Textile workers urged to speak with votes
By Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, February 29, 2004
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — A broad coalition of U.S. textile groups is calling on the nearly 1 million industry workers to support candidates this election year who oppose unfair trade practices and support the domestic industry.
Mike Shelton, president of upholstery fabrics supplier Valdese Weavers, said the issue is not purely a textile one. "It is an issue for our country, our society and our standard of living…. U.S. trade policy is affecting all manufacturers and all the people who work in those industries."
Shelton is chairman of the upholstery fabric committee of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute, a member of the coalition, and one of several upholstery fabric company executives exploring areas of common interest, such as regulatory and trade issues.
He said that although the apparel side of the textile industry now is most directly affected by low-cost imports, upholstery fabric producers are considering how to organize and oppose what they consider unfair trade policies.
Other mills participating in an initial meeting during January's Showtime were Quaker Fabric, Sunbury, Weave, Craftex, Tietex, Culp and Wearbest Sil-Tex.
The upholstery fabrics group is gathering information and exchanging ideas via conference calls but hasn't adopted any positions, Shelton said.
"We need critical mass," he said. "We need all the major players participating, because in the grand scheme of things (upholstery fabric producers) are a niche portion of the textile industry, and some of our issues are very different from those that apply to the larger portion of the industry.
"Our voice has to be specific to the issues that affect our segment of the industry," Shelton said. "That's what I want to work toward."
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Textile groups in period of flux
Apr 4, 2004 -
Fabric producers talking, not always to each other
May 16, 2004
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