Local unions, community leaders and working families rallied in Canton, Ohio, Monday at a Bring Jobs Home event after an announcement that TTI Floor Care vacuum bag plant will close all local production of Hoover vacuum bags. The rally addressed different ways elected officials can create good jobs and rebuild local communities hit hard by the recession. The United Steelworkers (USW), Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 1985) and the Hall of Fame Central Labor Council took part.

Larry Matheney, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, wrote an Op-Ed Tuesday on economic patriotism, bringing quality manufacturing jobs back to America and supporting legislation that would  end  tax incentives to American corporations who send jobs overseas. 

Here is an excerpt:

The Department of Commerce's announcement of a preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) determination last week against wind towers from China is an important step in maintaining and expanding U.S. production in wind energy. Clean energy production and manufacturing have been a priority of the Obama administration. It also has been a target of the Chinese government’s five-year plan. U.S. trade actions need to be complimented by a manufacturing strategy.

That wailing siren you hear this Memorial Day is a national security alert set off by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. Their investigation into counterfeit electronic “uncovered overwhelming evidence of large numbers of counterfeit parts making their way into critical defense systems....And, it found overwhelming evidence that companies in China are the primary source of counterfeit parts.”

China has been dumping solar cells on the U.S. market at artificially low prices, the U.S. Commerce Department ruled today, imposing stiff new tariffs of about 31 percent on 60 Chinese firms to provide U.S. manufacturers a fair playing field.

At a time of economic turmoil and austerity measures in many countries, Brazil is getting deserved recognition for its successes in lifting nearly 40 million of its citizens out of extreme poverty over the past 10 years while fostering economic expansion for the nation.

A well-attended brown bag discussion at the AFL-CIO this week provided background on Brazil’s transformation, insights about the work needed to continue improving conditions for Brazilian workers and unions and food for thought about the examples Brazil has set for the United States and the world.

This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center.

Asia is facing an onslaught of work-related deaths and diseases. Of the 2.2 million people who die each year all over the world as a result of work-related accidents or illness, 1.1 million are Asian. Yet the problem of workplace health and safety and its victims remain invisible, according to a new report released today in commemoration of Workers Memorial Day by the Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC), a Solidarity Center partner.

The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has agreed to get tougher with factories in China.

Pressure by unions, advocacy groups and workers themselves has resulted in new protections for workers making badges and mascots for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

TPM Livewire reports that its sources close to the case say the U.S. Department of Commerce has determined the Chinese government illegally subsidized solar exports to the United States. In response, Commerce will impose import duties on Chinese companies sending solar materials to this country.

Yesterday, President Obama announced the United States, in cooperation with the European Union and Japan, will bring a trade case against China’s export restraints on so-called “rare-earth minerals,” which are a vital component in highly advanced products the United States manufactures—or wants to manufacture. The move is a step in the right direction to create more well-paying jobs for America’s workers.