Monday, September 5, 2022

Post No. 317: For Labor Day, Part 2 — The New and Improved 'Look for the Union Label' Song


(Image by Paul Whiting)

The New and Improved
'Look for the Union Label' Song
[A "Look for the Union Label" song lyrical adaptation]

Look for the Union Label,
When you are buying for your kids, or your spouse!
Remember, somewhere, our quality is showing and
Our wages are going to feed the kids and run the house!
We balance work and life, so we're explaining,
"Thanks to the Unions, we're paying our way!"
So, always look for the Union Label...
It says, "We Made It Here In The USA!"

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

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My Writing About Every Worker's Right To Freely Join A Labor Union: It is every worker's right to freely join a labor union (without any forced unionism, of course), because of the many valuable benefits that are offered to labor union members, not to mention the fact that labor unions have a long and proud history of winning many victories on behalf of all workers. –Paul Whiting (written May 6th, 2012 and revised September 5th, 2022)

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My Writing About Anti-Union: Anti-union is anti-worker! –Paul Whiting (written April 4th, 2015 and revised September 5th, 2022)

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My Writing About How I Am Pro-Union: I am pro-union and pro-worker! –Paul Whiting (written October 16th, 2021 and revised September 5th, 2022)

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My Writing About Pro-Union: Pro-union is pro-worker! –Paul Whiting (September 5th, 2022)

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My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I remember when the "Look for the Union Label" commercials by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) were on television! And I am definitely a pro-union worker and a pro-union citizen, so I decided to do a lyrical adaptation of the original ILGWU theme song in order to give it a more modern feel and to relate it to today's American union workers, whose products are stamped with three proud words: "Made In America!" (Please see the hyperlinks below for the videos.)

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was lyrically adapted in Portland, Oregon.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

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Watch "The New and Improved 'Look for the Union Label' Song" on YouTube: [This video is my above-mentioned lyrical adaptation of the original "Look for the Union Label" song.]

https://youtu.be/dOrk67QVAg8

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Watch "Look for the Union Label 1978 ILGWU ad" on YouTube: [This video is one of the original "Look for the Union Label" commercials for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU).]

https://youtu.be/7Lg4gGk53iY

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Watch "Union Label in Color" on YouTube: [This video is the "Look for the Union Label" song from a production of "The Pajama Game" by students of Preston High School in the Bronx, New York.]

https://youtu.be/5Xb_23pvp7k

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"International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—which is funded primarily through donations from millions of individuals around the world, including this blogger (I make a totally affordable monthly donation):

"The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union, generally referred to as the 'ILGWU' or the 'ILG,' merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needle trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. The two unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented only 250,000 workers between them, down from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969.

Look for the Union Label:

The ILGWU sponsored a contest among its members in the 1970s for an advertising jingle to advocate buying ILGWU-made garments. The winner was Look for the union label. The Union's 'Look for the Union Label' song went as follows:

Look for the union label
When you are buying a coat, dress, or blouse,
Remember somewhere our union's sewing,
Our wages going to feed the kids and run the house,
We work hard, but who's complaining?
Thanks to the ILG, we're paying our way,
So always look for the union label,
It says we're able to make it in the USA!"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Ladies%27_Garment_Workers%27_Union

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This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 317 was edited on April 15th, 2024.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]