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Union Label Underscores Jones Act and American Maritime Workers

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Support for the Jones Act was spotlighted in the most recent column by the AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department President Rich Kline.

In his “End Notes” editorial in the March-April 2015 edition of Label Letter, Kline noted the recent attacks aimed at the Jones Act, the nation’s freight cabotage law.

“The Jones Act has served the United States, the maritime industry and hundreds of thousands of working Americans by sustaining a vital element of our nation’s strength,” he wrote in opening his column. “Shipbuilding and maritime coastal transportation have repeatedly been critical in times of war and peace.”

Stating his case, Kline added, “Now the Jones Act is under attack. Some of its opponents want to buy cheap foreign vessels and others want to conduct business through foreign operatives. In either case, an important part of our economy would be undermined along with a key component of our national defense.”

The Union Label Department promotes union-made goods and services. Kline uses his column to address issues that could benefit or harm American workers. In this particular column, he warns of the impending Congressional fight regarding proposed international trade agreements that could jeopardize “Buy American” agreements, observing that “trade agreements that open our markets to other countries have certainly proven harmful to American workers and jobs.”

To read Kline’s complete column and to see lists of union-made products and goods, go to www.unionlabel.org. 

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