3 Roads, by Joe Uehlein, 2025
This is a compelling story of how a mid-western white working-class industrial heartland kid grew up to advocate not only for working people, but for environmental justice, climate justice, racial justice, and to help build a future that allows people to make a living on a living planet, with music as the common thread tying these three passions together. From Lake Erie as a lost paradise, to constructing the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, to the famous Ravenswood strategic campaign, to being elected Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO’s Industrial Division, to marching with climate activist Bill McKibben and getting arrested protesting the Keystone pipeline; and finding the courage to confront and not back down when many in his beloved family in the trade union movement considered him a traitor for shifting his focus to global warming and climate change; a shunning that broke his heart and continues to this day. Joe includes important organizing lessons for young organizers, musicians and artists. This memoir is for everyone willing to fight for what they believe in.
Joe Uehlein, Rebel Songs and Love Songs
Whether with his band, The U-Liners, or as a solo artist, Joe’s concerts always include a wide and deep presentation of Americana and roots-Rock music, including folk, rock’n roll, bluegrass, country, soul, and more. But his solo shows take on a more intimate feel, talking more about music, politics, and the human spirit.
Joe Uehlein, Rebel Songs and Love Songs
Whether with his band, The U-Liners, or as a solo artist, Joe’s concerts always include a wide and deep presentation of Americana and roots-Rock music, including folk, rock’n roll, bluegrass, country, soul, and more. But his solo shows take on a more intimate feel, talking more about music, politics, and the human spirit.
Joe Uehlein, President, 2009
Founding President of the Labor Network for Sustainability, and Voices for a Sustainable Future. Joe is the former secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO’s Industrial Union Department and former director of the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Campaigns. Joe spent over 30 years doing organizing, bargaining, and strategic campaign work in the labor movement. Joe also served as the Secretary to the North American Coordinating Committee of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, and Mine Workers unions (ICEM). Joe also served on the United Nations commission on global warming from its inception in 1988 through the Kyoto Accords in 1997 until 2003. Joe is a founding board member of Ceres (Coalition for Environmentally responsible Economies), and served on the Ceres board for 23 years. Joe is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and served as a senior strategic advisor to the Blue Green Alliance for five years. Joe is a current board member of USCAN, the US Climate Action Network. In the early 1970’s he worked in an aluminum mill in Mechanicsburg, PA as a member of the United Steelworkers of America, and then on heavy and highway construction projects in Central Pennsylvania as a member of the Laborer’s International Union of North America. He also serves on the advisory board of the Future of Music Coalition. Joe is a musician, and a member of the American Federation of Musicians.