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BOOKS
 | Women's Labor in the Global Economy: Speaking in Multiple Voices
In this unique anthology, Sharon Harley of the University of Maryland collects an array of stories by American and Ghanaian scholars on how the global economy is affecting women of color. Women’s Labor in the Global Economy tells the stories of agricultural and factory workers, artists and entrepreneurs, mothers and artists. Hatley also calls attention to a not-coincidental pattern that occurs from Mexico to Ghana to Sri Lanka to the United States: Time after time, women of color are chained to the lowest rungs on the occupational ladder and denied access to better opportunities, while the work they do is downplayed or dismissed. Available from The Union Shop Online ™. |
 | Beware of Cat and Other Encounters of a Letter Carrier
You’ve heard it a thousand times: “I could write a book about my job!” Vince Wyckoff, a South Minneapolis letter carrier, set out to do just that. In Beware of Cat, the former shop steward for the Letter Carriers offers a funny, poignant, sweet-natured memoir of his years as a letter carrier in the same neighborhood. Day after day, letter after letter, Wyckoff walks the same streets, meeting residents and becoming part of their lives. Along Wyckoff’s route, Native American children teach him about totems. After 14 years, he delivers a much-delayed registered letter, mailed from Saigon in 1976. With his caring anecdotes and musings on community, Wyckoff reminds us how important the workers in our daily lives can be. Available at The Union Shop Online.™ |
MUSIC
 | My Name is Buddy: Another Record by Ry Cooder
Just “another record by Ry Cooder”? No such thing. Cooder’s albums are always distinctive, and “My Name Is Buddy” evokes Woody Guthrie, The Grapes of Wrath and a Pogo cartoon. The songs follow the adventures of Buddy, a blue-collar, pro-union character making his way across the country during the Depression. Buddy just happens to be a cat, and during his travels he meets a radical mouse named Lefty, a blind preacher named Tom Toad, a pig named J. Edgar, union busters and Klansmen. Precious few musicians love and understand every sort of American vernacular music (folk, country, jazz, blues, rock) as Cooder does. In his maturity, he writes and plays it all like a master. Available from Nonesuch Records. |
 | The Nightwatchman: One Man Revolution
If you’re a Tom Morello fan, you’re not alone: Rolling Stone called him one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. “One Man Revolution” reveals a different side to Morello’s artistry. In this solo debut, he turns to acoustic folk music that brings to mind Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen. “One Man Revolution” is a departure for Morello, but some things never change: as always, he’s on the side of people who get the short end of the stick. Available from Artist Direct. |
RESOURCES
 | 4 High Hazards
If you’re a construction worker, this cool tool could save your life. The DVD “4 High Hazards” is an overview of the greatest dangers construction workers face on the job—falls, electrical hazards, struck-by hazards and caught-in-between hazards. It covers some causes of these dangers, available protections and workers’ rights. New apprentices and industry veterans alike will learn from this film, produced by The Construction Institute, a nonprofit labor-management group in Boston. Free copies are available through the Institute website, which also offers safety news, hazard alerts and other information for construction workers. |
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