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Nan Duchene, a district coordinator for United Steelworkers' Women of Steel, held the nation's first "Safe Home Session" Wednesday evening in her home at White Bear Lake, Minn. A group of mothers and grandmothers learned how to test lead levels on toys and other objects used by children in their homes.
"I have grandchildren, and obviously I want to make sure that anything they put into their mouths or are playing with is safe," Duchene said.
This event was the launch of a North American campaign sponsored by the United Steelworkers (USW) to bring awareness to a recent surge of hazardous playthings made overseas. The home testing sessions are a plug for the union's bigger-picture campaign: "Protect Our Kids - Stop Toxic Imports."
Connie Mabin, a spokesperson for USW said, "The Safe Home Sessions are part of the larger awareness campaign to educate people about the influx of toxic imports and also the failure to make fair trade policies."
Recent reports from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reveal many of the recalled items were made in China.
A union member from Minnesota, Tara Widner, reminded the group that these sessions are not meant to “knock products made in China” but rather to point out dangerous items that come from countries that do not have the same safety standards as the U.S. and Canada.
"The USW has a lot of members who are very experienced in mobilizing, and we're using that experience and vast network to spread the word about this problem," Mabin said. "The theory is that it's going to be woman to woman, home to home, community by community."
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DISTRICT 11 WOMEN OF STEEL
