National College Players Association - United Steelworkers

INSIDEUSW@WORK“Freedom is not free. It comes at a price. And the priceis our willingness to fight for our rights, to stand andfight for them every step of the way.”International President Leo W. GerardUSW Constitutional Convention, August 2011INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARDLeo W. GerardInternational PresidentStan JohnsonInt’l. Secretary-TreasurerThomas M. ConwayInt’l. Vice President(Administration)Fred RedmondInt’l. Vice President(Human Affairs)STAND UP, FIGHT BACK!Delegates to the USW’s 2011 Constitutional Conventionpledged to stand their ground and fighthard for North American workers and jobs.04 14ALLIANCE STRENGTHENEDThe USW signs an enhanced allianceagreement with Los Mineros, the Mexicanunion of mine and metal workers.Ken NeumannNat’l. Dir. for CanadaJon GeenenInt’l. Vice PresidentGary BeeversInt’l. Vice PresidentCarol LandryVice President at LargeDIRECTORSDavid R. McCall, District 1Michael Bolton, District 2Stephen Hunt, District 3William J. Pienta, District 4Daniel Roy, District 5Wayne Fraser, District 6Jim Robinson, District 7Ernest R. “Billy” Thompson, District 8Daniel Flippo, District 9John DeFazio, District 10Robert Bratulich, District 11Robert LaVenture, District 12J.M. “Mickey” Breaux, District 13WELLSTONE AWARDSActor and human rights activist Danny Gloverand veteran broadcaster Ed Schultz receive theUSW’s annual award honoring the late U.S.Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota.FEATURESSpeaking OutCAPITOL LETTERSNews Bytes032244COMMUNICATIONS STAFF:Jim McKay, EditorWayne Ranick, Director of CommunicationsGary Hubbard, Director of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.Aaron Hudson and Kenny Carlisle, DesignersLynne Baker, Jim Coleman, Deb Davidek,Connie Mabin, Tony Montana, Scott Weaver,Barbara White StackContributors: Anna Fendley, Doug May17 36ON THE COVERConvention delegates show their enthusiasm.Volume 06/No.4 Fall 2011 Convention IssueFREE TRADE ABUSEWith help from the USW and a human rightsorganization, young workers focused internationalattention on the sordid side of the U.S.free trade agreement with Jordan.Official publication of the United SteelworkersDirect inquiries and articles for USW@Work to:United Steelworkers Communications DepartmentFive Gateway CenterPittsburgh, PA 15222phone 412-562-2400fax 412-562-2445online: www.usw.orgUSW@Work (ISSN 1931-6658) is published four times a year by the United Steelworkers AFL-CIO•CLC Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh,PA 15222. Subscriptions to non-members: $12 for one year; $20 for two years. Periodicals postage paid at Pittsburgh, PA and additionalmailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: USW@Work, USW Membership Department, 3340 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville, TN 372112 USW@Work • Fall 2011Copyright 2011 by United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO•CLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without thewritten consent of the United Steelworkers.

4 USW@Work • Fall 2011Leo W. GerardPhoto by Steve Dietz

Knowing there is no progress without struggle,nearly 3,000 delegates to the USW’s 2011Constitutional Convention pledged to standtheir ground and fight hard for North Americanworkers and jobs.“We have sent a message across the world that thisunion is going to ‘Stand Up and Fight Back,’ ’’ InternationalPresident Leo W. Gerard said in closing remarksto the local union delegates who set USW policy at theconvention for the next three years. “Enough is enough.”Over four days beginning on Aug. 15, delegates heardrousing speeches and debated and approved dozens ofresolutions aimed at strengthening the union in bargaining,organizing and improving health and safety in industrieswhere USW members work.Highlights of the convention included signing an enhancedalliance agreement with Los Mineros, Mexico’soppressed national union of mine and metal workers,and a new cooperation agreement with UNITE HERE inCanada, the hospitality workers union.“We need to stand up for the global labor movement,’’Andy Voelzke, of Local 2-209 in District 2, said afterthe convention ended. “We in the USW have to lead thebattle for solidarity and fight corporate greed.”Continuing the fightDelegates showed their appreciation of past USWleaders, including President Emeritus Lynn R. Williams,who attended. They supported growing the SteelworkersOrganization of Active Retirees (SOAR) and Women ofSteel (WOS), and welcomed a new generation of futureleaders.They pledged to continue the union’s fight againstunfair trade by filing legal challenges against thosecountries that break the law, and they agreed to continueresisting job-robbing trade deals with Colombia, Panama,South Korea and other countries.Delegates vowed to continue to play a key role inpolitics by supporting candidates who work for workingpeople at every level of government.To make sure the fight and the union’s work can befinanced, delegates overwhelming rejected a handful ofproposed resolutions calling for a reduction in dues andinstead approved resolutions keeping the dues at currentlevels.“I found the dues discussion inspiring,” said MarkeyaMcDaniel-Wilkerson, a delegate from Local 13-214 inDistrict 11. “It showed that we will do what it takes, andthat it takes money to get the job done. It displayed thatthe floor is united and will not be distracted by a coupleof dollars.”Setting the stage for actionIn a keynote speech that set the tone for strong actionsand debate, Gerard called on USW members, the unionmovement and its allies to mount a major assault forworkers.Steelworkers, he said, must stand and fight for goodPhoto by Steve DietzUSW@Work • Fall 2011 5

jobs, decent wages, and the right to organize and strikewithout fear of scabs taking their jobs. They must standup and fight for universal health care, a national manufacturingstrategy and restoration of America’s global leadershipin manufacturing.“Corporate executives won’t give up living like kingswithout a fight so let’s give them a fight,” Gerard challengedthe delegates, who responded to his speech withthree standing ovations and 20 interruptions for applause.The convention also opened with a moving video thatoutlined labor’s history of advocating for worker rightsand improvements including the right to organize, 40-hour workweeks, paid health care and vacations. It placedblame for the current economic troubles on unscrupulousfinanciers and the politicians that support them, andended with members chanting the convention’s theme,Stand Up, Fight Back!Tragic events recalledGerard walked through the tragic events of the threeyears since the previous convention. Unregulated, recklessgambling on Wall Street crashed the U.S. economy,which rocked the world economy.Unemployment skyrocketed. Wages stagnated. Housingvalues declined dramatically for the first time inhistory and foreclosures threw millions of families on thestreets. Income inequality rose to pre-Great Depressionlevels in both the United States and Canada.“They call it the Great Recession, but that’s toonice a name for what it really is,’’ Gerard said. “Whatthey should really call it is the Great Wall Street Ripoff,because that’s what the bankers on Wall Street and BayStreet, and the mortgage brokers they financed, did toeveryday working people in both of our countries.“Their addiction to runaway profits and bloated bonusesdestroyed millions of our jobs,” he said. “And whatreally galls me is that they turned right around and stuckus with the bill for their thieving ways.”Instead of aiding suffering working people, Gerardsaid right-wing politicians demanded austerity from themiddle class and balanced budgets – without taxing therich or ending corporate tax loopholes and subsidies.Right to bargain attackedCountry-club conservatives attacked the rights of publicsector workers to bargain, fought health care reform,opposed extending unemployment benefits and set sightson destroying social safety nets - Social Security, Medicareand Medicaid.Politicians are not working for working peopleanymore, he said: “They’re working for the corporate billionaireswho lavish their campaigns with cash.”6 USW@Work • Fall 2011

To fight back, Gerard said Steelworkers must tellpoliticians in no uncertain terms that if they don’t standup for workers, the jobs they lose will be their own.Since workers can no longer depend on politicians,Gerard said they must fightfor themselves. He quotedSamuel Adams, a signer ofthe Declaration of Independence:“It does not take amajority to prevail, but ratheran irate, tireless minoritykeen on setting brushfiresof freedom in the minds ofmen.”Brushfires of freedom“That’s what we’ve got todo for our members,” Gerardtold the delegates. “That’swhat we’ve got to do for oureconomies, for our pursuitof universal health care,for the preservation of ourpensions, for our families,our countries. We need to setbrushfires of real freedom in“To say theconvention wasinspiring would be anunderstatement. Thevideos were awesome,the speakers weregreat, but best of allis being in the midst of3,000 Steelworkerswho have your back,thick or thin. If thatdoesn’t fire you up,nothing will! If youdidn’t return homeready to Stand Up,and Fight Back, checkyour pulse.”the minds of our members.”By sticking together and standing strong, Steelworkershave achieved big advances in bargaining in these diretimes, including winning successorship and coordinatedbargaining in the paperindustry, and winning tradeJohn Paul SmithLocal 7-669Metropolis, ILcases that have protected56,000 members jobs overthe past three years, Gerardsaid.Steelworkers have shownthey can win when theystand together, and now,Gerard said, Steelworkersmust stand and fight for theirrights.“We can only win thefuture if we fight for it,’’he said, adding: “We knowfrom years of bargainingthat you can’t win a betterdeal without fighting forstrong demands. So sistersand brothers, be strong.“Stand up and fight back– harder than ever.”Photo by Steve DietzUSW@Work • Fall 2011 7

AFL-CI0 President Richard Trumka openedhis convention speech by recognizing carwash workers who just won representationwith USW Local 675 as part of an ongoingcampaign to organize the industry in LosAngeles, where workers, often immigrants,are routinely underpaid and abused. Theworkers received a standing ovation fromconvention delegates.USW Photo by Steve DietzIt is time for the labor movementto play a strong offense in thefight for jobs, AFL-CIO PresidentRichard Trumka told delegates tothe USW Convention.“We’re done playing defense afterthat debt-ceiling debacle on CapitolHill and the battles in state capital afterstate capital,” Trumka said. “Right now,our offensive team is fired up and whatwe’re after is jobs, good jobs.”There’s no reason working Americansshould settle for 9 percent unemployment,stagnant wages, benefitgive-backs, record inequality and thedestruction of the middle-class way oflife, he said.“This is America,” Trumka added.“We can do better. We have to do better.”Tax breaks go to richWorkers, seniors, people of color,and people with disabilities have beensacrificing and governments, schools,and police and fire departments are“starving for money,” he said.At the same time, Trumka said“hedge fund billionaires get tax cuts,and Wall Street corporations still get taxincentives to export good jobs overseas.It’s not just wrong, it’s shameful. It’sinsane and for the future of our countryit has to be stopped.”The AFL-CIO plans a sustainedjobs campaign this fall with a NationalWeek of Action to show that Americawants to work. In town hall meetingsplanned across the country, middle-classAmericans will demand that politiciansof both parties back policies to createjobs and restore the economy.Shifting the debate“We’re going to shift the nationaldebate away from deficits and towardgood jobs and workers’ rights,’’ Trumkasaid. “And you’re going to be at thecenter of this effort. Educating andmobilizing Steelworkers – educatingand mobilizing your families and yourneighbors, your congregations, theMoose Lodge, the bowling league andthe carpool – to fight with you for goodjobs.”Stand togetherThere’s a long way to go beforewe can fix broken trade practices andmake sure every working person has thefreedom to form a union and bargain fora better life, but we’ve got to start now,Trumka said.“We need to stand together for a future,a future when every single workerhas the fundamental right to be treatedwith dignity, to put in a hard, honestday’s work and be rewarded fairly forit, to have the health care and retirementsecurity we need and the opportunity tosee our children a little better off thanwe are.“That’s the world we want, theworld we deserve.”8 USW@Work • Fall 2011

Republicans must addressChina’s currency manipulationbefore they bring moreflawed free trade deals up forCongressional approval, Nancy Pelosi,minority leader of the U.S. House,announced at the opening of the 2011Constitutional Convention.Democrats have already held up proposedtrade deals by demanding renewalof Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)for workers displaced by imports.Pelosi suggested that the deals alsofall behind action on China’s manipulationof its currency, which causes itsexports to the United States to be artificiallycheap and U.S. exports to Chinato be artificially expensive. This floodsthe U.S. market with Chinese goods andkills U.S. industry and jobs.The USW, the Alliance for AmericanManufacturing and Democrats haveinsisted that the United States formallyname China as a currency manipulatorand consider the manipulation as a factorwhen import duties are determined.Pelosi previewed the Democraticagenda to create jobs. For Steelworkers,among the most important of thoseprograms is “Make It in America.” Thiseffort, launched by U.S. Rep. StenyHoyer, (D-Md.), means, Pelosi said,“keeping American jobs on our shores.”Make It in America, Pelosi said,means putting people to work buildingroads, bridges, and rail lines and developingclean, green technology.Democrats also want the newly-createdJoint Committee on Deficits to alsobe a Joint Committee on Jobs, Pelosisaid. All of its conversations shouldfocus on economic growth and jobDistrict 1 DirectorDave McCallcreation to reduce the deficit, she said.By contrast, she said, Republicansare pushing an anti-worker agenda inWashington and in states coast to coast,including attacks on public workers inWisconsin, Indiana and Ohio.Republicans in Congress, she noted,are trying to help corporations ship jobsoverseas by passing an Outsourcer’sBill of Rights, or as Pelosi called it, anOutsourcer’s Bill of Wrongs.In addition, she said, the GOP, at thebehest of corporations, is trying to gutthe National Labor Relations Board, attemptingto punish workers for exercisingtheir right to organize and demandbetter benefits, and trying to pervert theFederal Aviation Administration fundingNancy PelosiPhoto by Steve Dietzprocess to strip airline workers of theright to organize as other workers do.“Steelworkers,” Pelosi said, “I knowyou are ready to fight to get our economyback on track, to create jobs, andto Make It in America. Let us alwaysstand up for a strong middle class – thebackbone of American prosperity.”Creating jobs, not reducing thenational debt, is the greatestchallenge America faces today,U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanderstold delegates in a rousing, boisterousConvention address.“Creating the millions of new jobsthat we desperately need is not only vitallyimportant to the economy, but willbe the means by which we reduce thedeficit over the long term,” said Sanders(I-Vt.), who noted that the 9 percentofficial unemployment rate jumps to 16percent when those who are underemployedare counted.“New jobs mean more governmentrevenue, which makes a lot more sensethan having to spend billions on unemploymentcompensation, food stampsand other programs needed during asevere recession,” he said.Sanders’ vision includes rebuildingthe nation’s crumbling infrastructure,transforming the energy system, andrewriting trade policy so that Americanproducts – not jobs – are our top export.“We need jobs that pay decentwages, jobs in the U.S. – not jobs inBernie SandersPhoto by Steve DietzChina,” he declared.Sanders received repeated standingovations. His vigorous opposition toefforts to cut Social Security, Medicare,and Medicaid benefits brought the biggestpositive response.“Social Security has not contributeda nickel to the deficit, it has a $2.6 trillionsurplus, and it can pay out everybenefit owed to every eligible Americanfor the next 25 years.” Sanders said.“Instead of balancing the budgeton the backs of working families, theelderly, the children, the sick, and themost vulnerable, it is time to ask thewealthiest people and most profitablecorporations in this country to pay theirfair share,” Sanders said.USW@Work • Fall 2011 9

The unfettered rise of richmultinational corporations thatpit workers against workersaround the world has left theUSW with no choice but to becomeincreasingly active in the global labormovement.“We do that because it’s right. Workersshould not be pitted one againstanother, and a rising global economyshould lift all boats,’’ InternationalPresident Leo W. Gerard told the 2011Convention.“It’s right to help each other asworkers, but we do it in a rather selfservingway. We do it so we can better10 USW@Work • Fall 2011defend our members.”Delegates to the 2011 Conventionunanimously passed a resolution callingfor the USW to continue the work ofbuilding a global solidarity movementthat can stand up around the world foreconomic and social justice and a sustainableenvironment.“The reason this is important isbecause there’s really no labor disputethat the Steelworkers are involved inthese days that doesn’t deal with multinationalcompanies,” said InternationalAffairs Director Ben Davis. “And ifwe’re going to deal with multinationalcompanies, we have to have a relationshipwith the unions that represent thoseworkers in other countries, if they haveunions.”Delegates speak outBefore the vote, Steelworkers fromacross North America took to the microphoneson the Convention floor to tellhow international solidarity aided theirlocal unions and fellow workers.“We saw firsthand how tough itis to fight a multinational,’’ said Rick

Bertrand, president of Local 6500 inSudbury, Canada, which struck theBrazilian mining giant, Vale, for over ayear. “Without international solidarity, itwould have been a lot tougher.”Vale’s attack on some 3,800 USWmembers in Sudbury, Port Colborneand Voisey’s Bay, Canada, led the USWto redouble its efforts to build a globalnetwork of workers and communitiesto expose Vale’s disregard for humanrights and to organize resistance on aglobal basis. Campaigns against GrupoMexico have also led to strengthenedcooperation among mining unions.Larry Burchfield Jr., vice presidentof Local 13-1 in Texas City, Texas, saidglobal solidarity has meant help fromUnite, the largest union in the UnitedKingdom and Ireland, in confrontinghis employer, BP, the multinational oilcompany based in Great Britain.“With Unite brothersand sisters, wefoughtthem on their own turf at stockholdermeetings when they wanted to takeaway retiree benefits for new hires,”Burchfield said.in order for usto be effective inthe struggles thatwe have here inour countries, theUnited States andCanada, we need tomake sure that wehave an expandedgroup of allies thatwe can deal with tohelp us with thesestruggles.“”Improving safetyTom Hargrove, president of Local1010 at the ArcelorMittal mill inEast Chicago, Ind., said internationalsolidarity – the collaboration of unionsand union federations – has led to saferconditions worldwide.“As a member of the ArcelorMittalglobal safety committee, I had the honorand privilege of visiting and trying tomake a safer workplace around theworld,” he said.Specifically, the resolution callsfor the USW to continue to establishmutually-beneficial alliances with tradeunion partners in all sectors who sharethe USW’s willingness to build workers’power through organizing, bargainingand political action.“In order for us to be effective inthe struggles that we have here in ourcountries, the United States and Canada,we need to make sure that we have anexpanded group of allies that we candeal with to help us with these struggles,’’said International Vice PresidentFred Redmond.The USW, for example, has supportedthe organization of global tradeunion networks that enables workersto share information about workingconditions and lay the groundwork forcoordinated bargaining with multinationalcompanies, in addition to helpingmembers at Gerdau, ArcelorMittal,Vale and other companies.Building labor federationsThose efforts include work withthe International MetalworkersFederation (IMF), the InternationalFederation of Chemical, Energy, Mineand General Workers’ Unions (ICEM),and the Building and Wood Workers’International (BWI).At the same time, the USW willcontinue to build the new globalunion, Workers Uniting, launchedthree years ago with UK-based Unitethe Union, as a further challenge tomultinational corporations.“The only way that we can evenbegin to challenge the injustices ofglobalization is through the buildingof a global union, a global union thatis both active and builds solidarityamong workers,’’ said InternationalVice President at Large Carol Landry.USW@Work • Fall 2011 11

Len McCluskeyPhoto by Steve DietzUnite General Secretary LenMcCluskey, leader of thelargest union in Britain andIreland, reaffirmed his commitmentto Workers Uniting, the globaltrade union formed three years ago withthe USW.“If ever there was a need for a globaltrade union, it is now,’’ McCluskey, aformer Liverpool dock worker, told theUSW Convention on the day delegateswere considering international resolutions.“If ever there was a time to makeWorkers Uniting real and effective, toextend its work to new countries, anddeepen the cooperation, it is now,” Mc-Cluskey said to applause.Workers and their trade unions arefacing challenges on a historic scale,beyond what the creators of WorkersUniting imagined when the global unionwas conceived, he said.He cited the biggest economic andbanking crises since the 1930s, a slumpthat has left millions out of work, millionsfacing cuts in their pay and retirementbenefits, and millions homeless orfearing for their homes.Unrepentant big businessMcCluskey said communities havebeen ransacked by “a big businesswhich is utterly unrepentant” and “onlywants to get back as fast as possibleto the good old days of casino capitalismand the obscene bonuses for the fatcats.”Workers Uniting, he said, has alreadydone more than show its potentialby aiding the USW in its strike againstVale in Canada and helping Unite in along strike against British Airways.Unite donated $100,000 to help Canadianmembers during the Vale strike,International President Leo W. Gerardsaid in introducing McCluskey, whothanked the USW for its support againstBritish Airways.“We have brought our memberstogether in metals, in the forestry sector,in the can and containers industry, ineducation, in oil and most of all in thepulp and paper industry,” he said. “Inbusinesses where we have both Uniteand USW members, like Alcoa, Pilkingtonand the National Grid, we havestarted to work out joint strategies.”Eventually, McCluskey said, theshared vision and values of workers willbe victorious.“The ideals that you represent ofdecency, fairness and equality are whatstand us apart from the corporate eliteand the bosses. They don’t understandthese values. They fail to realize thatthe spirit of solidarity and communitycourses through our very veins. Andthat’s why despite their wealth andpower, they will never, never defeat us,”he said.“Our politicians and media baronstry to debilitate us, to grind us down!”he added. “I reject that defeatism...Believe in your values! Believe in yourstrength! Believe in your union! Becauseanother world is possible.”12 USW@Work • Fall 2011

Wearing a blue and gold USW T-shirt with “Solidarity”written across the chest, Jyrki Raina,general secretary of the International Metalworkers’Federation, told Convention delegatesthat international worker solidarity is crucial in a globaleconomy.In this new globalized world, where corporations operatewithout national borders, workers cannot fight for a better lifeif they do not develop allies, Raina said.His own organization, the IMF, which represents 25million industrial workers in 100 countries with the USWits largest North American affiliate, will merge in 2012 withthe International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine andGeneral Workers’ Unions (ICEM) to form an organizationrepresenting 50 million workers in 130 countries.Raina said most of his knowledge about corporate campaignscame from actions he engaged in with the Steelworkers.His first partnership with the USW was taking on MarkRich, the wealthy international commodities trader whoowned the aluminum smelter Ravenswood and locked outSteelworkers for nearly two years. European allies helpedtrack down Rich, who was living in Switzerland, and assistedwith demonstrations there.Rania noted that the Steelworkers are coordinatingnetworks of workers at international corporations for jointaction.“A new era of global solidarity has begun,” he said.Artur Hemrique dos SantosPhoto by Steve DietzJyrki RainaPhoto by Steve DietzArtur Hemrique dos Santos, president of the UnifiedWorkers Central (CUT), Brazil’s largest laborfederation with 7.5 million members, broughtConvention delegates to their feet when he saidmulti-national corporations must respect workers and thesocieties in which they live.“Any company from any country that goes to any othercountry must respect the traditions, the culture, and the historyof the lives of the workers there,” dos Santos told theConvention, which was highly sensitive to this issue becauseof the contempt that the Brazilian-based mining corporationVale displayed toward USW members in Canada.In introducing dos Santos to the delegates, InternationalPresident Leo W. Gerard noted that the CUT helped overthrowBrazil’s dictator and elect two successive Brazilianpresidents who have created 20 million jobs and lifted 26million people out of poverty.Strong and steadfastThe CUT, Gerard said, has proven to be among the Steelworkers’strongest and most steadfast allies.Dos Santos said he was glad for the opportunity to go toSudbury and stand with Gerard and Steelworkers in the Valestrike. “I learned lessons with you Steelworkers that I willcarry for the rest of my life,” he said.In addition to Vale, dos Santos said, “There are manyBrazilian companies operating around the world . . . This isanother reason we need international solidarity.”And he promised, “We are together as one fighting for ourrights, our dignity. Long live international solidarity!”USW@Work • Fall 2011 13

14 USW@Work • Fall 2011Delegates to the USW Conventionleapt to their feetin standing ovation whenInternational President LeoW. Gerard signed an enhanced allianceagreement with Los Mineros, the Mexicanunion of mine and metal workers.The new agreement has its roots in a2005 USW strike against ASARCO coppermining and smelting operations inArizona when members of Los Mineroscrossed the border to join Steelworkerrallies and express their solidarity.There is a shared corporate connectionbetween the American and Mexicanminers. Many Mineros members workat mines and other operations owned byGrupo Mexico, a politically-connectedcompany in Mexico that owns ASARCOin the United States.The cross-border cooperation in2005 led to the USW and Los Minerossigning a strategic alliance later thatyear, and ever since the two unions haveworked to improve their relations.In 2007, for example, when minersin Mexico struck Grupo Mexico inCananea over health and safety conditions,Steelworkers organized solidarityvisits and aid to the strikers.Unification exploredJust last year, the two unions agreedto create a joint commission to exploreunification and increase strategic cooperation.The reasoning goes beyond solidarity.Achieving better wages and workingWe believe weneed to create anintegrated organizationthat will defendworkers in themining and metalsindustry from thesouthern tip ofMexico to thenorthern part ofCanada.“”conditions in Mexico could ultimatelyprotect jobs in the United States byeliminating the large disparity in laborcosts exploited by corporations underthe North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA).This year’s agreement reaffirmedthe 2005 pact, and, Gerard said, bringsthe USW “one step closer” to building aunified North American union that canconfront multi-national corporations inthe United States, Canada and Mexico,the countries party to the devastatingNorth American Free Trade Agreement.“We believe we need to create anintegrated organization that will defendworkers in the mining and metalsindustry from the southern tip of Mexicoto the northern part of Canada,” Gerardtold delegates.Leader pulled off planeLos Mineros leader Juan Linares,who had hoped to sign the agreementwith Gerard, was pulled off an airplaneas he attempted to leave Mexico forthe Convention. The pact was insteadsigned by Los Mineros officer SergioBeltran Reyes.

Work councils will be created fromUSW and Minero local unions that willmeet regularly to exchange informationand facilitate strategic cooperation,support and organizing. A mechanismwill be created to support cross-nationalorganizing.The agreement calls for the USW andLos Mineros to remain separate labororganizations with separate constitutions.Neither will be liable for the legalobligations or debts of the other.Each union will be entitled to observerswith the right to speak but not voteon issues that come before their executiveboards or committees.An exchange program of USW andMinero personnel, staff and memberswill be developed. Language instructionto facilitate communication will beexplored.Living in exileThe signing of the enhanced alliancecame after an emotional address tothe USW Convention by Oralia Gomezde Casso, whose husband, NapoleonGomez, the national president of LosNapoleon Gomezaddresses Conventionvia video.Photos by Steve DietzMineros, is living in exile in Canada.Gomez became a fugitive after hedescribed as “industrial homicide” a2006 explosion at Grupo Mexico’s Pastade Conchos mine in Mexico that killed65 miners.In apparent retaliation for thatremark, the Mexican government filedtrumped-up charges against Gomez,forcing him to flee Mexico for Canada,where he is supported by the USW.Gomez, who has been re-elected fivetimes as general secretary of the unionby his members since his exile, spokeby telephone to the Convention. He wasprevented from traveling to Las Vegasfor fear of arrest over additional groundlesscharges recently filed against him.He thanked the USW and otherinternational unions for their support andsolidarity, and pledged to continue hisfight for justice in Mexico, a battle hedescribed as a challenge for unions allover the world.“The struggle is not over,’’ he said.“We will continue until we reach a finalvictory, not only for Los Mineros but fortrade unionists all over the world.”The USW and UNITE HEREsigned a strategic alliance agreementpledging to work togetherin Canada.The alliance, signed during the USWConvention in Las Vegas, gives bothunions the opportunity to support eachother and work together on issues ofcommon interest in Canada and globally,International President Leo W. Gerardtold delegates.In the agreement, the two unionsrecognize the importance of workingtogether in Canada to coordinate effortson campaigns, legislative issues, membereducation and bargaining.Nick Worhaug, the Canadian directorof UNITE HERE, told delegates that thealliance with the USW is very importantto his union and its members.If middle-class workers like USWmembers don’t have jobs and goodincomes, they won’t be spending moneyin the hotels, bars and restaurants whereUNITE HERE members work, Worhaugsaid.“That’s what we’re here to do, tomake sure we help you keep your jobsand build those jobs you’ve already got,’’he said. “That’s our security.”When people think about hotels, restaurantsand casinos, Worhaug said theythink of hospitality and everyone gettingalong.“But the bosses in this industry are nodifferent from yours,” Worhaug told theUSW delegates. “They want to get everydollar they can out of workers’ pockets.”While hospitality employers can’tmove their work overseas, Worhaug saidthey can and do build new hotels in othercountries, causing the union to lose membershipdensity. One major casino ownerin Las Vegas, he said, has built a 10,000room hotel in Macow, China.“We need to build an internationalalliance,’’ said Worhaug, whose dutiesas Canadian co-director include coordinatingcollective bargaining for UNITEHERE locals across Canada. “That iswhy we need the alliance.”USW@Work • Fall 2011 15

Photo by Steve DietzIn a vote for keeping the unionstrong in a time of adversity, Conventiondelegates overwhelminglyrejected proposed resolutions seekingto reduce membership dues.The delegates concurrently approved272 resolutions submitted bylocal unions that called for keeping theunion’s dues structure unchanged. Therewere five resolutions seeking a duesdecrease.International President Leo W.Gerard asked the nearly 3,000 delegatesfor a strong showing that would convincecorporate America of the USW’sresolve to remain a fighting union, andhe got it.“The reality is, brothers and sisters,we came here to stand up and fightback,” Gerard said. “We didn’t comehere to lean back and walk out with ourtails between our legs.”Delegates defend duesDelegates lined up at floor microphonesto defend the union’s dues structureand detail struggles where membershave resisted corporate attacks.Rodney Nelson, president of Local207 at a Cooper Tire plant in Findlay,Ohio, pointed to the USW’s successfultire trade case against China that led toincreased investment in his plant andnew jobs.“The International Executive Boardtook on China and won and created jobs16 USW@Work • Fall 2011back here in the United States,’ Nelsonsaid. “Why would we want to tie theirhands to their sides and limit the fightfor us? Keep the union dues the sameand keep fighting.”Mike Rodriguez, president of Local2102 in Pueblo, Colo., said his localin 2004 won a seven-year unfair laborpractice strike against Rocky MountainSteel, formerly CF&I Steel Corp.,and $68 million in back pay becauseof USW solidarity and the Strike andDefense Fund, which dispersed $60million during the struggle.Pennies per dayDistrict 1 Director David McCall,secretary of the Constitutional Committee,said the rejected proposals wouldhave saved members just pennies perday while depleting the Strike and DefenseFund and crippling other essentialunion activities.Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnsonnoted that the fund spent $134 millionsince the last convention three yearsago, including $95 million on currentdisputes involving more than 6,000members.“We fight for every breath in thelabor movement,” Johnson told the delegates.“I don’t pay enough dues. Youdon’t pay enough dues. We can neverpay enough dues to fight the fight thatwe have to fight.”Actor and human rights activistDanny Glover and veteranbroadcaster Ed Schultz electrifiedthe convention hallwith their acceptance speeches for theUSW’s prestigious Wellstone award.The award is given annually by theUSW to honor the late U.S. Sen. PaulWellstone, a progressive Democratfrom Minnesota, and his commitment topublic service.Wellstone, his wife Sheila anddaughter Marcia, died in a plane crashon Oct. 25, 2002, while on their wayto the funeral of a USW member.Wellstone died just 11 days before hispotential re-election to a third term ina crucial race to maintain Democraticcontrol of the Senate.Glover is known for playing detectiveRoger Murtaugh in the LethalWeapon films. But it was his work as asocial activist that brought him to thestage to receive the award, particularlyhis role as chairman of the human rightsorganization TransAfrica.Redmond introduces GloverInternational Vice President FredRedmond introduced Glover as a friendof the USW, and Glover praised Redmondfor his leadership in linking theU.S. labor movement to workers aroundEd SchultzPhoto by Steve Dietz

the world, particularly South Africa,Liberia and Colombia.“It is such an honor to receive thePaul Wellstone Award. I was such anadmirer of his work in so many ways,”Glover said in his address, which wasrepeatedly interrupted by applause.“The Steelworkers have been in thevanguard of the labor movement for decades,even during the full-out attack onlabor rights in this country,” Glover said,adding that TransAfrica also opposestrade agreements that hurt workers.“Those do not help anyone and onlyprofit global corporate giants,’’ he said.Glover has gained admiration for hiswide-reaching community activism andphilanthropic efforts, with a particularemphasis on advocacy for economicjustice, and access to health care andeducation programs in the United Statesand Africa.The actor said his parents joined theU.S. Postal Service in 1948 after thefederal work force was desegregatedand were active in their union and theNAACP. He said their values guide himin activism and philanthropic efforts.Glover told the delegates a story helearned just a few weeks earlier abouthow he was cast in the Lethal Weaponsseries. It’s a story with a message aboutstanding up.Casting director Marion Doughertysuggested teaming Glover with MelGibson, but director Richard Donnerinitially balked over Glover’s race.“Marion looked him in the eye and said,‘so what,’” Glover recounted.“She stood up and that is what weare going to have to do for each other,”he told the Convention. “I will standwith you on the front lines in the battleof the fight for our lives. TransAfricastands with you. We stand with you, mybrothers and sisters.”Ed Schultz values workersIn accepting his Wellstone award forpublic service, television and radio showhost Ed Schultz called forAmerica to value its workers.“We need a renaissance of thinkingin how we value American workers,”Schultz said to applause. “We need tochange the thinking in Washington onhow important you are to your family,your community and country.”The MSNBC host opened his acceptancespeech by asking delegatesif Wellstone would have extended theBush tax cuts. They shouted No! Wouldhe have been on the front lines in thefight against Wisconsin Gov. Walker?Yes! Would he be silent over the attackon public education? No!A veteran of 30 years in broadcasting,Schultz currently hosts the nightlyEd Show on MSNBC and The EdSchultz radio show. He has won threeEric Sevareid Awards and has managedand been lead talent for a broadcastteam that has won two Marconis and aPeabody award.“I am honored my name is on thisaward,” Schultz said of the Wellstone.“We are the last bastion – the middleclass, organized labor – between savingthis country or seeing it go down thedrain.”Labor and the middle class, hesaid, did nothing to cause the nation’sfinancial troubles. He blamed deals with“Big Pharma,” tax cuts for the rich andunfunded wars.The veteran broadcaster was applaudedseveral times and booed onlyonce, when he mentioned former RepublicanPresident George W. Bush as themost successful conservative presidentfor twice cutting taxes for the wealthyand putting two conservatives on theU.S. Supreme Court.“That’s when they should have putup the Mission Accomplished sign,’’ hesaid.Danny GloverPhoto by Steve DietzUSW@Work • Fall 2011 17

Delegates to the 2011 Conventionof the Steelworkers Organizationof Active Retirees(SOAR) resolved to increasemembership and activism, two goalssupported later in the week by delegatesto the USW Constitutional Convention,also held in Las Vegas.“The reality is that SOAR chaptersin the United States and Canada continueto make great contributions tothe struggles of our members and thestruggles of society,’’ International PresidentLeo W. Gerard told 164 delegateswho attended a SOAR conference heldin Las Vegas this August before theUSW Convention.Recognizing SOAR as an advocatefor the union and its retirees, Conventiondelegates pledged to assist the retireeorganization in its plan to increasemembership, currently 70,000, throughlocal recruiting efforts and dues collectionchanges.The delegates unanimously approveda resolution honoring SOAR, its currentpresident, Connie Entrekin, and pastPresident Lynn R. Williams, who wasinstrumental in SOAR’s creation.While International President in themid-1980s, Williams pushed the unionto keep activists and leaders connectedto the USW and active in its strugglesafter retirement.“You’ve fought for the future in yourlocal union, in your districts, and in thisinternational union,’’ Gerard told theSOAR delegates. “Some of you foughtto build it, some of you fought to growit, some of you fought to protect it. It’smy generation’s job to fight to nutureit, to make sure it gives our kids andgrandkids at least the same shot at lifethat we had.”In the resolution, USW delegatesalso pledged to assist SOAR in expandingits membership by making it a priorityto negotiate SOAR dues check off inemployment contracts.The resolution also urges all localunions to provide the first year’smembership in SOAR to all retireesand surviving spouses in accordancewith resolutions passed at four previousconventions.“We pledge to SOAR and its membersthat the union will continue toconsider the interests of USW retirees inall of its bargaining, social, legislativeand political efforts in recognition of thecommonality of interest between activemembers and our retirees,’’ the resolutionsaid.“We will build upon our presentlinks to SOAR and seek new ways toinvolve SOAR members and retirees inthe organizing, corporate campaigns,legislative, political and other endeavorsof our union.”SOAR opened its two-day conferencethe weekend before the USW Conventionbegan with a call to arms fromGerard, who urged SOAR delegates to“take to the streets” to defend programsin both the United States and Canadathat are under attack by conservativepolitical parties.“We need to show our anger,’’ Gerardsaid as he urged retirees to continuetheir activism to protect health care,Social Security, Medicare and Medicaidfrom the budget-cutting process underwayin Washington, D.C.18 USW@Work • Fall 2011SOAR delegatesPhoto by Steve Dietz

“You have the credibility as seniorsto demand fairness, to stand up and saySocial Security is not an entitlement,’’Gerard said to applause. “You paid for itevery day you went to work.”Barbara Easterling, president of theAlliance for Retired Americans, praisedSOAR for its continued activism andurged the USW’s retirees to keep thepressure on Congress, and educate theirfriends and neighbors about the attacksorganized labor and retirees face.Easterling, a former officer of theAFL-CIO and the CommunicationWorkers of America, urged retirees tostand strong and defend Social Securityand Medicare from the budget cutters.“We are all in this together. They arecoming after us – all of us,” Easterlingsaid. “For retirees like us, our workingdays may be over, but our fighting spiritstill burns stronger than ever.”International Vice President TomConway, a lead contract negotiator forthe union, told the SOAR delegates thatlabor is under attack and the climate atthe bargaining table for retiree issues isdifficult.It is a challenge, Conway said,for the union to convince its youngermembers that retiree health care is animportant issue that must be defended.“We will continue to do our best foryou at the bargaining table,” Conwaysaid. “You are part of this union and youalways will be.”To the focused silence of 3,000Steelworkers, InternationalPresident Emeritus Lynn R. Williamsexplained the history andimportance of Steelworkers standing upand fighting back.And to thunderous applause, Williamsreminded the Convention that “tradeunionists are special people who havethe courage to take up the fight for eachother.”A founder of the Steelworkers Organizationof Active Retirees (SOAR),Williams received a special Conventiontribute in a motion that also expressedappreciation to members, officers and theboard of SOAR.The first Canadian to lead the UnitedSteelworkers, Williams rose through theranks to become International Presidentfrom 1983 to 1994, a period of turmoil inthe steel industry. A former national presidentof SOAR, Williams was appointedan officer of the Order of Canada in 2005.Lynn Williams addressesConvention delegates.Photo by Steve DietzKnown as a great storyteller, Williamsrecently put to paper his inspirationalstories of a life as a committed activist,fearless leader of the Steelworkers and asone of the most respected heroes in thehistory of the labor movement.Unveiled at the Convention, his memoirs,One Day Longer, vividly recounthis life in labor with all its triumphs,challenges, hopes and dreams. Williamstraces the rise and transformation of thelabor movement from World War II totoday.To an emotional standing ovation,Williams concluded his address with theuplifting words of Tommy Douglas, aprominent Canadian politician who wasan early leader of the New DemocraticParty.“Courage my friends, ‘tis not too lateto build a better world,” he said, adding,“That is what our kids deserve; that iswhat our grandkids deserve, and that iswhat we will leave them.”Connie EntrekinPhoto by Steve DietzDelegates attendingthis year’s SOARconference unanimouslyre-electedretired District 9 DirectorConnie Entrekin as its president foranother three years.Also re-elected were retired District6 Director Harry Hynd, the group’s vicepresident; Al Becco, long-time unionactivist from Pueblo, Colo., vice presidentWest; and Charlie Averill, Alliancefor Retired Americans board member andretired union activist from Knox, Ind.,secretary-treasurer.Delegates elected the followingdistrict representatives: District 1, WillieMoore; District 2, Mimi Rinna; District3, Gerry Edwards; District 4, JimBickhart; District 5, Robert Saumure;District 6, Doug MacPherson; District7, Steve Skvara; District 8, Jack Casparriello;District 9, Don Badie; District 10,Denise Edwards; District 11, Dave Trach;District 12, Bob Rankin; and District 13,Jack Golden. Bill Gibbons was elected asPACE representative, and Jack Munro,the IWA representative.Emeritus members include SOARPresident Emeritus Williams, GeorgeEdwards and Dan McNeil.USW@Work • Fall 2011 19

Grammy-winner roots rocker Dave Alvin, a son of aSteelworker, entertained delegates and guests foran evening at the USW Convention in Las Vegas.Joined by his band, “The Guilty Ones,” his setincluded, “Gary, Indiana, 1959,” an ode to the national steelstrike that year and the slow, steady decline that followed.Behind his searing guitar, he sang:“The factories are in ruinsdecent jobs hard to findYou can’t get aheadno matter how hard you try ‘cause the big boysmake the rulestough luck for everyone else out on the streetsit’s every man for himself”“I was just channeling my dad,” Alvin told InternationalPresident Leo W. Gerard after the show. Cas Alvin, his father,was an organizer in the U.S. southwest and an editor ofSteelabor magazine.Dave Alvin and his older brother Phil, also a musician,spent their childhood in a working-class neighborhood insuburban Los Angeles. In 1979, they founded the Blasters, arock and roll group.Their father’s work took him to steel mill communitiesin California and to copper and coal mines in Arizona, Utah,New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. Sometimes the brotherswould tag along to union events and travel with him onorganizing drives during school vacations.“Dad was a dedicated union man,” Alvin said. “In fact,I’m named after Steelworker President David McDonald.”His brother Phil is named for Philip Murray, the USW’s firstpresident and director of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee(SWOC).You can check out “Gary, Indiana, 1959” on Dave’s recentrelease “Eleven Eleven” and find out more about him and hismusic at http://www.davealvin.net/Dave AlvinPhoto by Steve Dietz20 USW@Work • Fall 2011

Michael O’BrienPhoto by Steve DietzWhen Steelworkers struck Brazilianmining giant Vale, veteran membershelped lead the fight. Theyalso inspired a new generation ofmembers to get active in their union, includingMichael “OB” O’Brien.O’Brien, 30, a mine lift operator and aspiringmusician, became active in the local and with thehelp of his music, became a fresh, new voice forworkers during the strike.Known as “OB,” he was inspired by the striketo pen “One Day Longer,” a rap that symbolizesunion pride, strength and the fighting spirit.Since then, he’s performed the song on the picketline in Sudbury, Canada, at the massive workerprotests in Madison, Wis., and most recently atthe USW Convention in Las Vegas.“I love my union and everything our movementstands for. My music is another vehicle withwhich we can spread our message of solidarity,power and change for a better future,” O’Briensaid.OB and his band, Kill the Autocrat, releasedan album, “A New World Disorder,” on Aug.30 on 682 Records. The album features a songO’Brien calls a union anthem for a new generation,“Working Man.”O’Brien is a member of the USW Next GenerationAdvisory Council, a group of emergingleaders who have dedicated themselves to helprecruit and retain the next generation of USWmembers.Visit the USW website, www.usw.org, towatch a video of O’Brien’s Convention performanceand to download a free copy of “One DayLonger.”Brothers of SteelPhotos by Steve DietzBrothers of Steel,USW members fromCanada, pumped upthe Convention dailywith their harddrivingsound.USW@Work • Fall 2011 21

President Barack Obama is coming toyour corner of the country. He’s askingAmericans in every nook of this nation tosupport his American Jobs Act.And they should. Because, as Obama toldCongress when he presented the American JobsAct on Sept. 8, Americans don’t care about politics.They care about jobs. With unemploymentabove 9 percent, they want jobs. And they wantCongress to do its job; they want Congress tomake America work fairly for everyday Americans.Obama pointed out that his $447 billionproposal is completely paid for and contains onlyprograms that both Democrats and Republicanshave supported in the past. An assessment of theplan by the Economic Policy Institute determinedit would save or create 4.3 million jobs and rechargethe economy.Obama proposed a massive building programto move America forward, both economicallyand educationally. The American Jobs Act wouldprovide $30 billion to modernize schools, $50billion to improve transportation, $10 billion foran infrastructure bank to help fund public constructionprojects and $11 billion to rehabilitatevacant homes. The plan also contains worker andemployer payroll tax cuts that would give companiesmore money to hire and employees moremoney to spend. The more workers spend, themore demand rises and the more jobs are created.Obama explained it this way, “The purpose ofthe American Jobs Act is simple: to put more peopleback to work and more money in the pocketsof those who are working. It will create more jobsfor construction workers, more jobs for teachers,more jobs for veterans and more jobs for the longtermunemployed. It will provide a tax break forcompanies who hire new workers, and it will cutpayroll taxes in half for every working Americanand every small business. It will provide a jolt toan economy that has stalled, and give companiesconfidence that if they invest and hire, there willbe customers for their products and services.”Adopt the act nowInternational President Leo W. Gerard repeatedwhat Obama said a dozen times in his speech:Congress should adopt the act immediately. “Thebillions of infrastructure investments announcedby the President will drive new jobs in manufacturing.He is right in saying that the next generationof manufacturing must be made in America,”Gerard said. He asked Steelworkers acrossAmerica to tell their U.S. senators and congressmento pass the act right away.In addition to creating jobs, the act wouldbegin restoring fairness in America. Obamaexplained, “These men and women grew up withfaith in an America where hard work and responsibilitypaid off. They believed in a country whereeveryone gets a fair shake and does their fair share– where if you stepped up, did a good job, andwere loyal to your company, that loyalty would berewarded with a decent salary and good benefits;maybe a raise once in a while. If you did the rightthing, you could make it in America.”The President continued: “But for decadesnow, Americans have watched that compacterode. They have seen the deck too often stackedagainst them. And they know that Washingtonhasn’t always put their interests first. The peopleof this country work hard to meet their responsibilities.The question tonight is whether we’llmeet ours.”Obama said paying for his jobs plan in part byraising taxes on millionaires and closing corporateloopholes that allow highly-profitable corporationslike GE to pay nothing is a matter of basicfairness: “I’m also well aware that there are manyRepublicans who don’t believe we should raisetaxes on those who are most fortunate and canbest afford it. But here is what every Americanknows: While most people in this country struggleto make ends meet, a few of the most affluentcitizens and corporations enjoy tax breaks and22 USW@Work • Fall 2011

loopholes that nobody else gets. Right now, Warren Buffetpays a lower tax rate than his secretary – an outrage he hasasked us to fix. We need a tax code where everyone gets a fairshake, and everybody pays their fair share. And I believe thevast majority of wealthy Americans and CEOs are willing todo just that, if it helps the economy grow and gets our fiscalhouse in order.”Tax breaks for millionaires?He continued by asking: “Should we keep tax loopholesfor oil companies? Or should we use that money to give smallbusiness owners a tax credit when they hire new workers?Because we can’t afford to do both. Should we keep tax breaksfor millionaires and billionaires? Or should we put teachersback to work so our kids can graduate ready for college andgood jobs? Right now, we can’t afford to do both.”“This isn’t political grandstanding,” he said, “This isn’tclass warfare. This is simple math. These are real choicesthat we have to make. And I’m pretty sure I know what mostAmericans would choose. It’s not even close. And it’s time forus to do what’s right for our future.”Over the summer, Republicans held Democrats hostageover raising the debt ceiling. Despite giving George W. Bushno trouble when he needed the ceiling raised, Republicansrefused to raise it for Obama unless he agreed to massive budgetcuts. Several said they didn’t care if the nation ran out ofmoney to pay bills, destroying its credit rating and raising thecost to borrow.Obama and the Democrats couldn’t make enough concessionsto appease them. In the end, the careless brinkmanshipof the GOP, particularly the Tea Party, prompted one ratingagency to downgrade U.S. creditworthiness.This is the party that openly said its primary goal after lastfall’s elections was to ensure Obama failed, to ensure he didn’twin a second term. During the fall campaigning, the GOP toldAmerica jobs were its first priority. But afterwards, the GOPdid nothing to create jobs.Their job creation ideas werethe same failed refrain: cut taxeson the rich and corporations andeliminate regulations. Republicansinsisted regulations caused “uncertainty”in the market, preventingbusinesses from hiring – althoughthere’s absolutely no evidence ofthat.In fact, it was lack of regulationon the financial markets that led tounbridled speculation by banksterson Wall Street, which, ultimately,caused the economic collapse.Save basic protectionsIn calling for Congress to passthe American Jobs Act, whichwould create jobs by increasingconsumer demand, Obama confrontedthe GOP contention aboutregulation. The President notedthat his administration’s review offederal regulations had eliminatedthose that were unnecessarily burdensome.Then, he said, “but what we can’t do – what I won’t do – islet this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out thebasic protections that Americans have counted on for decades.I reject the idea that we need to ask people to choose betweentheir jobs and their safety. I reject the argument that says forthe economy to grow, we have to roll back protections that banhidden fees by credit card companies, or rules that keep ourkids from being exposed to mercury, or laws that prevent thehealth insurance industry from shortchanging patients.”And, importantly for the USW, teachers and other publicsector workers and every worker in America who wantsa union, the President continued, “I reject the idea that wehave to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete ina global economy. We shouldn’t be in a race to the bottom,where we try to offer the cheapest labor and the worst pollutionstandards. America should be in a race to the top. And Ibelieve that’s a race we can win.”After the virtual political stalemate over the debt ceilingthis past summer, Obama said he recognized that some in Congressmight be comfortable doing nothing until after the nextpresidential election determines the will of the electorate.“But know this,” Obama told them, “the next election is 14months away. And the people who sent us here – the peoplewho hired us to work for them – they don’t have the luxuryof waiting 14 months. Some of them are living week to week;paycheck to paycheck; even day to day. They need help, andthey need it now.”Because so many USW members in every corner of thiscountry have suffered in the bankster-caused recession, and becauseso many USW members’ children and parents and communitiesin every nook of this nation have been devastated bythis relentless recession, the USW will mobilize to join Obamain demanding that Congress do its job and pass this jobs planright away.President Barack Obama tours the Alcoa Davenport Works in Bettendorf, Iowa, this summer with (from left) Alcoa Chairman and CEO KlausKleinfeld, General Manager Malcolm Murphy and USW Local 105 President Charles “Skip” McGill (right). Alcoa announced on Sept. 15 that itwill spend $300 million to expand the Davenport plant. The expansion will add 150 full-time jobs, bringing total employment to more than 2,300.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)USW@Work • Fall 2011 23

Outgoing National Labor Relations Board Chairman WilmaB. Liebman poses with former board member Peter CareySchaumber at the NLRB headquarters.AP Photo/ J. Scott ApplewhiteThe USW won two landmarkcases before the National LaborRelations Board that ensurethe ability of workers to morefreely exercise their right to organize aunion.“These cases represent monumentalvictories, not just for unions but for allworkers as well when they attempt toorganize in support of better wages andbenefits and safer working conditions,’’International President Leo W. Gerardsaid of the decisions.The two cases were among a flurry ofdecisions released at the end of Augustas the term in office for the board’s chairwoman,Wilma B. Liebman, expired.She asked to not be reappointed.In a case involving Lamons GasketCo., the NLRB overruled a 2007 Busheradecision known as Dana Corp.,which made it more difficult to obtainvoluntary recognition from an employer.Return to original intentThe Dana decision, the USWcontended, violated almost 50 years ofprior NLRB and court law. With LamonsGasket, the board has returned to theoriginal intent of Congress in passing theNational Labor Relations Act (NLRA) topromote union organizing and collectivebargaining.In a case known as Specialty Healthcare,the USW successfully argued thatthe NLRB should apply its standardcommunity of interest rules to definebargaining units in the nursing homeindustry.24 USW@Work • Fall 2011Both decisions were predictablycriticized by Republicans as activistmeasures that display union favoritism.AFL-CIO General Counsel Lynn Rhinehart,however, applauded the rulingsand called them mainstream decisions,consistent with the original purpose ofthe NLRA.“These are not radical,” Rhineharttold The New York Times. “What wasradical was the Bush board overturningdecades of precedent to invent newrules.”Departing from past practiceIn the overturned Dana case, theNLRB departed from years of precedentby inventing a new procedure thatrequired voluntarily recognized unionsto inform the board and employees ofthe recognition and gave employees a45-day window in which to attempt todecertify the union.In Lamons Gasket, a board majoritysaid Dana imposed an “extraordinarynotice requirement” based on the completelyunfounded suspicion that workersare coerced to sign voluntary recognitioncards. The board returned to the rule thata union, once voluntarily recognized, hasa “reasonable period” of up to a year inwhich to bargain free from the threat of apetition to eliminate representation.According to the NLRB, employeesdecertified a voluntarily-recognizedunion under the Dana procedures in just1.2 percent of the 1,133 cases in whichDana notices were filed.In Specialty Healthcare, the NLRBruled that the USW could organize 53certified nursing assistances at a nonacutecare nursing home in Mobile, Ala.,as one bargaining unit without includingthe facility’s other nonprofessionals suchas janitors, cooks and clerical workers.The board, again returning to theoriginal intent of the NLRA, said the potentialbargaining unit for employees atnon-acute health care facilities would bebased on the same “community of interest”standard used at other workplaces.Under that standard, bargaining units aregenerally based on whether employeeshave similar responsibilities, supervisors,skills, working conditions and payscales.The USW ultimately won the electionat the Specialty Healthcare nursing homein Alabama. Ballots that had been setaside from a 2009 election were countedafter the ruling was issued. The USWwas notified of the victory on Sept. 16.The USW’s Organizing and Legaldepartments worked together in the casesto secure positive changes for unionsand working people. Organizing counselBrad Manzolillo handled the petition forreview that got the Lamons case started.Associate General Counsel Dan Kovalikbriefed the board in both cases.“These cases will now permit workersto more freely exercise their rights toorganize and collectively bargain – rightsenshrined not only under the NationalLabor Relations Act, but also under theInternational Labor Organization’s (ILO)core conventions,” Gerard said.

Fired from a railroad car repairfacility for participating in aUSW organizing drive, FaithClark knows firsthand the delayingtactics employers use to harassand threaten workers who supportunionization.The former shipping clerk fromDubois, Pa., told the National LaborRelations Board (NLRB) that she supportsnew rules the agency proposed tostreamline the current election processthat companies now abuse.Clark told the board that managementthreats and maneuvers delayedan election for nearly a year at RescarInc., frightening workers and erodingtheir willingness to support the union.“They were threatening and scaringa lot of people,” said Clark, whowas singled out for weekend duty and“onerous” outside work apparentlybecause she supported the union.“Guys would come up to me andsay, ‘oh that’s not right, how they treatyou,’ ’’ she testified.NLRB proposes new rulesThe board is expected to voteon a final rule later this year afterpublic comments are considered. Ifmade permanent, the new rules couldsignificantly cut the election periodby simplifying procedures, deferringlitigation, allowing electronic filingof petitions and other documents andsetting shorter deadlines for hearingsand filings.“The current rules give employersall the options and discourage workersfrom having a fair and timely election,”said International President LeoW. Gerard.The USW was contacted in October2007 by some of Clark’s co-workerswho were concerned about poorand dangerous working conditions.A petition for an NLRB election wasfiled in February 2008. The electionwas held in October 2008.Strong support dwindlesSupport for the union was strong atfirst. More than 60 percent of eligibleemployees signed authorization cards.But when the vote was held, the unionlost by 61 to 25.“By delaying the election, thecompany had time to work on everybodyand work everybody down,”Faith ClarkClark told the board.Management hired a unionbustinglaw firm, held captive audiencemeetings and threatened toeliminate benefits including 401(k)accounts, the only available retirementplan. Pro-union employeeswere prohibited from distributinginformation during the campaignwhile supervisors constantly passedout anti-union flyers.Rescar tried to exclude Clark,an internal organizer and outspokenUSW supporter, from participatingin the voting by falsely claimingshe was a supervisor. That tactic, intendedto taint the organizing efforts,forced hearings that unnecessarilydelayed the election.The company next tried to addadditional employees to the bargainingunit who did not belong, andwhen it lost on those issues, furtherdelayed a vote by committing unfairlabor practices.Management delays typicalRescar sought hearings for seeminglyany reason. When hearingswere scheduled, the company soughtpostponements and presented dozensof exhibits to force additional hearings.Clark is convinced she wasterminated after the vote because ofher support for the union. When sheand the USW filed charges againstthe company, her co-workers wereso afraid of retaliation that no onewould testify on her behalf.The company settled the caseprior to a hearing. But Clark’s unemploymentbenefits are exhausted andshe continues to search for a new jobwith comparable pay and benefits.USW Organizing Director MikeYoffee said employer delays of thetype Clark encountered are typical incontested election campaigns.“We had more than majority supportof signed cards at Rescar whenthe petition was filed, but repeatedchallenges of eligibility, multiplehearing requests and delay tacticswear down union support prior to thevote,” Yoffee said. “The proposedrules are a step to remedy this unfairnessto workers.”USW@Work • Fall 2011 25

USW members ratified a new three-year agreement thatended a 13-month lockout by Honeywell International ata uranium processing plant in Metropolis, Ill., the world’slargest maker of fuel for commercial reactors.The agreement was approved Aug. 2 by members of Local 7-669,who were then required to undergo safety training and recertificationmandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) beforereturning to work. The first two-week training class began on Aug. 15.“We fought one day longer on all the core issues and won them toour satisfaction,” said Local 7-669 President Darrell Lillie. “All of uswho were locked out by Honeywell in June of last year who want togo back to work are doing so with union pride, a union contract andunion solidarity.”The new labor agreement retains all the major provisions thatHoneywell sought to eliminate concerning existing seniority, the pensionplan, health care coverage and overtime pay practices.Benefit and work practice provisions were the most important issuesto the locked-out members, but the new contract will provide a1 percent wage increase in the second year and a 2 percent raise in thefinal year. Newly-hired workers will be in a different pension plan.Temporary workers to goSome of the original 230 locked-out workers moved on to otherjobs, quit or retired, creating vacancies for new hires at the Metropolisplant. Temporary workers will leave under a back-to-work agreementthat was also approved by USW members.A tentative settlement was reached on July 20, but the vote wasdelayed while talks were held on the return-to-work plan for USWmembers whose jobs had been filled by the inexperienced replacements.The lockout was a major event in Metropolis, a blue-collar andtourist town of 6,500 where a 15-foot tall statute of the comic bookhero Superman stands watch outside the county courthouse.International President Leo W. Gerard led a national and globalcampaign to support the approximately 230 workers who were lockedout by the company in June 2010.Gerard flagged the dispute in meetings at the White House andwith congressional leaders. He also complained to federal regulatoryagencies that Honeywell was operating a critical nuclear energy facilitywith inexperienced replacement workers.Victory earned in struggle“This is a victory earned in struggle by the Metropolis workers,their families and the community,” Gerard said. “Local 7-669 leadersand the members stood on the picket line as heroes who showed acommitment to fight an American multinational on principles that arerock solid about workplace safety, family health care, pensions andjob fairness.”District 7 Director Jim Robinson, who represents workers inIllinois and Indiana, mobilized rallies, raised picket line contributionsand filled buses with Metropolis members for protests.Local 7-669 members twice journeyed to protest at Honeywellglobal headquarters in Morristown, N.J. And they lobbied legislatorsin Washington, D.C., and Springfield, Ill., the state capitol.They also went to Wisconsin to join public service workers inLocked-out Wisconsin worker rallies in Madison.26 USW@Work • Fall 2011

allying against Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union campaign, earning thenickname Road Warriors for their travels.The local’s efforts led Robinson to call Local 7-669 “a leadingvoice in the ongoing fight for justice and economic equality againstcorporations with no loyalty to anything except the almighty dollar.”A USW delegation also went to Europe to join leaders of Honeywell’sGerman and European Works Councils in Hamburg and Brusselsat unity actions that kept the company coming back to the bargainingtable.That effort was part of a global labor coalition of organized Honeywellworkers in the United States and Europe led by Alabama-basedDistrict 9 Director Dan Flippo.“The company got the message and finally got serious about puttingtogether a deal we could take to the locked out members,” Robinsonsaid.European unions helpEuropean labor federations, whose members include 30,000 peopleemployed by Honeywell, issued a statement calling on the companyto “take all measures to ensure that this lockout be ended immediately,with all workers welcomed back to their plant without reprisals, andwith full agreement of the United Steelworkers.”The document was signed by leaders of the European MetalworkersFederation, the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’Federation, and the European Federation of Public Sector Unions.Unite, the UK union that is a partner with the USW in WorkersUniting, the trans-Atlantic global union, was also actively engaged inthe European campaign.Safety a key issueCombining inexperienced replacement workers with the dangerousprocess of using highly toxic combustible and corrosive chemicalsto process uranium into nuclear fuel made safety a key issue in thedispute.The union issued a report, “Communities at Risk?” that raised concernsover the use of temporary workers and noted that a major releaseof just one of the chemicals used in the process could kill or injurethousands of residents in the region.This is a victory earned in struggleby the Metropolis workers, theirfamilies and the community.“”On Sept. 10, 2010, shortly after the temporary work force enteredthe plant, hydrogen and fluorine were accidentally recombined; causingan explosion that shook the ground outside the facility and couldbe heard up to a mile away. Honeywell claimed the explosion was aroutine noise.In November 2010, the NRC cited Honeywell for illegally coachingand assisting its replacement workers on exams that ultimately allowedthem to begin operations – casting doubt on the adequacy of the training.In December 2010, a release of hydrofluoric acid triggered emergencysirens and activated the facility’s emergency mitigation towersused to spray water and knock down escaping gas.By the time the lockout reached the one year mark, the facility hadbeen cited by the NRC, the Environmental Protection Agency and theOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).USW@Work • Fall 2011 27

China has lost its appeal to the WorldTrade Organization (WTO) overimport relief granted to Americantire industry workers by PresidentObama, who acted on a petition filed by theUSW in 2009.In a clear victory for the USW, a WTOappeals panel on Labor Day affirmed tariffsimposed by President Obama, saying theUnited States “acted consistently” with internationallaw in imposing them on Chinesepassenger and light truck tires.International President Leo W. Gerardcalled the ruling “good news” for workersand said the tariffs have had the intendedpositive effect on U.S. industry and jobs.The tariffs have stemmed the hemorrhagingof jobs and investment that the flood ofChinese imports caused. They have helpedthe industry regain its footing, retool andexpand, providing a rare bright spot in thestruggling economy.“Investments in U.S. tire manufacturingare up, jobs have been created and ourcompanies are shipping more tires to consumers,”Gerard said. “While we still need toaccelerate the nation’s economic recovery, theeconomic benefits of the trade relief are clearand indisputable.”China argued that the three-year tariff approvedby the president in 2009 under Section421 of U.S. Trade Act of 1974 was protectionistand would hurt the Chinese industry.Section 421 was added by Congress asan amendment to the Trade Act as part of thedeal granting China WTO membership. Itacts as a temporary safeguard for workers andindustry against import surges.The tariffs were placed in each of threeyears after public hearings were held beforethe U.S. International Trade Commission(ITC) in response to the USW petition, filedon behalf of members employed in tire plants.Gerard commended President Obama andU.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk for usingAmerica’s trade laws to fight China’s claimsbefore the WTO.“This represents an important victory forAmerica’s workers and benefits passengerand light truck tire producers operating here,”Gerard said. “It should signal that enforcingour trade laws is a vital part of an economicprogram to revitalize the economy andstrengthen manufacturing.”Kirk called the WTO panel ruling a “majorvictory” for the United States.“We have said all along that our impositionof duties on Chinese tires was fullyconsistent with our WTO obligations. It issignificant that the WTO panel has agreedwith us, on all grounds,” Kirk said.This win and another earlier ruling involvingthe use of antidumping and countervailingduties demonstrates, Kirk said, that theObama administration is strongly committedto using and defending trade remedy laws toaddress harm to workers and industries.The tire tariffs continue to restrainChinese tire imports. In 2010, Chinese tireimports were 34 percent lower than in 2008,the year before the USW filed its petition.And imports were down another 12 percent inthe first six months of 2011.The industry and its workers have experiencedsignificant improvement in terms ofproduction and sales of tires.Some manufacturers have failed to takefull advantage of the improved environmentfor domestic tire manufacturing followingimport relief. One company, Goodyear Tireand Rubber, decided to close a productivefacility in Union City, Tenn., but overall reinvestmentsand expansions have demonstratedimport relief is working.Companies including Goodyear and CooperTire have reported significantly highersales revenues for the second quarter of 2011,compared to the second quarter of 2010.In response to improved conditions, theindustry has invested in new capacity.Bridgestone-Firestone announced in Augustthat it was investing $135 million to create120 jobs in a plant in Aiken County, S.C.Cooper invested some $30 million in itsFindlay, Ohio, plant in 2010, and ContinentalTire completed a $224 million expansion of aplant in Mt. Vernon, Ill. Continental has alsostarted work on a new tire plant.According to the USW and tire industryreports, U.S. companies are hiring. Michelin,according to a public fact sheet, employsnearly 300 more workers in their U.S. plantsproducing passenger car and light truck tiresin 2010 than in 2008.U.S. government statistics also showthat employment in the overall tire industry,which had declined by more than 25 percentbetween January 2005 and September 2009,has stabilized significantly since PresidentObama imposed the Section 421 tariffs.The Section 421 relief continues to provideimportant benefits to workers employedin the U.S. passenger car and light truck tireindustry, and the union believes improvementswill continue as the market enters thethird year of the special tariffs.28 USW@Work • Fall 2011

China has revoked wind powerequipment subsidies it granted toChinese manufacturers in violationof World Trade Organization(WTO) rules.The subsidies were challenged by U.S.Trade Representative Ron Kirk after theUSW filed a Section 301 trade case allegingthat China used protectionist and predatorypractices to grow its renewable energy sectorat the expense of American industry and jobs.The USW’s petition and the Obamaadministration’s pursuit of the union’s complaintbrought the Chinese to the table with acommitment to end the program, InternationalPresident Leo W. Gerard said.“That’s good news for our members, U.S.companies and American workers,” Gerardadded. “It needs to be followed up with continuedvigilance, to ensure the Chinese fulfilltheir commitments.”The subsidies, paid from China’s SpecialFund for Wind Power Equipment Manufacturing,illegally required grant recipients touse key parts and components made in China.Kirk’s office estimated that the grants providedto Chinese companies since 2008 likelytotaled several hundred million dollars. TheObama administration sought the terminationof subsidies during formal consultationswith China that took place as a result of thewide-ranging clean energy complaint that theUSW filed last October with the USTR underSection 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.The USW’s more than 5,000-page complaintoutlined dozens of measures by Chinathat violated WTO rules and allowed it tojump ahead of the United States as a leadingproducer of new energy technologies. The illegalmeasures include massive trade-distortingsubsidies that have crippled U.S. companies,export restraints on critical rare earthminerals and discriminatory requirements thatdisadvantage U.S. exports in China.“Termination of this program is one lessdistortion in the marketplace for clean energytechnology products,’’ Gerard said. “Ourunion membership, American workers andour nation face many more distortions andother clear WTO violations by the Chinese.”Gerard encouraged the Obama administrationto continue working to level the playingfield for clean technology companies andsustain employment and create opportunitiesfor American workers.“We need continued action on our othercomplaints in our petition to ensure thatChina’s protectionist and predatory practicesin the clean tech energy sector are eliminated,”he added.The USW lauded a World Trade Organization(WTO) ruling that China,in an attempt to protect its owndomestic producers, illegally limitedthe export of nine raw materials that are usedwidely in the steel, aluminum and chemicalindustries.“China has once again been found to floutinternational rules to the detriment of ourmembers and their companies,’’ InternationalPresident Leo W. Gerard said of the decisionby a WTO dispute resolution panel.The panel upheld complaints by the UnitedStates, the European Union and Mexicothat Beijing unfairly restricted the export ofindustrial raw materials bauxite, coke, fluorspar,magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide,silicon metal, yellow phosphorus and zinc.The materials are used in many downstreamapplications in steel, aluminum andchemical processing. The United States,Europe and Mexico all argued that China wasdriving up the prices for raw materials by settingexport duties and quotas on them.U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirkcalled the panel report a “significant victoryfor manufacturers and workers in the UnitedStates and the rest of the world” and saidthe findings confirm fundamental principlesunderlying the global trading system.“All WTO members, whether developedor developing, need non-discriminatory accessto raw material supplies in order to growand thrive,” Kirk said.“If left undisciplined, these types ofpolices could proliferate not just within Chinabut around the world – at the expense ofeveryone’s growth and development.”The USW believes that the decision addsweight to allegations that the union made inits landmark Section 301 trade complaint filedlast year that accuses China of engaging in illegaltrading practices to stimulate and protectits domestic producers of green energy technologies.Those practices include restrictingexport of critical rare earth metals.USW@Work • Fall 2011 29

Thanks to thousands of volunteeractivists who collected a record1.3 million petition signatures,Ohio voters will decide in Novemberwhether to repeal a new law thatslashed the collective-bargaining rightsof 360,000 public employees.Steelworker rank-and-file activistsjoined community groups and otherpublic and private sector unions in thesuccessful campaign to collect enoughsignatures to force a ballot measure onSenate Bill 5, enacted in March by aRepublican-controlled state legislature.“We have to be engaged. We can’tsit back and say it doesn’t matter,’’said Elva Flowers Martes, a municipalemployee and member of Local 6621in Lorain, Ohio, who circulated petitions,made telephone calls and set up aFacebook page for leadership communicationsas part of the effort.“People don’t realize how much itmeans, how important it is to send ane-mail or write a letter to their politicians,’’said Martes, who attended theUSW Public Sector conference, held inPittsburgh from May 16 to May 19. “Everyonehas to stand up and do their part.”The Ohio campaign is an example ofthe activism that public sector employees30 USW@Work • Fall 2011and unions must embrace to survive theunprecedented assaults they are facingon the state and local levels nationwide.Maximize our power“We are witnessing an unprecedentedattack, and must learn to maximize ourpower,’’ International Vice PresidentFred Redmond told some 100 memberswho attended the conference for publicsector workers. “Every state in the nationis running into a deficit, every state.And their position is we have to balancebudgets on the backs of workers.”We are Ohio, a citizen-driven, community-basedbipartisan coalition that includedSteelworkers, on June 29 paradedthrough Columbus, Ohio, to deliver thesignatures to Secretary of State Jon Husted,who validated more than 915,000 ofthe submitted signatures, well over the231,000 required.Bill Crooks, president of USW Local7 and the Tri-County Regional LaborCouncil in Akron, Ohio, participated inthe voter petition drive to protect goodjobs.“Being politically active gives youthe opportunity to be part of the process,”Crooks said. “And you can’t effectchange if you’re not in the process.”It is impossible to precisely measurethe USW’s impact. But Donnie Blatt,the Rapid Response coordinator in Ohio,estimated members circulated more than500 petitions and gathered some 20,000signatures to help the effort.“It was the biggest referendum in thehistory of Ohio,” Blatt said. “A lot ofpeople put a lot of work into it.’’Public Sector conferenceBlatt’s instruction on petition driveswas one of the numerous workshopsavailable to the 100-plus delegates whoattended this year’s Public Sector conference.Rapid Response Director Kim Millerencouraged locals attending the conferenceto utilize the Rapid Response program,a non-partisan way of educatingand delivering relevant information tomembers on workers’ rights and issues.Rapid Response “Action Calls” alertmembers to current worker issues andprompt them to make their concernsknown to local legislators through phonecalls, letters and demonstrations.A strong Rapid Response programbenefits individual local unions andhelps to build bargaining strength, Millersaid.“The more engaged we get in RapidResponse programs, the more it helps us,

Supporters march to deliver petitions in Columbus, Ohio.particularly in the public sector, whereall of our contracts, all of our bargaining,are dependent on public entities,’’ shetold conference attendees.International President Leo W. Gerard,International Secretary-TreasurerStan Johnson, International Vice PresidentsTom Conway and Carol Landry,and Naomi Walker, the AFL-CIO’sdirector of state government relations,were among the conference speakers.Also participating were Fiona Farmerand Frank Keogh of Unite the Unionfrom the United Kingdom and SteveSchnapp of United for a Fair Economy.The AFL-CIO’s Walker gave anoverview of the “right-wing apparatusfrom think tanks to foundations” that arebehind anti-worker legislation in statesacross the nation.“It is time for elected leaders to befocusing on how do we get people backto work, how do we create jobs,” Walkersaid. “But instead the legislatures thatwere elected in 2010 are focusing onattacking workers and paying back theircorporate CEO buddies and friends.”Manufacturing decline hurtsGerard cited Wall Street shenanigansthe decline of tax-paying manufacturingfor the financial crisis in local andstate governments that has, in turn, led toextraordinary pressure on public employees.“We’re in this mess in the UnitedStates, Canada and Great Britain becauseof plain and simple corruption andrunaway greed that is almost incalculable,wanting to have access to financeswith no regulation, cutting taxes for thealready rich and the already powerfulas if it were going to create more jobs,”Gerard said.More than 58,000 factories closed inthe United States from the time formerPresident George Bush took office in2001 until the end of 2009. Another3,000 were lost in the Wall Street collapse.Similarly, Canada lost about 5,000factories in the same period.“Those 58,000 factories used to paymunicipal taxes, state taxes, school taxesand for every worker in that factorythere were three, four or five other workerswho had support jobs,” Gerard said.The tax base in communities acrossthe country has been clobbered by theoffshoring of American manufacturingjobs, making the union’s fights againstunfair trade an issue for both private andpublic sector employees, added InternationalVice President Tom Conway.“As they hollow us outwhere we make things inAmerica, eventually they’regoing to stand and face youand say we don’t have a taxbase, we can’t meet yourpension demands, you’ve gotto roll back your health care,you’ve got to roll back yourcollective bargaining agreementbecause we have notaxes and the rich aren’t willingto pay,” Conway said.Feeling the downturnFlowers Martes, whoworks in the utilities departmentfor the City of Lorain,said manufacturing closingsin her town have put financialpressure on the drinkingwater and sewage systemsbecause they are no longerpaying customers.“It took a while for thepublic sector to feel it, butnow we’re bearing the bruntof the economic downturn,’’she said. “We’re the oneswho fix the streets, who make the waterrun clean. You can’t get rid of thoseservices. What’s going to happen whenthere is no one to fix your street?”International Vice President at LargeLandry urged delegates to educate andengage their union brothers and sistersas well as other people in their communities– union and non-union, friends,family and neighbors.“And we must educate our electedofficials, who too often take the propagandaof big donor corporations andtheir supporters as gospel,’’ Landry said.“We just can’t let the right-wing,corporate-backed, cable news talkingheads fool us. This attack has nothing todo with budget balancing and everythingto do with union busting.”At the end of a far-ranging speech,Gerard called on the public sector workersto join the union’s Stand Up, FightBack campaign for themselves and theircommunities.“I know how you feel, the anxietyyou feel,” Gerard said. “But gainstrength from knowing none of this isyour fault. Gain strength from knowingit doesn’t have to be this way. Gainstrength from knowing we’re going tofight.”USW@Work • Fall 2011 31

Aday after a tornado tore acrossPleasant Grove, Ala., USWLocal 2122 set up coolers outsidethe union hall and distributedwater to patrolling state troopers,National Guardsmen and storm victims.“The next thing you know strangersbegan driving up and dropping offdonations at our hall,” said Local 2122President Bob Irwin. “Our hall became afull-fledged relief center.’’The volunteer efforts in PleasantGrove were among many examplesof generosity by USW members as adeadly burst of tornadoes swept throughthe South and Midwest this spring, leavinga swath of destruction and more than500 dead.Three USW locals – 2122, 1013, and2120 – coordinated their relief efforts inPleasant Grove. The suburb of Birmingham,Ala., lay in ruins after the tornadostruck. The twister mowed down trees,pulled houses off their foundations, scatteredbelongings and flipped cars.“We ran the center for a month like acommunity food bank and thrift center,’’said Irwin, whose local represents workersfrom U.S. Steel, the Birmingham32 USW@Work • Fall 2011Southern Diesel Shop, Warrior & GulfNavigation, Vulcan Refineries and TubeCity.Food, clothing and heavy workBecause of its proximity, Local 2122became a collection point for food,clothing and other items assembled byall three locals. Irwin stayed abreast ofpeoples’ needs through a Facebook accountset up for community members tointeract.USW locals from all over the stateparticipated in the efforts. Volunteersdistributed food and clothing in additionto the heavy work of cutting trees andclearing away mountains of debris.“It was wonderful to see Steelworkerlocals from throughout Alabama participatein the relief,’’ said David Clark,president of Local 1013 in Fairfield,Ala., which represents workers at U.S.Steel, Fairfield Southern, Steelscape andAir Liquide.“This was a very unfortunateepisode. One of our members lost hiswife,’’ Clark said. “But the relief efforts,Steelworkers helping people they didn’tknow, had to be one of my best experiences.”While the USW relief operation inPleasant Grove was in full swing, theCentral Alabama Labor Council alsowent to work. Steelworkers joinedelectrical workers, operating engineers,laborers, pipe fitters, and others on Saturdaysto help with the cleanup. At onepoint, over 100 union volunteers showedup.Tuscaloosa hit hardSome of the worst damage was inTuscaloosa, a city that is home to theUniversity of Alabama. Entire neighborhoodswere leveled.Some 15 members of Local 351 atthe BFGoodrich plant in Tuscaloosa losttheir homes, said local President JimmyPrice. Two members, one a retiree, werekilled.Local 351 provided $400 in giftcards to members who lost their possessions,donated 250 t-shirts to the SalvationArmy and served 100 lunches to theNational Guard and county police, Pricesaid.Price saw the tornado lift his houseand drop it a couple of hundred yards

away. It also picked up his 60-foothouseboat, ripped off its roof anddropped it nose down in a nearby cove.Three guests inside survived.As the April 27 storm was movingtowards them, Price and his wife madea split second decision to take shelterunder concrete decking. After the housewas blown from its foundation, thetornado lifted and dropped the six-inchconcrete slab that was over their heads.It broke into pieces without crushingthem.“We were lucky twice,’’ Price said.Recovering in JoplinLess than a month later, on May22, more than 100 separate tornadoesravaged the Missouri-Oklahoma region.Much of Joplin, Mo., was destroyed andthe death toll reached 155.An estimated 8,000 homes weredamaged or destroyed in Joplin. Thestorm also caused serious damage toSt. John’s Regional Medical Centerand hundreds of commercial and publicbuildings.“The destruction is so thorough,it becomes disorienting,’’ said TeresaBuckmaster, president of Local 812 atEaglePicher Technologies in Joplin.“You don’t know where you are, nolandmarks, no trees, no street signs.”Several 812 members lost theirhomes. Concern rapidly grew into action,with multiple USW locals providingtime money and provisions. Offersof assistance came from as far away asCanada.“I can’t explain how grateful andthankful we are to all those who helpedus,’’ Buckmaster said of USW memberswho came to their assistance.Local unions in Springfield, 70miles away, drove to Joplin and begancooking food, cutting wood and sortingthrough rubble, said David Wiseman, aDistrict 11 staff representative in Independence,Mo.Wiseman was also part of a groupthat made two 170-mile trips from Independenceto Joplin hauling pallets ofwater, flashlights, bedding and toiletriesWhen hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding or other natural disasters hit ourcommunities, Steelworkers step up to the plate to help.Here is a list of local unions and councils that have made exemplarydonations to disaster relief through the Steelworkers Charitable andEducational Organization (SCEO) and a Workers Helping Workers disaster reliefbenefit concert at the 2011 Convention.SCEO was founded in 2004 to provide financial assistance in cases of naturaldisaster as well as to promote human and civil rights and educational opportunitiesfor working families.Local District Donation Local District Donation675 12 $20,000831L 8 $15,00010-86 10 $10,000SRU $5,000550 8 $5,0002801 12 $5,0007600 12 $5,0004-200 4 $5,0001057 9 $5,000D-12 Council 12 $5,0001329 13 $3,1212001 13 $2,0008586 13 $2,0009477 8 $2,00013-0555 13 $2,0006860 11 $1,796507 9 $1,5984856 12 $1,5001011-7-5 7 $1,313Sub-District 3Council Fund 7 $1,312227 13 $1,24113-1 13 $1,3601148 13 $1,200310 11 $1,2001557 10 $1,1163657 10 $1,10013-423 13 $1,070Medco Council 1 $1,0201196 10 $1,004105 11 $1,000to Local 812 for wider distribution.Showing character“Many of our members who experiencedproperty damage declined ourassistance and asked that we give it tothose who lost everything,” Wisemansaid. “It says a lot about their character.”Tyler Little, a member of Local11-500 in Carthage, Mo., put hiscompassion to work. In the days afterthe storms first hit, Little would pitchin where he could after putting in a fullmidnight shift at a storage facility, gettingonly a few hours of sleep.Little started helping members of241 11 $1,000275 13 $1,000307 11 $1,000530 9 $1,000620 13 $1,000931 12 $1,0001155 9 $1,0001167 9 $1,0001200 1 $1,0001312 13 $1,0001350 11 $1,0001398 13 $1,0001444 9 $1,0006787 7 $1,0006817 9 $1,0008526 9 $1,0008567 10 $1,0008713 9 $1,0008888 8 $1,0009059 13 $1,0009231 2 $1,0009360 4 $1,0009443 8 $1,00012044 4 $1,00012934 2 $1,0007-1 7 $1,00013-447 13 $1,000211-A 13 $1,0002-209 2 $1,000753L 9 $1,0007700 9 $1,0003-1704 9 $1,00016031 4 $1,0008-00719 8 $1,00014087 9 $1,000407 12 $1,000his local clear downed trees and latermoved on to aid others who were diggingthrough the rubble of their homesto find anything worth saving.After the first week, it got easier forLittle to find his way around Joplin.People began using pieces of lumberand sheetrock to mark street nameswhere signs and landmarks had beendestroyed.“It was really sad to see thesepeople,’’ Little said. “To drive throughthere, not even knowing them, it was reallyhard to keep from tearing up.”USW@Work • Fall 2011 33

The ongoing deindustrialization of the United Statesshowed its ugly face in Union City, Tenn., when GoodyearTire & Rubber Co. abruptly closed a tire plant thathad been the region’s largest employer since 1968.“We are very angered by the company’s decision to close itsUnion City facility,” said International President Leo W.Gerard. “The harm being done over the years by our government’sinaction and manufacturers’ ongoing deindustrializationof the economy is relentless.”Some 1,800 USW members from Tennessee and Kentuckylost good-paying jobs as the Union City plant joined more than57,000 U.S. manufacturing facilities that have closed in the lastdozen years, eliminating 6 million jobs.Goodyear told Local 878L on July 10 that it had filed a plantclosing notice and would no longer need its employeeseffective immediately.Many workers learned of the closing as they arrivedat the beginning of their shift that Sunday night. Firstshift workers received word at 7 a.m. Monday.“Unfortunately, nothing we can say minimizes theimpact this decision has on the lives of our memberswho work there, their families and the community,” Gerard said.“But we will continue to fight to help them in this tragic situation.”Goodyear said it would pay workers for 60 days in lieu ofthe advance closing notification required by the Worker Adjustmentand Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988. USWmembers are also eligible for substantial benefits negotiated inadvance of the shutdown.“Our heart goes out to all of our members there as theyembark on a transition, which is too common these days: hardworking Americans, their families and communities sufferingthe loss of skilled production jobs because of our country’s inabilityto adequately enforce trade laws designed to maintain alevel playing field in the global marketplace,” said InternationalVice President Tom Conway, who heads the union’s bargainingwith Goodyear.Trade assistance soughtThe local petitioned the U.S. Department of Labor for TradeAdjustment Assistance, a program that provides reemploymentservices and other benefits to workers who have lost their jobs orsuffered a reduction of hours and wages as a result of increasedimports or shifts in production outside the United States.“We did our best to keep this plant running, but the flood ofsubsidized foreign product in the marketplace and our stagnantdomestic economy were too much to overcome,’’ Conway said.The USW’s success in winning tariffs on low-cost Chinesetires in 2009 under Section 421 of the U.S. Trade Act “probablyprovided the plant with two more years of life it otherwise mightnot have had,” Conway said.International Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson, who directsthe USW’s Rubber and Plastics Industry Council, said the uniontried to convince the company to put different product lines inthe Union City facility. “But its response was that it did not needthe capacity in the North American market,’’ Johnson said.The tire maker initially announced in February that it plannedto close the plant by the end of the year. But the closure cameearlier with Goodyear saying it transferred production to otherfacilities faster than expected.34 USW@Work • Fall 2011

For most of the past 40 years,the Political Action Committee(PAC) of Local 7686 in SoutheastMissouri was like manyothers – running on near empty. Thatis until local President Stan Ivie figuredit was time to make some positivechanges.The 825-member local donatedabout $8 a month to the PAC beforeIvie started a campaign in August 2010,to boost participation. That was such asmall amount of money that the local’smajor employer, Noranda Aluminum,asked to process the payroll deductiononce a year instead of once a month.“I told them we are fixing to changethat,’’ Ivie said.Change came quickly. Today, the localcollects about $35,000 a year, a littleless than $3,000 a month – enough tobe named by International PAC CoordinatorMichael Scarver as the top PACcontributor in District 11 and numberfour for the union overall.“I have to give special thanks to ourChief Steward Dallas Snider, RapidResponse Coordinator Mike Milam andStan Ivieall the workers for giving up their hardearnedmoney to try to make a difference,’’Ivie said.Voluntary supportFederal Election Commission rulesprohibit the use of union dues money forpolitical purposes, making it importantthat USW members voluntarily supportlocal PAC fund raising efforts, Scarvernotes.“Nearly everything that the USWdoes for its members, from negotiatinglabor agreements to fighting forworker-friendly legislation and employmentissues on the national, state andlocal levels can be affected by politics,’’Scarver said.Ivie was motivated to act in partby the wave of anti-union legislationsweeping state governments across thecountry, including a move by Republicanstate senators to make Missouri a“right to work” state.“I’ve got a little saying I like to use.‘You can sit back and complain andwatch the big bull gore you to death oryou can grab him by the horns and hopethe rest will join in and take him down.’Our strength is in numbers,” Ivie said.Missouri’s new senate leader, Presidentpro-Tem Rob Mayer, has made ita priority to pass legislation that wouldbar the negotiation of contracts withunion security clauses. Such clausesrequire union dues or an equivalent feeto cover collective bargaining costs.Fund raising eventsIvie attended a District 11 meetingand heard Scarver, the PAC coordinator,give a presentation on PAC and howto hold fund-raising events featuring aHarley-Davidson motorcycle. Ivie contactedScarver, who agreed to help getthe ball rolling at Local 7686.The local laid out a plan to ask everyoneat the Noranda plant to participatein the program and manned the gateduring shift changes in the mornings andevenings for several weeks. Riceland,the smaller of the local’s two employers,refused the local’s request to set uppayroll deduction.The motorcycle fund raiser was heldon July 14.“This event helped to bring somesolidarity and excitement to our local,’’Ivie said. “We need all the localsto make this commitment to gather theresources, so we can help the Internationaltake these big bulls down beforeit’s too late!”PAC Awards Announcedat 2011 ConventionHighest Local Union Check off 2008-20101. Local 831L, Danville, Va.2. Local 307L, Topeka, Kan.,3. Local 338, Spokane, Wash.Highest Local Union Annual Average Per Member1. Local 602, Malvern, Ark.2. Local 338, Spokane, Wash.3. Local 9423, Hancock County, Ky.Highest District PAC Check off Received 2008-20101. District 8, Billy Thompson, Director2. District 9, Daniel Flippo, Director3. District 7, Jim Robinson, DirectorHighest District PAC Funds Overall 2008-20101. District 8, Billy Thompson, Director2. District 9, Daniel Flippo, Director3. District 7, Jim Robinson, DirectorHighest Annual Average Per Member1. District 8, Billy Thompson, Director2. District 12, Bob LaVenture, Director3. District 9, Daniel Flippo, Director4. District 7, Jim Robinson, DirectorUSW@Work • Fall 2011 35

By telling police they were rapedby factory bosses, two braveseamstresses have focused an internationalspotlight on the sordidside of the U.S. free trade agreement withJordan.The USW and the union-supported Institutefor Global Labour and Human Rightshelped the women guest workers reportthe rapes and organized an internationalcampaign against abuses that appear to berampant in Jordan’s garment industry.The campaign threatens to close downClassic Fashions, Jordan’s largest garmentexporter to the United States, and mayultimately force government and industry toimprove conditions for thousands of foreignguest workers in Jordan, mostly womenfrom South Asia.Jordan has become a magnet for apparelmanufacturing in the 10 years since theUnited States ratified a free trade agreementallowing American companies to importgoods from Jordan without duties.The campaign has sought help fromQueen Rania of Jordan and launched anon-line petition that demands protectionfor foreign workers in Jordan, removal ofabusive factory managers and compensationfor those workers who have been harmed.Incredible courageInstitute Director Charles Kernaghansaid it took incredible courage for a27-year-old Bangladeshi seamstress he calls“Nazma” to identify Classic manager AnilSantha to Jordanian police as her attacker,and for a second victim he calls “Anowara”to identify Classic production managerFaruk Miah as her attacker.“Now, it is our turn to stand up andmake certain that no one, ever again sexuallyabuses any of the thousands of youngguest workers who are sewing garments atClassic for duty-free export to the UnitedStates,” said Kernaghan, who was recognizedat this year’s USW Convention for hiswork in helping disenfranchised workersaround the world.“Nazma,” a pseudonym used to protectthe rape victim’s identity, swore to policethat Santha ripped her dress off, repeatedlyraped her and bit her in shabby hotel roomsin Irbid, a city near Jordan’s border withSyria. She said the attacks occurred once inMarch and twice in May.Kernaghan and USW Political DirectorTim Waters were in Jordan and witnessedSantha’s arrest. The 46-year-old Sri Lankanfactory manager faces up to 15 years inprison if convicted of rape.Anil Santha, a Sri Lankan manager at aClassic Fashion factory in Jordan, deniesrape charges brought against him by ayoung Bangladeshi worker.AP Photo/ Mohammad Hannon36 USW@Work • Fall 2011

Santha denied the allegations in an interviewwith The Associated Press (AP)as did Sanal Kumar, Classic’s owner.Kumar blamed U.S. labor unions andIsrael for the scandal.U.S. retailers drop ordersClassic, with annual exports of $120million and some 4,900 employees, isJordan’s largest garment exporter tothe United States. It produces garmentsfor Wal-Mart, Hanes, Target and Sears.Shortly after the allegations emerged,Macy’s, Land’s End and Kohl’s pulledwork from Classic, Kernaghan said.Kumar told the AP that Classic lost$10 million in orders within four weeksafter the allegations were made publicand said the company would close if itloses the business permanently.Conditions, however, have apparentlyimproved for Classic workers. Paywas increased by 18 percent to 75 centsan hour, take home. And for now, atleast, guest workers are no longer beingslapped, punched, groped, cursed at orraped.Kernaghan said Classic managementput the factory into lockdown and movedsenior male workers to other facilities.The women workers remain terrified andfearful of being spied upon.Report details sufferingThis June, the institute issued a scathingreport, “Sexual Predators and SerialRapists Run Wild at Wal-Mart Supplierin Jordan,” that claimed scores of youngwomen who worked at Classic have sufferedsexual abuse, repeated rapes, and insome cases, torture.“It is our intention along with theUnited Steelworkers and our women’srights colleagues in Sri Lanka to rescuethe women who have been victimizedand return them safely home to theirfamilies,’’ Kernaghan said in the report.“We expect Wal-Mart, Hanes and theother labels to pay significant compensationto the rape victims to restore somedignity to their lives,” he added. “This isthe least they can do.”Altogether, Jordan’s largely foreignownedgarment factories employ morethan 30,000 foreign guest workers, mostpoor and female. They come from SriLanka, Bangladesh, India, China, Nepaland Egypt.The standard work week at Classicis 13 hours a day, six and seven days aweek, with 18-hour shifts common beforeclothing must be shipped to customersin the United States.No heat or hot waterAccording to witness testimoniescited in the report, workers were routinelycursed at, hit and shortchanged of theirwages for failing to reach productiongoals. Women were groped and fondledby managers.The workers are housed in primitive,bug-infested dormitories with no heator hot water. Freedom of movement islimited with women allowed to leavethe compound just once a week for sixhours.Sri Lankan women used cell phonesto tape testimonies in their native Sinhaleselanguage. The tapes were given tothe institute in December 2010 during avisit to Jordan and were translated intoEnglish back in the United States.“When we were finally able to watchthe tapes, we sat there and cried,’’ Kernaghanwrote in a preface to his report.“We were stunned at how these youngSri Lankan women had been raped andtortured while sewing clothing for thelargest retailer on earth, Wal-Mart, andfor Hanes, the most popular label in theUnited States.”The women said they were motivatedto testify by the desire to keep othersfrom the same fate, and if they couldsave one person from experiencingwhat they had suffered, they would feelvindicated.Little has been doneThe institute and its predecessor organization,the National Labor Committee,have made the Jordanian Minister of Laborand others aware of the sexual abuseallegations, but little has been done.Most U.S. retailers have been usingthird-party monitors to pay surprise visitsto the foreign factories that manufacturetheir products. But Kernaghan said theexperiences in Jordan prove that usingmonitors to ensure factories comply withhuman rights doesn’t work.A supervisor stands inside the ClassicFashion factory in Irbid, Jordan.AP Photo/Mohammad HannonUSW@Work • Fall 2011 37

Asafety initiative, unique in the international steelindustry, has reported significant progress in reducingdeaths and in fostering cooperation betweenworkers and management to decrease hazards.The ArcelorMittal Joint Global Health and SafetyCommittee (JGHSC), created just a month before the 2008International Convention, reports that fatalities declined by30 percent in 2009 and 2010 as compared to 2008.“The committee’s work has had a positive impact on thenumber of accidents in the workplace, especially fatalities,and helped to reduce the risk faced by workers,” accordingto the report, which was discussed at the 2011 Convention.The safety committee was created after the USW, theInternational Metalworkers’ Federation and the EuropeanMetalworkers Federation asked Laksmi Mittal, chairmanand CEO of ArcelorMittal, the largest steel company in theworld, to genuinely address safety.“He is interested in and committed to safety,” USWHealth, Safety and Environment Director Mike Wright said,explaining Mittal’s willingness to cooperate.Wright, who serves on the committee, said Mittal hired“superb people to do safety and he agreed that this projectcould not be done without union involvement.”Because of the involvement of the union, the agreementcreating the committee is the only one of its kind in the steelindustry.The committee has visited mills and mines in ninecountries: the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Kazakhstan,Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic, Argentina and SouthAfrica.The most recent safety review occurred in August at theArcelorMittal LaPlace Steel Plant in New Orleans, La. It followeda melt shop explosion and fatality in February.Local 9121 President and Safety Coordinator KinleyPorter said safety has improved at the mill under ArcelorMittalownership. Before, he said, not a day went by withoutan accident. Still, he said, he would like to see more hourlyworkers involved in safety and more resources devoted to it.At the Louisiana plant, the committee identified severalareas needing improvement, just as it had at other plantsit has reviewed. At LaPlace, the committee said areas thatcould be strengthened include training of workers and38 USW@Work • Fall 2011

Photo by John Lappamanagers on corporate standards, joint safety audits andpersonal protective equipment.The committee returns to the mills and mines to evaluateprogress in the areas of need it identifies, particularlythose facilities with large numbers of fatalities. A standardformat is followed for evaluating each facility and the committeediscusses issues with both workers and management.Union representatives on the committee do not alwaysagree with the management representatives, Wright said,but it’s clear all committee members are committed tosafety. “The differences usually are how to go about it,” hesaid.Significant to the committee’s success is the company’scommitment, Wright said. If plants fail to respond to thecommittee’s recommendations, he said, “Headquarters getson them.”Health and safety resolution passedTwo resolutions, one supporting expanded health andsafety measures and one backing improvement of the USWEmergency Response Team, passed unanimously at the2011 Convention after delegates read the names of 140USW members killed at work since the last Convention andafter officers reported three more recent deaths.“It’s unforgiveable. It’s unconscionable. It should beillegal,” Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson said.Numerous delegates stood to support the resolutions,including Jeff Bell of Local 415 in District 9, who said ayoung worker died in March 2009 at the Florida paper plantwhere he works.“The old-timers told me this is a good job,” he said,“but if you work here long enough, you will get hurt.” Thatis not right, he said, and USW members can make a difference.Delegate Bob Johnson from Local 7495 in District7 said a young worker at the aerosol can plant where heworks crashed through a skylight to his death.“I can’t tell you how that affects a workplace,” he said,“I can’t tell you how it feels to walk back in when theyopen back up and see the yellow tape where that youngman died. His name was Lucky. He wasn’t a statistic. Hewas my union brother . . . Until we stand up and fight backit is going to keep happening over and over again.”On Labor Day, Leo W. Gerard’s hometown of Sudbury,Ontario, Canada officially opened a workers’memorial park named after the USW’s InternationalPresident.The Leo Gerard Workers’ Memorial Park, located on MainStreet at Highway 69 North, features plaques holding thenames of fallen Sudbury workers – men and women, union andnonunion.Gerard said he was humbled by the honor.“We should think of this park as a park for workers,” hesaid at the dedication ceremony. “We should think of this parkas a place that acknowledged those that came before us, thosethat led the fight for safer, healthier workplaces. We shouldacknowledge this park for those whose names will be on thisplaque and their families.”Gerard said he remains optimistic that one day, there will beno more workers who die or are injured on the job.Deputy Mayor Ron Dupuis, a former Inco miner and USWhealth and safety representative, had been looking to create aworkers’ memorial park for almost two years and teamed upwith people who wanted to honor Gerard.“We wanted the families and friends of those who havelost their lives on the job to have a peaceful setting to reflect,remember and honor their loved ones lost to workplace tragedies,”Dupuis said.Establishing a monument to remember workers killed onthe job is long overdue, said John Closs, president of the Sudburyand District Labour Council.An eight-ton piece of ore donated by a mining company,Xstrata Nickel, is a feature of the park. The names of thosewho died on the job will be attached to it. Dupuis said the oreis appropriate “because Sudbury was built on mining.”USW@Work • Fall 2011 39

How can the United Statescreate over 100,000 newAmerican jobs in the chemicalindustry and, at the sametime, protect the public health and theenvironment?The answer is innovation in sustainablechemistry and reform of the 1976Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA),according to a new study commissionedby the BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), anational partnership of labor unions andenvironmental organizations.Currently, the non-pharmaceuticalchemical industry in the United Statesis attempting to remain competitive bycutting jobs and costs. It has eliminated300,000 jobs since 1992, and if thattrend continues, another 230,000 jobswill disappear by 2030.Yet the study estimates that 104,000new jobs could be created in the U.S.economy if, for example, the industryshifted 20 percent of current productionfrom petro-based plastics to bio-basedplastics.“This report charts a different courseto update and revitalize an industry soimportant to our security,” said InternationalPresident Leo W. Gerard. TheUSW, which co-founded the BGA in2006 with the Sierra Club, represents anestimated 30,000 chemical workers inNorth America.“Instead of our members losingquality jobs in the chemical industryand accepting the myth that policyreform will somehow cost more jobs,TSCA reform will create sustainable,good-paying jobs while protecting thehealth of workers and the environmentby encouraging investment in education,technology and research,” Gerardsaid.Protecting workers, communitiesThe BGA commissioned the PoliticalEconomy Research Institute (PERI)to do the study to further the BGA’swork in creating toxic chemical policiesthat protect workers and their communities.The resulting report is titled TheEconomic Benefits of a Green ChemicalIndustry.After probing the industry’s challenges,the report’s authors came upwith three recommendations to build astronger chemical industry and creategood and safe jobs in the United States.The first recommendation is toreform TSCA to create an effectiveregulatory environment that reduceshazards and supports innovation andcompetitiveness.The USW has for a long time pushedfor legislation to reform the nation’ssystem for managing chemical safetyand to protect the union’s members atall workplaces. The union currently supportsthe proposed Safe Chemicals Actof 2011, which was introduced in Aprilby U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), AmyKlobuchar (D-Minn.), Charles Schumer(D-N.Y.) and others.“ Instead of our memberslosing quality jobs inthe chemical industryand accepting the myththat policy reform willsomehow cost morejobs, TSCA reform willcreate sustainable,good-paying jobs whileprotecting the health ofworkers and theenvironment by encouraginginvestment ineducation, technology”and research.As it currently stands, a companyis not required to prove a chemical issafe. Instead, the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) must provethe chemical is harmful before regulatingit. The result is that many chemicalsremain unregulated, posing potentialhealth problems for workers andconsumers.Reforms under consideration wouldrequire safety data on all chemicals sousers would be able to make better decisionswithout compromising safety.Test in laboratories“TSCA reform isn’t about whetherwe test chemicals, it’s about where wetest them,” said Mike Wright, directorof the USW’s Health, Safety and EnvironmentDepartment.“Right now we test them in thebodies of our workers, our children, ourconsumers, ourselves. With TSCA reformthe industry will have to test themin the laboratory.”The second recommendation is toimplement policies to promote innovation,commercialization and work forcedevelopment to create a greener andsafer chemical industry.Companies in other parts of theworld are already moving towards saferchemicals, creating a competitive dilemmafor the U.S. industry, which willneed to modernize and make changes tofollow suit.“Europe, Japan, even China havestronger toxic chemical protections thanwe do,” said Wright.“Eventually consumers worldwidewill come to trust their products morethan ours. ‘Made in USA’ should be aguarantee, not a warning,” Wright said.Support for innovationGovernment support for innovation,such as tax incentives, has helped otherindustries to transform and remain competitive,the report noted. These strategiescould spur investment in greenchemistry and raise public support forinnovation in the industry.Moving toward sustainable production,spurred by chemical policy reformlike the proposed Safe Chemicals Act,would make the U.S. chemical industrymore competitive by lowering costs forthe industry and downstream users.It would also meet increasing demandfrom consumers for safe products,ensure access to important globalmarkets, reduce waste and curtail futurecost pressures from non-renewablefossil fuels.The report argues that such a transformationwould protect shareholdervalue and encourage research and developmentof more innovative products.Currently, the domestic industry spendsonly 1.5 percent of sales on researchand development, compared to 3.4percent for the manufacturing sector asa whole.James Heintz, associate directorof PERI, the report’s author, said thechemical industry in the United Statesmust become safer in order to remaincompetitive in the global market.40 USW@Work • Fall 2011

Creating stability“Either we can continue with weakand ineffective regulation – continuingto produce potentially hazardouschemicals while manufacturing jobsdisappear – or we can move toward disclosure,regulation, and sustainability;encourage innovation; create stabilityfor businesses and investors; and buildnew markets for safe and sustainablechemicals,” Heintz said.The study’s third recommendationis to disseminate environmentaland health-related information on thechemical industry as widely as possible.This would improve the ability of workers,consumers, users, and investors tochoose safer chemicals and mobilizeinvestment in emerging opportunities.TSCA reform will make this easier becausesafety information on chemicalswould be more available.Overall, the report demonstratesthe job-creating potential of chemicalpolicy reform, said BGA ExecutiveDirector David Foster. And itsrecommended actions will protectthe health and safety of workers,consumers and the environmentand ensure the industry’s competitivenessin the future.“The United States issearching for answers to ourunemployment crisis andthis report provides just theopportunity our economyneeds, while protecting thehealth of our people and ourenvironment,” Foster said.USW@Work • Fall 2011 41

If your employer unilaterally implementsa safety program and disciplinesworkers for not followingit, that violates the National LaborRelations Act (NLRA), an administrativelaw judge has ruled.The USW won an unfair laborpractice case against Kennametal Inc.,a U.S.-based international tool maker,after the company failed to bargain overa new behavior-based safety programand a new disciplinary policy that focuseson employee behavior as a causeof accidents.Rather than finding and fixing theroot causes of safety hazards, behaviorbasedsafety programs typically shiftresponsibility for maintaining safeworkplaces to individual workers. Such“blame the worker” programs are increasinglyprevalent in industries wherethe USW represents workers, includingthe paper sector where some employersare currently moving in that direction.Kennametal announced on Feb.2, 2010, that it was implementing acorporate-wide Management BasedSafety (MBS) program. The next day,Local 5518 at the company’s Lydonville,Vt., plant asked to bargain overthe program and the company refused,claiming it was not a mandatory subjectof bargaining.In response, Local 5518 filed unfairlabor practice charges with the NationalLabor Relations Board (NLRB). NLRBAdministrative Law Judge Arthur J.Amchan heard the case and issued hisdecision earlier this year.The primary issue in the case waswhether Kennametal violated the NLRAby refusing to bargain over implementationof the MBS program, which cutthe union out of its traditional role inaccident investigations.42 USW@Work • Fall 2011Another key issue was the relationshipof the safety program to the newdiscipline policy. The company arguedthat the two were unrelated while theunion argued that the new disciplinepolicy, which was used to suspend andterminate one worker and reprimand andsuspend another, was sufficiently relatedto the MBS program to require bargaining.Amchan agreed.Union participationPrior to the implementation of thenew program, the union safety committeewas actively involved in investigatingaccidents and working jointly withmanagement in addressing issues.Changing the investigatory method,as Kennametal did, alters the characterof evidence on which an employee’s jobsecurity might hinge, the judge found. Itis less likely, for example, that productionquotas would be considered as anaccident cause without the union’s input.Therefore, the company’s unilateraldecision to stop the union’s participationin accident investigations was a bargainablechange in the terms and conditionsof employment and violated the NLRA,the judge found.Not only did Kennametal giveinadequate notice to the union of itsnew discipline policy, but it changed itslongtime practice of issuing progressivediscipline. This unilateral change to pastpractice also violated the NLRA, thejudge ruled.Suspending one worker and terminatinganother under a stricter disciplinarypolicy that was not negotiated withthe union was also an NLRA violation,the judge found.Company ordered to stopAmchan ordered the company tostop unilaterally changing terms andconditions of employment includingimplementation of the new disciplinepolicy for safety violations.The judge also ruled the companycould not implement its safety programin a manner that excludes union participationin accident investigations or leadsto the discipline of employees for failingto comply with its unilaterally imposedrequirements.Kennametal was ordered to includethe union in accident investigations, toreinstate the fired worker and to makehim and the worker who was suspendedwhole for any lost wages or benefits.There is a lesson to be learned fromthe Kennametal case, suggests LeeannAnderson, special assistant to the InternationalPresident. Local unions shouldrequest bargaining over behavior-basedsafety programs if the employer tries toimplement them without first engagingin bargaining.

The North American Free TradeAgreement has lowered standardsand conditions for workersin both the United Statesand Mexico, independent Mexican unionleaders told Congress.With International President Leo W.Gerard at their side, independent laborunion leaders from Mexico on Sept. 13told a Congressional caucus that theyface ongoing repression from authoritiesand corporations while the workingpeople they represent are being drivendeeper into poverty.International President Leo W.Gerard said the policy of the Mexicangovernment is to keep workers’ wageslow as an economic tool. He accusedMexican President Felipe Calderon andhis predecessor, Vincente Fox, of doing“everything they could to repress” independentunions that were raising livingstandards in Mexico.“The U.S. government must condemnthis repression and ensure that taxpayerdollars are not used to bust unions inMexico,’’ Gerard told the congressionalcaucus.Union of Telephone Workers; Marco delToro, legal counsel for Los Mineros, themining and metals union allied with theUSW; and Sergio Beltrán Reyes, recordingsecretary for Los Mineros.The union leaders gave a detailed accountof the widening threat to Mexicanworkers, increasing violent acts againstunions and the growing inequality betweenU.S. workers and their Mexicancounterparts.The decline in real wages in Mexicohurts not only Mexicans but also U.S.workers by encouraging plant relocationand depressing Mexican consumption ofU.S. exports, they said. Each testified theNorth America Free Trade Agreementhas lowered the standards and workingconditions for workers in both countries.Independent unions like Los Mineros,the Mexican Union of TelephoneWorkers and Mexican Electrical WorkersUnion are aggressively working toThose attending the congressional briefing included (from left to right) U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud; Francisco HernándezJuárez, general secretary of the Mexican Union of Telephone Workers (STRM); International President Leo W. Gerard; Marcodel Toro, legal counsel to Los Mineros; and Sergio Beltrán Reyes, Los Mineros recording secretary.“More than 15 years ago, we weretold that NAFTA would create a thrivingmiddle class in Mexico,” said U.S.Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine), a formerpaper worker and USW member whosponsored the briefing on behalf of theCongressional Labor Caucus and theInternational Worker Rights Caucus.“Economists and government officialssaid that the agreement wouldlead to growing trade surpluses and thathundreds of thousands of jobs would begained,” Michaud added. “As our friendsfrom Mexico can attest, NAFTA did notbring those benefits. Instead, workers’rights are being violated on a regularbasis, and both the U.S. and Mexico areworse off for it.”“It is to our advantage to help Mexicanworkers expose the kind of oppressionand persecution they face every day.And it is important to workers in Americathat Mexican workers get an opportunityto raise their standard of living.”The USW, in a policy resolutionpassed at the 2011 ConstitutionalConvention, pledged to build a globalsolidarity movement to stand up for economicand social justice, and to educatemembers about the ways in which violationsof labor rights and declining livingstandards in other countries affect USWworkplaces and communities.Mexican union leaders who spoke atthe event included Francisco HernándezJuárez, general secretary of the Mexicanimprove wages and health and safetystandards, particularly in Mexico’s dangerousmines and steel mills.“We are going through very difficulttimes and are on the receiving end of ahigh level of aggression and anti-unionismby the Mexican government andbusiness leaders,” said Juárez, who citedattacks on Los Mineros and its electedleader, Napoleon Gomez, and labor lawchanges that threaten to reverse workers’rights.“The Mexican government, throughits spokespeople, has been trying to sellthe idea that they defend labor and humanrights. We’d like to show how theydo not.”USW@Work • Fall 2011 43

Summer Union CampLeah Kinney, center, daughter of USW memberKen Kinney of Fulton, Mo., spent a weekthis summer learning about the labor movementat a union camp for teens in Poplar Bluff, Mo.Lesly Hall, left, president of USW Local 713 inNew London, Mo., and a Woman of Steel activist,is one of the adult leaders at the Romeo Corbeil-Giles Beauregard Summer Union Camp. Alsoshown are Sam White of the American Federationof Teachers and University of Missouri (MU)labor educator Paul Rainsberger.The camp been in operation for 14 yearsand is sponsored by the OPEIU, the MU LaborEducation Department and the Missouri AFL-CIO.Photo by Jamaal CraigReinstate TAA FundingThe USW is urging Congress to reinstatefunding for the enhanced TradeAdjustment Assistance (TAA) programthat helps retrain workers who have lost jobsbecause of trade agreements.Services were slashed in February whenRepublicans in the U.S. House of Representativesvoted to block a bill that would extendthe program begun in 2009.Up to 170,000 Americans could be affected,from laid-off steelworkers who lostwork to China to office workers whose jobswere outsourced to India.The Department of Labor will retain theprogram with reduced funding for one moreyear. If Congress does not reinstate funding,tax-paying workers will lose a program thathelps American workers be competitive in aglobal economy.Convention PhotoThe panoramic 2011 Convention photographis available for purchase from thephotographer. Cost of the unmountedcolor photo, which measures approximately 10 x50 inches, is $75 plus $7.50 shippingand handling. Orders can be madeby mail, phone or Internet. Visa,MasterCard and checks accepted.Back to School with USW HelpSteelworkers this year provided school supplies tonearly 800 elementary students from Aliquippa, aformer steel town in western Pennsylvania.Volunteers from the USW Civil and Human RightsDepartment distributed donated items, from pencilsto book bags, to students from kindergarten throughsixth grade. The event, now in its fourth year, is muchanticipated by students and teachers alike.Shown distributing school supplies are (standing)USW Civil and Human Rights Director AmandaGreen Hawkins and Dwan Walker, the mayor-elect ofAliquippa.Tracking Work Hours Made EasyAtimesheet to help workers independentlytrack their hours and the wages they areowed is now available from the U.S.Department of Labor as an application for smartphones.Users can track regular work hours, break timeand any overtime hours for one or more employers.Glossary, contact information and materials aboutwage laws are accessible through links to the Webpages of the department’s Wage and Hour Division.For workers without a smartphone, the Wageand Hour Division has a printable work hours calendarin English and Spanish to track rate of pay,work start and stop times, and arrival and departuretimes.Both the app and the calendar can be downloadedfrom the Wage and Hour Division’s homeWeb page at http://www.dol.gov/whd.To order, contact:Hank deLespinasse Studios Inc.P.O. Box 93261Las Vegas, NV 89193Or phone: 702-361-4872The website address is: www.callmehank.com44 USW@Work • Fall 2011

No Vote on Trade Pacts UrgedThe USW has mailed a letter to every memberof Congress urging they vigorouslyoppose free trade agreements with SouthKorea, Panama and Colombia.The letter said the proposed trade dealswould “undermine our economic recovery, furtherdecimate American manufacturing and jobsand deepen the economic insecurity.”The detailed, five-page letter signed byInternational President Leo W. Gerard outlinedthe flaws for American workers in each of theproposed FTAs. It also cites trade deals thathave caused the United States to lose 6 millionmanufacturing jobs in the last decade.“Promises made by administrations past andpresent touting the benefits of free trade havesimply not materialized for America’s manufacturingworkers,” Gerard said.Photo by Buril Smith, Local 9231Local Donates to Japanese ReliefUSW Local 9231 and 9231-01 members inNew Carlisle, Ind., observed a momentof silence for workers at sister locationsin Japan that were devastated by natural disastersthis year.The local represents workers at I/N Tek andI/N Kote, joint ventures between Nippon SteelCorp. (NSC) and ArcelorMittal, formerly InlandSteel.The local’s Women of Steel committee raised$10,000 in relief aid to assist steelworkers at Nippon’sKamaishi Works, which was hit hard by anearthquake and tsunami that killed thousands ofpeople and left many homeless.Most of the money was raised through rafflesand a bake sale held on Safety Day/Workers’ MemorialDay in April, and is being used in Japan toprovide transportation for displaced workers andtheir families.Local President Todd Kegley (standing right)said the local has a longstanding good relationshipwith NSC and the Japan Steelworkers Union.Tariffs Continue on Stainless Importsfrom Japan, Korea and TaiwanAfter a sunset review, the United States is continuing tariffs on certainstainless steel products from Japan, Korea and Taiwan and eliminatingthem on stainless products from Germany, Italy and Mexico.The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled this summer thatrevoking existing countervailing duty orders on stainless steel sheet and stripfrom Korea and existing antidumping orders on stainless products from Japan,Korea and Taiwan would likely injure the domestic industry.The ITC also determined that revoking antidumping orders on importsof these products from Germany, Italy and Mexico would not likely lead torecurrence of injury to the U.S. industry.Countervailing duties are intended to offset the effect of subsidies grantedby an exporting country to its exporters and bring the price of the importedproduct up to market price. Antidumping duties are assessed on importedgoods that are sold at less than fair value.Under current law, antidumping or countervailing duty orders must be revokedafter five years unless the government determines that doing so wouldlikely to lead to recurrence of injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.International Vice President Tom Conway, who chairs the negotiatingcommittee with the stainless producers, said the union and industry weredisappointed in the revocations and would review the written decisions ofindividual ITC commissioners to determine whether to appeal.The USW represents more than 1,000 workers who produce stainless sheetand strip at Allegheny Ludlum facilities in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Connecticut,Massachusetts and Ohio, plus workers at AK Steel’s Mansfield Works inOhio.Boston Taxi Drivers Call for ReformsRepresentatives of the United Steelworkers/Boston Taxi Drivers Associationon Aug. 11 appeared before Boston City Council’s Committeeon Public Safety to support establishment of a civilian commission tocreate and modify regulations for cabs.A civilian commission would give a voice to the drivers, owners and thepublic served by city cabs, said Donna Blythe-Shaw, a USW staff representativefor the association. All licensed cab drivers in the city of Boston areeligible to join.Unions Call for Aid InvestigationInternational President Leo W. Gerard and Larry Cohen, president of theCommunications Workers of America, have called for an investigationinto the alleged misuse of U.S. government aid in Colombia.The labor leaders asked the House Select Intelligence Committee toinvestigate press reports that the government of Colombia may have misusedU.S. government aid to investigate and undermine the activities of laborleaders and union activists in that South American country.Gerard noted that Congress is being asked to consider a trade agreementthis fall with Colombia, which has the worst record of any country in theworld with regard to violence against union leaders and activists.BlueGreen, Apollo Alliance MergeThe USW-supported BlueGreen Alliance and the Apollo Alliance havejoined forces to strengthen and unify the movement to build a cleanenergy economy and create good jobs in the United States.The merged organization will operate as the BlueGreen Alliance, a nationalpartnership of labor unions and environmental organizations launchedin 2006 by the USW and the Sierra Club.International President Leo W. Gerard, who has ties to both organizations,said the merged group will focus on creating good jobs that protect theenvironment. Both groups have labor unions and environmental organizationsas members.USW@Work • Fall 2011 45

Photo by Steve DietzRescue Team Takes First PlaceAmine rescue team from Local 15320 at Tata Chemicalsin Green River, Wyo., won first place in the field competitionat this year’s Southern Mine Rescue Competitionin New Iberia, La.The team, Tata Chemicals Black, was up against 13 otherexpertly-trained mine rescue teams in the competition, whichwas judged by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.Local 15320 represents workers at Tata Chemicals NorthAmerica in Green River, which mines and processes trona ore,a mineral that contains soda ash. The facility includes an undergroundmine and a refining plant.Fenton Halts Glass ProductionThe Fenton Art Glass Co. announced in July that it wouldwind down production of its collectible and giftwareglass products made by USW members in Williamstown,W.Va.Company President George Fenton said the market forpressed and blown glassware has diminished, making itimpossible to sustain overhead costs. He praised USW-representedworkers for their efforts in trying to keep glassmakingoperations going.The family-owned business, featured in USW@Work in2009, was founded in 1905 as a decorating company and producedits first glass products in 1906.Local 508 President Truda Mendenhall called the closurea loss for the Fenton family “and every worker here who hasworked so hard to try to make this factory continue on.“It’s also a loss for the glass industry because we makeglass and do techniques to glass that you will not find anywhereelse in the world,” she said.We Are One in Granite CityInternational Vice President Fred Redmond addressed a “WeAre One” rally at the Tri-Cities Labor Temple in GraniteCity, Ill., home to USW Locals 1899 and 68. Members ofSOAR and dozens of other unions came to the USW-sponsoredevent, called to show support for America’s middle class, tostand up for workers’ rights and protect promises made tosenior citizens.USW Photo by Scott WeaverAlcoa WorkersWorldwide MeetAlcoa workers from allover the world came toPittsburgh in Septemberfor an international conference toexchange experiences and developplans for bargaining and organizingcollaboration and coordination.Unions from Australia, Brazil,Canada, Iceland, Norway, Suriname,the United Kingdom andthe United States participated inthe two-day meeting. Also presentwere representatives from globalunion federations headquartered inSwitzerland.46 USW@Work • Fall 2011

Have You Moved?Notify your local union financial secretary, or clip out this formwith your old address label and send your new address to:USW@WorkUSW Membership Department,3340 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville, TN 37211Name ______________________________________New Address ________________________________City ________________________________________State _________________________ Zip _________The members of Local 878L at Goodyear’s tire plant inUnion City, Tenn., received the first-ever Rapid ResponseLifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 USWConvention in Las Vegas.The award, announced by Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson,honors the local for consistently leading participation inthe Rapid Response program.The award was bittersweet, Johnson told delegates, becauseGoodyear is closing the Union City plant, idling 1,800members who are “as good as any activists this union hasever seen. They always produced.”Local 878L President Ricky Waggoner accepted the awardand told the Convention, “I will die a Steelworker. Therehave been some tears shed in the past few weeks, not all of itbecause the plant is closing down. We are going to miss you.That is what we are crying over. We love you.”Other Rapid Response awards are listed on this page.Lifetime Achievement AwardLocal 878LRicky Waggoner, PresidentJohnny Dyer, Rapid Response CoordinatorTop DistrictDistrict 9Dan Flippo, DirectorGreg England, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorTop DistrictDistrict 10John DeFazio, DirectorBob McAuliffe, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorSpirit of the Fight AwardsLocal 5965Terry Newton, PresidentBrenda Sanders, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorLocal 1123Joe Hoagland, PresidentKeith Strobelt, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorLocal 831LDanny Barber, PresidentMark Powers, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorLocal 602Michael Martin, President and RapidResponse CoordinatorLocal 1188Stephan Donnell, PresidentEmery Deabay, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorLocal 715Jim Wetzel, PresidentCharlie Odier, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorLocal 474Dave Celaya, PresidentZack Monsma, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorLocal 9440Jim Staley, President andRapid Response CoordinatorLocal 2599Jerry Green, PresidentJerry Green and George Ehret,Congressional District CoordinatorsLocal 7655William Jones, PresidentWilmar Buckley, Rapid ResponseCoordinatorLocal 8183Bernie Hall, President andCongressional District CoordinatorJohn Jeffers and Tim Yeater, RapidResponse CoordinatorsLocal 207LRod Nelson, PresidentRob Greer, Rapid ResponseCoordinator