Steelworkers of America

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 20, 2010) As the U.S. Senate prepares to take up clean energy legislation, members of the United Steelworkers, along with USW International Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson and BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director David Foster, today highlighted the more than 100,000 letters sent from USW members urging action on strong clean energy jobs legislation with critical policies aimed at creating and maintaining good manufacturing jobs across the United States.

“Union members sent more than 100,000 letters urging action on clean energy jobs legislation that includes the investments that we need to create and maintain good, middle class manufacturing jobs in this country,” said Dennis Barker, a member of the United Steelworkers from Granite City, Illinois. “Now it is time for the Senate to get moving on clean energy jobs legislation.”

“We have an opportunity to make America a leader in building the components for the emerging clean energy economy, but we can only do that if we make the necessary investments in manufacturing that will ensure that clean energy technologies are built here at home, creating and maintaining jobs in every community in America,” said Wilma Buckley, a member of the United Steelworkers from Collierville, Tennessee.

“We have to build a clean energy economy that maintains current and creates new jobs in America,” said USW Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson. “For example, every wind turbine has 250 tons of steel and 8,000 parts. Solar panels, energy-efficient windows and numerous other clean energy products use glass, aluminum, steel, paper products and other materials. We already have the domestic capability to produce everything here in the U.S., but only if we make the necessary investments in American manufacturing.”

“The United States is poised to be a global leader in the production of clean energy technologies, but only if we act now and only if we implement policies that build clean energy manufacturing,” said David Foster, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations, including the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club.

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USW Rapid Response members with Illinois Senator Durbin in his Washington office after talks with the senator regarding the Security in Energy and Manufacturing Act and the Protecting America's Workers Act.

Hundreds of Rapid Response activists gathered today in Washington, D.C., for their annual conference and heard from multiple speakers that they are needed now more than ever. Click here for a photo slideshow from day one of the national Rapid Response conference.

From USW International President Leo W. Gerard to AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka and MSNBC's Ed Schultz, the union's best activists were thanked for their hard work to date and reminded that in today's environment it's vital that working families have a voice and to be active. Rapid Response 2010

"We have to move because this is a war," Schultz said, reminding delegates about the attack from greedy corporations and others who are against working families. "We're in a war for the truth."

"This is a defining moment for Rapid Response, not just for Steelworkers, but Rapid Response now has to be embraced by every American," Schultz said.

Trumka told USW members that Rapid Response, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary, is a successful program that is emulated by several unions and other organizations because it works.

"They say reproduction is the greatest form of flattery," Trumka said.

He told the convention crowd that the labor movement is using the "educate, empower and engage" model to get Congress and others to turn our economy around. "Our goal is to create jobs, jobs and more jobs," Trumka said. "Everytime you see Congress that's got to be your message."

The more than 600 Rapid Response attendees will be among the more than 1,000 union members expected to gather Thursday on Capitol Hill at a rally to thank lawmakers who voted for health care reform and stood up to big insurance companies.

Gerard said the fight for health care is just one example of how USW's Rapid Response works. He cited fighting for far trade, holding off more unfair trade deals and working for secure jobs and pensions as other victories.

He said there's no substitution for member-to-member communication on issues important to all of us and for legislators to hear from real workers.

"We've changed the way political work gets done in Washington," Gerard said. "You're the inspiration that's going to get the work done."

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1,000+ Say 'Thank You' for Health Insurance Reform at Capitol Hill Rally

More than 1,000 Steelworkers and other union members rallied on Capitol Hill today to say thank you to lawmakers who voted for health insurance reform. More than 1,000 USW Rapid Response activists and other union members rallied today at Capitol Hill, thanking lawmakers who voted for health insurance reform and vowing to work hard for them come election time. "Today is truly a new day in America because health reform is here," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "We thank these members for their courage and we dare anyone to run a campaign to repeal health care for working families, seniors and other Americans who so desperately need it. We dare them to take away fixing the 'donut hole' that forces retirees to choose medicine over food or to take away health care for adult kids who want to go to college."

Decked out in navy blue and gold "Rapid Response" shirts, USW members held signs with messages such as "Hope and Change Are Working for Me" and "Middle Class America Thanks You." Many members from a variety of other unions also attended the rally, chanting "Thank You," and "Health Care for All!"

Lynda Hiller of Coplay, Pa., is a breast cancer survivor who lost her health insurance when she could no longer work because of the cancer and her husband was laid off after 28 years working as a truck driver. She told her heartbreaking story of how crushing medical bills and unemployment have cost her family nearly everything. "I am so grateful that other families won't have to go through what we did," the Working America member said. Alliance for Retired Americans member Stella Johnson said she and other seniors are grateful that reform will help close the so-called Medicare Part D "donut hole" that forces them to pay full price for medications once their annual benefits run out. "There are so many things in this new law that will take stress off me and my family," said Johnson, a retired teacher from Washington, D.C.

Among the lawmakers who attended the rally were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), and Reps. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.). AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka also attended. Pelosi said getting health insurance reform passed was like climbing over a tall fence or pushing open a locked gate. She thanked Rapid Response and other USW activists for working to make it a success. "All of you helped push open that gate and we got to the other side and now we're in a different place," Pelosi said. All the speakers reminded union members that with so much misinformation about health insurance reform and other issues that it's more important than ever that working people vote for lawmakers who stand with them. They reminded the crowd of all the other issues at stake, including jobs, trade, reigning in Wall Street, workplace safety and the Employee Free Choice Act. "We are just six months away from an election that is going to make history one way or the other," Durbin said. "Let's keep moving forward. We need your help in November. Let's win it."

Trumka and Gerard said it took courage for lawmakers to stand with working families instead of big insurance companies that spent hundreds of millions of dollars to try to defeat the bill. "We thank them for supporting us, and we want them to know it's payback time. You supported us, now it's our turn," Trumka said. "We will work harder than ever. We will work smarter than ever. And we will win in November."

USW Stresses Need for Energy, Climate Legislation to Create Jobs

Contact: Gary Hubbard, 202-778-4384 (O); 202-256-8125 (C); ghubbard@usw.org

Washington, DC (May 12, 2010) – Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), today issued the following statement upon release of the discussion draft for the ‘American Power Act’ (APA) and the need for comprehensive energy and climate legislation that creates and retains jobs.

“The USW has long believed that the goals of stopping the threat of climate change and creating thousands of clean energy jobs can and should be two sides of the same coin. To do this, a climate bill must ensure that emissions are actually reduced and not simply off-shored along with millions of American jobs.

“A well-constructed approach should limit the amount of carbon ‘leakage’ – the incentive for production of goods and jobs to simply move to countries that fail to address global climate change. This leakage of emissions and jobs has the potential to undermine both the economic and environmental goals of energy and climate legislation, and it is critical that any climate bill include a comprehensive and fully-funded package of policies to prevent it.

“Energy-intensive, trade-exposed manufactured products will be more heavily impacted by a carbon price than others -- and while this can be mitigated long-term by improvements in efficiency and cleaner processes -- this will take time and requires the right combination of adopted policies. In the meantime, these industries could potentially face decimation and massive job loss at the hands of foreign competitors that do not face similar carbon costs, unless both a short-term and long-term program is put in place to ensure the cost disadvantage faced by US manufacturers is eliminated.

“At the beginning of the U.S. program, a robust and fully-funded transition assistance program of output-based allocations for at-risk manufacturers is necessary. These allocations will allow manufacturers the breathing room necessary to make investments in cleaner processes, but they should be considered temporary in nature. They must be backed up by a border allowance requirement on products from countries that do not share America’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through effective, meaningful and comparable policies.

“Climate change legislation, done properly, has the potential to create new and expanding opportunities for revitalizing manufacturing and job creation in this country. This requires not only a comprehensive anti-leakage program, but a variety of other policies such as an ambitious Renewable Electricity Standard, an effective worker training provision, and incentives for clean energy product manufacturing. It must recognize that for the American economy to truly thrive, this bill must focus on the entire clean energy supply chain.

“The USW is pleased that U.S. Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman have included a variety of key provisions in their discussion draft of the American Power Act, including the crucial anti-leakage provisions.

“While there are many details that remain to be worked out in terms of sufficiency of allocations -- qualification for these programs, the strength and certainty of the border allowance requirement -- the USW appreciates the work done by the Senators to move the process forward and bring us to this point. We were proud of our decision to support the U.S. House climate bill last year, and for the role we played in its narrow passage.

“We look forward to continuing a productive working relationship that will hopefully result in a comprehensive bill in the Senate that reduces greenhouse gasses and creates the new clean energy jobs of the future, while retaining existing American manufacturing jobs.”

The USW is North America’s largest industrial union, representing 850,000 workers in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply, and the energy-producing industries. Since 1990, the USW has been a leader on the issue of climate change and continues to be in the forefront of the debate for comprehensive climate change legislation that supports sustainable domestic jobs.

For more information: www.usw.org/.

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Rapid Response recently issued a series of InfoAlerts outlining the magnitude of the current jobs crisis. With over 11 million jobs needed to get back to pre-recession levels, we need to look at all options to both secure our current jobs and create new, family and community-supportive jobs. One option to move us in this direction is through “green jobs.” If done right, Steelworker members stand to benefit if our country makes the commitment to supporting and creating these jobs. What is a Green Job? A green job can be thought of as a blue collar job done for a green purpose. Consider this: If you’ve ever driven past a wind turbine, you’re looking at over 8,000 parts. Someone had to manufacture or mine every one of them, as well as assemble and maintain them. The typical wind turbine, like those made by Steelworkers in Pennsylvania, includes: 250 tons of steel, Three tons of copper for the generator and power cables, 250 yards of concrete for anchoring, Titanium components for the rotator hubs, Gears and gear boxes, Bearings, and many more components. Steelworkers make or mine all of these components, which makes the jobs we have part of the emerging clean energy economy. But, it’s not just wind turbines. Steelworkers make glass for solar panels and energy-efficient light bulbs, we process the natural gas powering some city buses, we make goods with recycled paper content, we produce biofules, we make activated carbon to filter our drinking water and remove harmful pollution from industrial processes, we make “greener” alternatives to typical products such as energy-efficient air conditioners made without ozone-depleting refrigerant. When the manufacturing, mining and other work for the emerging clean energy economy is done domestically, and our industries are given the support they need to become more efficient, we secure our jobs. We also strengthen the tax base, ensuring funding for the public sector jobs that build strong communities. Watch for more information on green jobs, as well as an action on the issue, coming soon.

Yep - Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) Is One of the Hypocrits!

Signed A Letter Requesting Stimulus Funds For Illinois Community Colleges

According to a release from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, every member of the Illinois congressional delegation signed a letter urging Gov. Pat Quinn to provide “Recovery Act (ARRA) funding to expand the Illinois Community College Sustainability Network.” [ICCSN, 4/14/09]

TRADE Act Reaches Majority Milestone; posted Feb.11

The TRADE Act - the comprehensive reform bill that turns around our failed trade policy - has reached a key milestone. The bill has won support from over half the Democrats in the House of Representatives. We have a new trade reform majority! The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act officially became the majority position of House Democrats when longtime trade champion Rep. George Miller - the senior California Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Education and Labor - joined California's newly elected Rep. John Garamendi at a Bay Area press conference to announce their cosponsorship. The legislation now has 137 cosponsors, but to actually implement President Obama's campaign commitments to trade reform - to replace NAFTA and make sure future agreements work for most people - the TRADE Act must have even more sponsors. Take action now to be sure your representatives and senators support the TRADE Act - the growing consensus on trade reform! As you can imagine, the pro-offshoring forces pushing more-of-the-same U.S.-job-killing trade deals are not pleased by this great development on the TRADE Act and are redoubling their efforts to thwart change.

Member of the Quarter From the USW Website | January 05, 2010

Local Union 1899's Dennis Barker is PAC Member of the Quarter

USW Local 1899 member Dennis Barker is the Political Action Committee member of the quarter for the first quarter of 2010.

Local 1899 is an amalgamated local representing members at the U.S. Steel Corp. plant in Granite City, Ill., as well as members at four other units in the Granite City area. In 2003, Local 1899 was formed from the merger of Locals 16, 30, and 67 - all locals with proud histories of political action.

With the able leadership of Barker and the support of the Officers and members of Local 1899, this tradition has continued. In addition to his duties as an Officer of Local 1899 and as a full-time in-plant Safety representative for the USW, Barker chairs the local’s PAC.

Committee members can frequently be seen at the plant gates with petitions in hand or flyers to distribute urging USW members to act in support of issues important to working people.

In addition, for many years, Barker has tirelessly worked to raise voluntary membership contributions to the USW Political Action Fund. Last year, these efforts resulted in more than $23,000 being raised from membership contributions.

“Membership check-off is the key to a successful local union fund-raising program," Barker explains. “We have approached our members for many years about the importance of check-off and our members have always enthusiastically responded. We work hard to keep this tradition going by always talking to newly-hired members during their orientation session at USS and signing up people (for voluntary check-off).”

Barker also can be found at Local 1899 meetings with 50-50 raffle tickets to raise additional voluntary contributions. A political action report is on the agenda of every Local 1899 meeting and articles about political activities of importance to the membership can be found in every issue of the “Mettle Post,” the award-winning Local 1899 newsletter.

Barker is the first person to point out that it is not his efforts alone that result in the successful political action fund-raising efforts of his local union.

“I am just one person in a committee of members that works hard to continue a long-standing, strong tradition of political action in our plant that we are very proud of. We want to keep that going,” he said.

The bottom line for the local’s success, Barker explains, is the support of the membership.

“It is our members who deserve all the credit for what we are able to do raising voluntary contributions

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US senators urge renegotiation of US trade deals

Bill bars new trade deals unless past pacts renegotiated * USTR Kirk, in Geneva, says US ready for WTO "endgame" * Senators urge Obama not send S. Korea deal to Congress By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A group of U.S. senators urged President Barack Obama on Monday to back legislation requiring the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a long list of other trade pacts they blame for millions of lost U.S. manufacturing jobs. "We want trade and plenty of it, but we want trade under new rules. The TRADE Act will help Congress and the White House craft a trade policy that makes sense and learns from our many mistakes over the past couple of decades," Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, told reporters in a conference call. The bill, which has seven co-sponsors in the Senate, shows the strong opposition Obama could face from many members of his own Democratic Party if he pushes for new trade agreements without addressing concerns about past trade pacts. Six Democrats are among the co-sponsors, as well as independent Bernie Sanders. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a speech on Monday at a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva that the United States was "ready to move into the endgame" of the eight-year-old world trade talks if other countries made meaningful market-opening commitments.

U.S. Taxpayers to Give Over $425 Million to Create Over 2,000 Jobs in China - WHAT!?

Toby Keller USW Local 50 (Iron and Coke Making) and LU 1899 Rapid Response Coordinator Dennis Barker presenting the Labor Day health care petitions to Congressman Shimkus' Collinsville office.

On Labor Day we gathered 217 signatures on a petition calling for a strong public option in any health care reform bill being debated in the House of Representatives. The petition was directed to our two area Congressmen Jerry Costello (D-12th Illinois District) and John Shimkus (R-19th Illinois District). The meeting at Shimkus' office did not go so well. We were told that John will not vote or support any Bill that contains a public option. We asked the assistant what John's solution for healthcare. Picture below speaks a thousand words about how concerned he is for his constituents. He now has the has the dubious distinction of being the only Congressman in a generation to show such disregard for our government institutions, that he walked out during President Obama's Joint Session of Congress last month. This is a guy who represents over 500 Local 1899 and 50 members in the 19th District of Illinois. What an embarassment! What a dufuss!

Isn't it odd that John "That's a Shame" Shimkus, who has had "government provided" insurance his entire adult life either through the U. S. Defense Dept., state of Illinois or the federal government, is so opposed to seeing that option offered to regular citizens? If he deplores goverment offered insurance (Public Option) so much, why doesn't he refuse his coverage that we tax payers provide and buy his own private insurance company plan? Hmmmm...

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On October 3, 2009 District 7, Sub District 2 held the annual Political Action Committee (PAC) award banquet recognizing the top Local Unions for raising volunteer dollars for the PAC funds. Under the federal election laws of the United States Local Unions may raise volunteer dollars for the purpose of contributing to the campaigns of Federal candidates for office. This is the only way we can help Federal candidates that support working family issues. Local 1899 was again the top PAC fund raising USW Local in Sub District 2. We raised $20, 532 dollars through our payroll check offs and from the 50-50 drawings held following the 1899 Union meetings. I would like to thank each and every 1899 member who has signed up for the $1.00 per week check off from his or her paychecks.

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"Cooling the planet without chilling trade"-posted Nov. 15

These photos taken by ChinaHush can be seen on AAM's webiste; go to links page

In an op-ed in today’s Washington Post, Global Trade Watch’s Lori Wallach and the Peterson Institute’s Fred Bergsten make the case for a “border adjustment” mechanism in any climate legislation. An unusual pairing of sometime political opposites on trade issues, Wallach and Bergsten are of like mind on the urgency of properly addressing climate issues. In their editorial they state: We agree that it is politically unrealistic — and unwise — to try to enact a cap-and-trade system that puts manufacturers in the United States at a competitive disadvantage with those operating overseas that do not produce under comparable requirements. It makes no sense to impose a cost on those producing steel, autos and other goods, only to have them shift jobs and pollution to China or India — which are wary of binding international obligations on emission reductions.

ManufactureThis.org

Guest Opinion on Outsourcing: Doug May, St. Louis, Missouri

"Their lustful greed has become more apparent than ever!"

Doug May, who writes for the United Steelworkers, and is based in St. Louis, offers the following opinion piece on the outsourcing of American jobs…

Leaping across borders for 75 years, always searching for the next cheapest labor location for their manufacturing facilities, St. Louis, Mo.-based Emerson CEO David Farr last week announced, “I’m not going to hire anybody in the U.S. They are doing everything possible to destroy jobs.”

After acquiring 40 different manufacturing companies, making a range of products from power tools, appliances and cooling equipment, with a generational management plan that practiced aggressive schemes against labor, they have turned their back on America. Farr’s reasoning: “Cap and trade, labor rules and medical reform.”

Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, one of Emerson’s biggest competitors, described Emerson’s former CEO Chuck Knight as “taking great pleasure in being voted the most feared man in St. Louis.’ These companies engaged in parallel business plans with the Welch belief that, “I wish we could build factories on barges so we could move them around the globe; always moving to the cheapest labor area available,” as Welch wrote in his book.

Emerson challenged the Wagner Act in 1935 as unconstitutional. They waged an aggressive campaign against organized labor in 1954 moving their motor plant from St. Louis to Arkansas, even after concessions were given only to move it again to Mexico a few years later. Before the WTO made exploitation of cheap labor very accommodating, Emerson was already entrenched into these downward spiral, low-wage schemes.

This callous decision to turn their backs on American manufacturing and American workers has been made after collecting millions in huge U.S. military contracts and benefiting from the largest consumer market in the world that provided them with 43 consecutive years of earnings increases, which then lead to a Wall Street “darling’ stock recommendation. Now that Emerson senses they can no longer wield their economic and political will as it has done over the past 75 years, their lustful greed has become more apparent than ever.

If this is the direction a U.S. corporation is going to steer itself, with an unforgiving abandonment of the society that helped build them into what they are, investors and consumers should start reciprocating and turn their backs. Americans need to speak with their wallets, and their political will and support business models that practice long-term management plans that reward societies as well as investors.

**ManufactureThis does not necessarily agree or disagree with the views of our guest columnists; we merely provide them to help foster a wider discussion.

Rapid Response Coordinator Dennis Barker

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United Steelworkers (Including Local 1899's Dennis Barker) Send 100,000 Letters Urging Action on Clean Energy Jobs Legislation, Creating and Maintaining Manufacturing Jobs

Rapid Response Message: Your Voice Needed More Than Ever