Protect Our Kids

Protect Our Kids – Stop Toxic Imports is a North American awareness campaign about the growing danger being created by toxic imports, unregulated globalization and the gutting of federal regulatory agencies.

The project will mobilize all activist entities of the United Steelworkers union, including Women of Steel; Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR); Health, Safety & the Environment; Associate Membership; Rapid Response; United Steelworkers Press Association (USPA); and Legislative.

They will help mount a series of national events in the U.S. and Canada that aim to get the lead and other dangerous products out of our homes while drawing attention to a broken regulatory system and unfair, unregulated trade policies that threaten our jobs and our families.
Read more…

What You Can Do

We need your help in getting the lead and other dangerous products out of our homes. A broken regulatory system and unfair, unregulated trade policies are endangering our families, our communities and our jobs. This check list provides you with a few ideas for what you can do to send the message that a cheap price tag is not worth putting our families at risk:

Use your USW Get the Lead Out screening kit:

• Test your toys and other imported items and report your results at www.stoptoxicimports.org or www.protect-our-kids.org.
• Review product recall lists and get the unsafe products out of your homes and pass the word.
• Check local child care centers and schools for these recalled toys and get them out!
• If you need more lead tests, buy them from manufacturers such as www.leadcheck.com/ in the United States or www.leadinspector.com/ in Canada.

Join with the USW and help spread the word:

• The USW’s Women of Steel are sponsoring Get the Lead Out Safe Home sessions around North America to educate friends, family and neighbors about toxic trade and the danger of unregulated globalization. Visit www.stoptoxicimports.org or www.protect-our-kids.org to find events near you.
• Have your own Safe Home testing get together to share information about lead screening and toxic trade and to let friends and family know what they can do to help.
• Visit local toy, tire and other retailers to see if toxic/faulty products are still on the shelves.
• Join a USW action day at a local retailer or other high-traffic area where you can pass out campaign brochures and lead screening kits. Check the Web for details.
• Encourage your friends to visit www.protect-our-kids.org and join our campaign!
• If you’re not a USW member, join us now! Go to http://www.uswa.org/uswa/program/content/1264.php for an online application or send us the Associate Member application enclosed in your Get the Lead Out kit.

Ask your government representatives to fix the broken trade system that is allowing toxic and unsafe imports to threaten our families’ health:

• Write or e-mail them a letter saying something such as:

Dear (fill in the name):
Our children should be the top priority of our government. That is why I am imploring you to help put an end to unregulated toxic trade that is threatening our families with everything from lead-laced baby bibs and toys to toxic tooth paste. We need tougher trade laws that not only safeguard consumers but protect our jobs. We need to stop toxic imports from ending up on our store shelves and in our homes. Please take action now to protect our children and stop toxic trade!

Sincerely,
(Your name)

• Sign our online petition at www.stoptoxicimports.org then pass along the link and ask your friends, family and co-workers to sign it.

40 States, 100 Members of Congress, 100 Million Children
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
United Steelworkers (USW) Take Fight To Local Congressional Offices National Day of Action on Toxic Trade, Jan 16

Toxic toy law misses big picture. Steelworkers say it focuses on symptom, not disease
Monday, December 17, 2007
Toronto—Proposed legislation on toxic toys ignores the root problem, the United Steelworkers (USW) union said today. It overlooks where and how toxic toys are made, focusing on the symptom more than the disease.

Steelworkers Union Crusades Against Toxic Trade to Protect Kids from Lead Toys, Products this Holiday Season
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
PITTSBURGH – As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear, the United Steelworkers is hosting “Safe Home Sessions” in 17 cities across the country to educate families about how to screen for lead contaminants in toys and other products. With the massive toy recalls parents and grandparents across the country are extremely concerned about toxins that kids are being exposed to every day.

Kids’ Bracelet Contains Extremely Toxic Cadmium CSPC not interested in “new public health threat”
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
PITTSBURGH – The United Steelworkers (USW) today said the latest toxic toy discovery – extremely high levels of poisonous cadmium in an imported kids’ charm bracelet – is more proof that the nation’s failed trade policies and a broken regulatory system are putting children at risk and must immediately be fixed.

Make products safer by making them in Canada: Steelworkers
Thursday, November 08, 2007
OTTAWA — This holiday shopping season, a rising dollar isn’t the only thing on families’ minds. In response to recalls of two million unsafe toys, the United Steelworkers (USW) today called on MPs to give some teeth to the Throne Speech promise to make imported products safer, starting with importer-paid safety tests at the border.

USW Assails Consumer Agency’s Misguided Focus
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Pittsburgh – The United Steelworkers (USW) today assailed the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC) for “its misguided attempt to represent the commercial interests of corporations over those of consumers” by conducting and publicizing a study that minimizes the effectiveness of home lead testing kits.

USW Launches North American Awareness Campaign to Combat Toxic Imports
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. _ The United Steelworkers (USW) today launched a major public awareness and lead screening campaign to combat the massive influx of toxic imports endangering North American families.

USW Launches North American Awareness Campaign to
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
TORONTO _ The United Steelworkers (USW) today launched a major North American awareness campaign to combat the massive influx of toxic imports. The union will distribute thousands of free lead screening kits and help consumers protect their families from dangerous products making their way into homes because of failed trade policies and inadequate regulation.

The advent of the Internet, in some respects, made the job of parenting a little harder. We want our children to experience the vast wealth of knowledge available on the Internet and communicate with their friends online (frees up the telephone). Unfortunately, it also potential exposes our children to inappropriate material, obscene pop-up ads, and even sexual predators. In fact, research indicates that 1 in 5 children aged 10 to 17 have received a sexual solicitation over the Internet. This is definitely not something any parent wants to hear, but is forced to face.

We need a little assurance that when our children access the web, they can do so safely. Internet filters are crucial to protect your children. One tool that can assist us in this goal is Internet Parental Control software. One of the top names in parental control software is PC Tattletale, and if the Big Mouse himself recommends this product, then it has to be good. If Disney feels good enough to install three of the PC Tattletale products in their Disney Dream Desk PC, it has to be worthy. After all, they are willing to stake their reputation on it.

Read more…