Putting your ideas into action

You've probably noticed that uaw.org looks a lot different than the last time you checked in. We've completely redesigned your website to make it easier to use and to take advantage of some of the latest social networking tools, such as Facebook.

"This website belongs to the members, and we've taken your ideas and put them into action," said UAW President Bob King. "Our members told us how you wanted a more interactive website that is user-friendly. We're close to accomplishing this, and would like to thank the active and retired members who took time to give us feedback on what this redesigned site should look like."

The redesigned site has been configured to have a consistent look and feel. On the home page, "UAW Today" will represent our top story/information of the day. "Why Organize?" will show users the many advantages of UAW membership and how they can organize where they work. "Where We Work" shows the many different UAW-represented workplaces. "UAW in Our Communities" shows the public the many ways in which our members serve the communities where they live and work.

The dropdown navigation is divided into seven sections: About, Organize, News, Take Action, Retirees, Health and Safety, and Press.

ABOUT

is everything you wanted to know about the UAW and more, from where we work and who is on the leadership team to where our regions and locals are located. This section also contains a handy "Frequently Asked Questions" about our union and links to find UAW-made
products.

ORGANIZE

has information about how to form a union at your worksite, including links to a form for those who want to start an organizing drive and information on workers who stood up for themselves and organized their own workplace.

NEWS

has all of our news releases, speeches and testimony from UAW officers; feature stories; "Just the Facts" information on wages, union advantage, inflation and other economics; At Issue, which houses opinion pieces UAW members may find useful; information for our Spanish-speaking members and links to Solidarity magazine online.

TAKE ACTION

is a section we hope our dedicated UAW members will use often. In this section, you can see what the hot issues at the moment are under Actions and Initiatives; view the letters we send to Congress and the president on a variety of topics; make use of the "Write to Your Legislators" tool, or find the 2010 UAW Community Action Program (CAP) handbook online. This handbook has a variety of resources, from our official positions on issues to how your lawmaker voted on issues of importance to UAW members, retirees and working Americans in general.

RETIREES

has a great deal of useful information for retired UAW activists who want information about retiree activities and meetings.

HEALTH and SAFETY

contains news and specific information about topics such as chemical storage and ergonomics.

PRESS

is a section designed to give the news media ready access to quick facts about the UAW, including news releases and speeches.

On the upper right-hand side of the homepage is a place where users can sign up for UAWire Action Alerts, which keep members and the public informed about issues important to working Americans. Below that is our Actions and Initiatives center, which directs users to the most topical issues. Below that are "blades." Hit a blade, and a list of stories pops up. Each blade provides easy access to popular news topics, such as news releases, feature stories, At Issue pieces and CAP/politics information.

To the left of the blades is "More from the UAW." Use the slider to move from graphic links to UAW-made products including autos, our Spanish section, UAW history, Solidarity magazine online, and much more.

Finally, at the bottom left of the page is our RSS feed, where you can sign up to receive news alerts from the UAW, our Facebook portal and our Twitter link.

Please take some time to become familiar with your redesigned site.

All websites are always a work in progress. Let us know through Facebook or through your local union leadership what you like and don't like about it. After all, it's your website.

Vince Piscopo