like? Wonderful, of course! Happy people make quality, long-lasting garments that you can appreciate. Though the company is only using a limited amount of sustainable fibers (read more about why here), your dollars do have an impact on the quality of life for their workers around the world. Also, 7.5% of the businesses' pretax profit is donated to anti-sweatshop organizations and union organizing funds in developing countries. Tess and tanks (both blank and with logos), hats, work apparel, sweats, athletic wear, and more are available for men, women, and children. The company's most popular item is their footwear collection, ranging from $40-55 a pair.