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Other Union-Related Organizations for Fair Trade:
Maquila_Solidarity_Network(a great example)
Resource_Center_of_the_Americas
Asia_Monitor_Resource_Center
Behind_the_Label
CISPES(a great example)
Clean_Clothes
Campaign_For_Labor_Rights
Coalition_of_Labor_Union_Women
Ecpat_International
ESCR
Fairtrade_Labelling_Organization_Worldwide
Fair_Trade_Federation
Free_the_Children
Holt_Labor_Library
Industrial_Workers_of_the_World
Labornet
International_Labor_Rights_Forum
National_Labor_Committee_for_worker_and_human_rights
No_Sweat
No_Sweatshop_Label
UK_campaign
United_Students_Against_Sweatshops
Verite
Working_Women's_Forum( a great example)
Workers_World
I found a book in hardcover at amazon.com called Organizing to Win: New Research on Union Strategies by Kate Bronfenbrenner, Sheldon Friedman, Richard W. Hurd, and Rudolph A. Oswald. I hope you find it is a useful book on union organizing. I couldn't find an all-around book on union organizing, but I did find this book... Building Powerful Community Organizations by Michael Jacoby Brown. That should get you started in organizing until you start working with international unions, if you decide to.
I found an organization that did not have a website but looked important ... African Committee for Trade Union Coordination and Action Against Apartheid and Colonialism at PO Box 380, Kinshasa 1, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They may be small so please don't overload them, but they will have a viewpoint and avenues of success that are worth repeating. I do suggest a letter to them on a variety of subjects involving relief from oppression and self-sustainability.
A lot of activists in America and Europe are following the advice of Internet activist groups like Green_America in buying items from Latin America, Africa and Asia. Take a look at what they suggest for ideas about union organizing and working for a fair wage ... they may have suggestions for creating a cooperative workplace where you work. See also Fair_Trade_Federation.
Remember to use common sense and don't give up. Employers realize that they can't continue paying substandard wages and will eventually have to pay a fair wage. In thirty years or so everyone will be paid fairly; right now, make the best decisions you can for yourself and your family and don't try to change too much too fast (unless it's working!). Act peacefully and with integrity. Recognize the truth of the reality around you and try to make it as good as possible for yourself, your family and for others around you. Peaceful change will happen over time if you are persistent; and if you have any ideas that are successful for change in wages and fairness, please contact your local union or ILO chapter (International_Labor_Organization). These ideas can help other people.
Also please remember that your union organization is as responsible for environmental damage as the business you are working for. Make sure your union supports recycling and care for the cleanliness of the land, air and water affected by the host business. We must care for our environment for the future of the planet.
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