The Southern Colorado Labor Council raised money from t-shirt and button sales to honor union members in Pueblo, Colo., with three billboards proclaiming the city a “Union Town.”
Labor unions, including the USW and the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR), came up with the idea after a successful teacher’s strike galvanized community support.
The teachers’ strike revived memories of an historic Steelworker labor dispute against the former Colorado Fuel & Iron (CF&I) from 1997 to 2004. SOAR activist Joel Buchanan, a veteran of the CF&I dispute, helped organize the striking teachers, one of whom was his son, and pushed for the billboards.
Two billboards were placed on Interstate 25 which runs north and south. A third was erected on Santa Fe Avenue, a main thoroughfare in Pueblo.