Using shocking pink signs ? and some unseasonable lingerie ? nearly 50 union members lined W. University Ave. in St. Paul to draw attention to the dismal economic performance of President George W. Bush.

The colorful demonstration ? impossible to ignore against the drizzly, gray skies ? took place Wednesday outside a Minnesota Workforce Center only hours before Bush and his challenger, John Kerry, discussed domestic policy in the last of three presidential debates.

Signs and fliers urged motorists to give Bush a pink slip on Nov. 2. Since January 2001, when Bush took office, the U.S. economy has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs, including 33,800 in Minnesota. Some 560,000 information industry jobs have disappeared. In the end, Bush will be the first president in more than 70 years to finish his term with fewer American jobs than when he took office.

In Minnesota, the fliers stated, the number of residents without health insurance has increased 11.3 percent, health care costs have increased even more, annual family income has fallen an average of $5,127, the number of residents in poverty has increased 36 percent, and personal bankruptcies have increased 41.9 percent.

Steve Gelios (above), of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, takes the slogan ?Give Pres. Bush His Pink Slip? literally. Below, CWA Local 7201 member Brian Tyler and some shocking pink signs draw attention to President George W. Bush?s dismal jobs record. St. Paul Union Advocate photos