A
new group for union members who hunt and fish is offering discounts
on magazines and outdoor gear — and inviting members to bring
the power of the union idea to conservation efforts.
The Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) kicked off in January as
a project of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP),
a group that advocates to protect fish and wildlife habitat and preserve
public access to outdoor recreation. USA, based in Nashville, Tennessee,
is open to AFL-CIO-affiliated union members and their families, and
so far has the backing of 20 national labor unions, plus the AFL-CIO
Building and Construction Trades Department.
Members join via the group’s web site, www.unionsportsmen.org
or by calling 1-877-USA-2211 toll-free. Membership is $25 a year,
and comes with a subscription to the club magazine, a decal, a $25
Beretta gift certificate, and a year’s subscription to Guns
& Ammo, In-Fisherman, or Petersen’s Hunting magazine.
Members also get access to the members-only portion of the Web site,
which contains deals and discounts on hunting and fishing gear.
USA spokesperson Kate Cywinski says in offering the discounts, the
group looks first for union-made, then for U.S.-made, where possible.
Products include union-made Corwin Knives and U.S.-made fishing rods
from several makers.With a $40 charter membership, members also get
a USA hat and DVD.
Also on the Web site — help planning hunting and fishing trips,
a member forum to share hunting tips, a place to post pictures from
hunting trips, and a members-only Trading Post to buy and sell outdoor
gear and equipment.
A survey of USA’s 20 union affiliates found that 70 percent
of their members hunt and fish.
Any AFL-CIO-affiliated union member or retiree in good standing, or
their family member, can join.
So far, national unions to formally affiliate include International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; the Machinists; Plumbers and Fitters;
International Association of Fire Fighters; Sheet Metal Workers; Iron
Workers; Bakers Union; the International Union of Painters and Allied
Trades; Transportation Communications International Union; Bricklayers
and Allied Craftworkers; Boilermakers; Operative Plasterers and Cement
Masons International Association; Elevator Constructors; Roofers and
Asbestos Workers.
Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists,
and Ed Sullivan, president of the Building and Construction Trades
Department, are members of the TRCP board.
Though it advocates for conservation, USA doesn’t get involved
in political campaigns. And its parent organization, TRCP, is strictly
non-partisan. Recent campaigns include efforts to support reauthorization
of a federal fisheries conservation law, and opposing oil and gas
exploration leases in Wyoming and Colorado that would have threatened
prime mule deer habitat.
