The Union Label

They are the modern counterparts of the hallmarks of the medieval craft guilds, and they stand for much the same thing. "This symbol stands for quality," they say. Quality in craftsmanship, production and service, but also quality in labor relations—good wages and working conditions under a union contract.

By insisting on the union label, purchasing products that bear it and patronizing stores where the union shop is displayed, members of organized labor and the general public help to promote and spread the things for which the label stands. At the same time, they are helping to wipe out the vestiges of "sweatshop" in which workers are exploited at low wages, often in an unhealthy work environment while the employer reaps excessive profits.

The importance to the trade union movement of the union label and its companions, the shop card and service button, is underscored by the fact that an AFL-CIO constitutional department links the label and the trade unions in their promotion. The department issues its own publication and sponsors an annual an AFL-CIO Union Industries Show in a major city to display the products and skills of the American union worker. It also charters local and state union label councils.

But promotion of the union label, like organizing, is really the mission of every trade unionist. It ought to be the mission of every consumer.

See more about union labels