Like all Americans, UAW members are deeply concerned about the toxic toys, contaminated food [1] and other hazardous products that have entered the U.S. marketplace.

Is there anything we can do about it?

Sure there is. We live in a global economy – but that doesn’t mean we have to open our doors to any product from anywhere, made under any conditions.

As a labor union, UAW members are concerned about product safety, and also about the safety of the people who make the products we use. Because if a toy is contaminated with lead, it’s not only dangerous to the child who plays with it – it’s also dangerous to the workers who manufactured it.

More than eighty per cent of the toys sold in the U.S. are now made in China. Unfortunately, Chinese workers do not have the ability to join a union of their own choosing, so they can bargain for safe working conditions and a better standard of living.

China Labor Watch, a respected non-governmental organization, has issued a report on working conditions in Chinese toy factories [2]. The study documents “long hours, unsafe workplaces and restricted freedom of association.”

Chinese workers deserve better – and so do American consumers. The UAW believes that the global economy can and should include fair trade standards that protect workers, consumers and the environment.

UAW members fought against NAFTA and against China’s unrestricted entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). And now we’re fighting a new approach to trade – one that will treat workers in all countries fairly, and give everyone a chance to prosper.

Click here [3] to learn more about the UAW’s approach to trade.

Visit HealthyToys.org [4], a website produced by the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which identified toxic substances in common household toys. (Note: Workers at the Ecology Center are proud members of UAW Local 38.)

And click here [5]to tell us where you’re going to shop this holiday season – and to tell us what you think about the global economy.