INSIDEUSW@WORK
“
During my 40 years as a union member and
officer I have been personally and professionally
involved in safety.
I thought the most recent cover photo sent the
wrong message to our union brothers and sisters.
The worker should be using his safety shield.
The USW puts out an excellent magazine with
very informative articles, and I look forward to
reading it. Thank you and all my union brothers
and sisters for their work to make our unions, and
all workplaces, safer.
China’s unfair trade practices have left behind too
many shattered workers’ dreams, shuttered factories
and hollowed out communities.
”
International President Leo W. Gerard
May 23, 2014
I N T E R N AT I O N A L E X E C U T I V E B O A R D
Leo W. Gerard
International President
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Stan Johnson
Int’l. Secretary-Treasurer
Thomas M. Conway
Int’l. Vice President
(Administration)
Fred Redmond
Int’l. Vice President
(Human Affairs)
16
BUILDING ON PROGRESS
NEW ALCOA PACT
Nearly 9,000 employees at International
Paper are working under new master contracts at
the company’s paper mills and converter operations around the United States.
USW members ratify a new five-year
contract with Alcoa that raises wages for
6,100 workers and preserves benefits the
aluminum maker sought to change.
Ken Neumann
Nat’l. Dir. for Canada
Jon Geenen
Int’l. Vice President
Gary Beevers
Int’l. Vice President
Carol Landry
Vice President at Large
DIRECTORS
David R. McCall, District 1
Michael Bolton, District 2
Stephen Hunt, District 3
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22
NEW TIRE TRADE CASE
STAND UP FOR STEEL JOBS
The USW has launched a new trade case against
Chinese-made tires that are once again surging
into the United States at unfairly low prices, undercutting domestic producers and stealing jobs.
F E AT U R E S
Speaking Out
Trade Watch
News Bytes
The USW and the Alliance for American
Manufacturing sponsored rallies around the
country seeking limits on unfairly traded steel
imports.
ON THE COVER
03
19
32
USW member Mary Mack on the job at the Aurubis mill in Buffalo, N.Y.
USW photo by Steve Dietz
John Shinn, District 4
Daniel Roy, District 5
Marty Warren, District 6
Mike Millsap, District 7
Volume 09/No.3 Summer 2014
Ernest R. “Billy” Thompson, District 8
Daniel Flippo, District 9
Bobby “Mac” McAuliffe, District 10
Emil Ramirez, District 11
Robert LaVenture, District 12
Ruben Garza, District 13
C O M M U N I C AT I O N S S TA F F :
Jim McKay, Editor
Wayne Ranick, Director of Communications
Gary Hubbard, Director of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.
Aaron Hudson and Kenny Carlisle, Designers
Chelsey Engel, Lynne Hancock, R.J. Hufnagel,
Jess Kamm, Tony Montana, Barbara White Stack
Direct inquiries and articles for USW@Work to:
United Steelworkers Communications Department
Five Gateway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
phone 412-562-2400
fax 412-562-2445
online: www.usw.org
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: USW@Work, USW Membership Department, 3340 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
Copyright 2014 by United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO•CLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the
written consent of the United Steelworkers.
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Tarence E. Bryant, retired Local 2632
Rockwood, Pa.
Unsafe image
On the cover of the most recent issue of
USW@Work, there is a photo of a man cutting a
tree with a chain saw. He has no eye protection on
his face. He is wearing a face shield, but it is on
top of his helmet.
How could you publish such an unsafe photo?
Bill Moutz, retired Local 1218
Verona Pa.
Editor’s note: We agree safety is an all-important issue. The cover photograph was a staged
shot taken with the intent of showcasing USW
members and the demanding and often dangerous
work that they do. It’s an honor to represent them.
Buy American Tires
I read the USW@Work story about the Goodyear-Dunlop tire workers. It is very good to see a
company and workers doing a good job, getting
along together and staying in the United States.
I have a GMC truck and a Dodge car. I need
to put all new tires on both of them by this fall. I
will find a dealer that sells Goodyear tires made
in the USA. This is the only place I will ever buy
my new tires.
James Sneller, retired Local 1302
Mohawk, Mich.
Official publication of the United Steelworkers
USW@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 additional
mailing offices.
2
Safety First
Act to Stop Extremists
I became a Steelworker in 1956 at age 17 at
Youngstown Sheet & Tube. I became an American Postal Worker in 1984. In between, I was a
Teamster and an AFSCME member. I spent 20
years in the Navy, but they didn’t have a union!
The existence of unions is in jeopardy due
to the onslaught of conservative politicians and
pundits who are hell-bent on the dissolution of
organized labor.
We must dedicate ourselves to whipping the
butts of ALEC, Citizens United, the Koch
brothers and dedicated extremists like Karl Rove
and Scalia the skunk and his Supremes!
We must organize, motivate and mobilize
people to get them to the polls in November! We
must beat back the onslaught of clueless conservative clowns out to destroy everything we’ve
gained.
We must all act.
John Zordich, retired APWU Local 442
Youngstown, Ohio
Lynn Williams, Beloved in Lorain
Like so many others, I was heartbroken to
hear that Brother Lynn Williams had passed. A
great union leader and much more, Lynn is loved
today by many in Lorain, Ohio, where I served as
an officer of Local 1104.
About 22 years ago, Republic attempted to
break our union rather than negotiate in good
faith. It tried to float a contract proposal directly
to the membership and even attempted a decertification petition.
In this crisis situation, Lynn traveled to Lorain
and helped to set up meetings where the union
explained why the company proposal was a bad
deal. It would have allowed management to contract out our jobs and end the pension agreement.
Facing threats of violence and attacks on
the union, Lynn showed courage and leadership
in helping us to rally our members, who voted
to stand with our International and authorize a
strike. The membership’s backbone stiffened. We
were able to achieve a solid contract, rally our
union and stand strong again.
If you are in Lorain, visit the Lynn R. Williams Learning Center. It is a reminder of the time
he helped us save our union and our dignity.
Bruce Bostick, retired Local 1104
Lorain, Ohio
American Cars = American Jobs
I admire the dedication of our unions to keep
good jobs, save pensions and create safe working
conditions.
It just breaks my heart to see the very members of these unions doing their best to undermine
our country and send jobs overseas. I’m talking
about all of the imported cars in every union
parking lot in this country.
For every import sold, a domestic car is not.
The long term effect of this is thousands of good
jobs gone. Our money is no longer getting recycled into our communities. Instead, our dollars
are being sucked up and sent overseas.
Garry Quinn
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
USW active and retired
members and their
families are invited to
“speak out” on these
pages. Letters should be
short and to the point.
We reserve the right to
edit for length.
Mail to:
USW@Work
Five Gateway Center,
Pittsburgh PA 15222
or e-mail:
editor@usw.org
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
3
W
hen former International
President Lynn R. Williams was a schoolboy
in the Great Depression,
there was no work, no pay, and too
often, not enough food in the Canadian
industrial town where his father was a
minister.
President Williams, who died
on May 5 in Toronto at 89, kept his
Depression-era experiences and the
compassion that grew from them with
him while he led the Steelworkers from
1983 to 1994, one of the union’s most
difficult and turbulent periods.
“Lynn Williams held this union
together through the worst of times, the
massive bankruptcies and consolidations in the North American steel industry,” said International President Leo W.
Gerard, who called President Williams
his mentor.
“Lynn showed that he was a leader
of great compassion and integrity,
securing deals to save as much of the
industry as possible while at the same
time preserving pensions and benefits
for workers.”
More than 400 friends, family members, admirers and mentees of President
Williams gathered in a meeting room
at the USW-represented Westin Bristol
Place hotel in Toronto on June 21 to
commemorate his life and legacy.
Speakers described President Williams as a principled man of vision, who
inspired with great speeches, but also
knew how to listen in a way that made
it clear he heard every word spoken and
respected the person speaking.
USW commemorations
Gerard announced two enduring
commemorations for President Williams
sponsored by the USW. One will be a
scholarship for a working-class student
at Brock University in St. Catharines,
Ontario. In the 1960s, President Williams encouraged union members to
make paycheck contributions towards
the university’s construction.
In addition, the USW will create an
endowment at the University of Toronto for what will be called the Annual
Sefton-Williams Memorial Lecture.
It expands a prestigious lecture
series also dedicated to the memory of
President Williams’ mentor Larry Sefton, whose long career in the Canadian
labor movement included serving as
director of District 6 for two decades
and as the first secretary-treasurer of the
Ontario Federation of Labour.
The lecture series began in 1982 and
presents topics of interest to scholars
and practitioners of labor-management
relations. President Williams delivered
the inaugural lecture.
President Williams’ wife Audrey
preceded him in death, but all four of
his children attended the commemoration. Two of them, Brian and Barbara,
spoke. Barbara thanked the USW and
particularly Canadian National Director
Ken Neumann for the devotion shown
to her father in his final years. Also, one
of President Williams’ grandsons, Evan
Williams, read excerpts from his 2011
memoir, One Day Longer.
In the memoir, President Williams
says that it was in the Canadian town of
Sarnia, where he lived from age 7 to 14,
that the “need to help people was etched
indelibly on my psyche.”
His friends’ fathers were, for the
most part, unemployed during the
1930s. He would often come home from
school to find his mother, Emma, feeding someone or giving them something
warm to wear.
“All the workers were suffering
periods of layoff, reduced hours and
reduced wages. All the businesses were
short of customers. The entire town was
reeling from the loss of jobs, the loss of
income and of purchasing power,” he
wrote.
Helping others
His father, Waldemar, would help
people in his congregation look for
work, even part-time work, or find
chores for them to do around somebody’s house to help them get by.
Together, at Christmastime, they would
deliver food baskets to the neediest
families.
When the Williams family gathered
around the dinner table, the discussion
would often turn to the failed economy
and how to build a better society based
on the principles of social and economic
justice.
President Williams held onto that social consciousness – and the determination to bring about fundamental changes
in working people’s lives – throughout
his life and career in the union movement.
“Lynn Williams dedicated his entire
career to improving the lives of ordinary
working people, driven by an unrelenting passion for social justice,” Neumann
said.
“Steelworkers across the continent are mourning the passing of Lynn
Williams, but we are also celebrating
the life of an exceptional labor leader
whose legacy will be an inspiration for
generations to come.”
Named President in 1983
The first Canadian to lead the union,
he was appointed International President on Nov. 17, 1983, following the
death in office of his predecessor, Lloyd
McBride.
He won a 1984 special election to
complete the final two years of
Lynn R. Williams
USW photos
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President McBride’s term and was reelected to full terms in 1985 and 1989.
During those years, he would steer the
union’s members through waves of
layoffs.
“My entire career in the labor movement was based on the belief that, in
the face of serious obstacles, workers,
whether on strike or not, needed to
remain united and committed over the
long haul,” he wrote in the memoir.
“If they did, they would be in a
strong position both to achieve their collective bargaining goals and to realize
the broader objective of creating a more
just and democratic society.”
Beset in the 1970s by lower-cost
foreign competition, the North American steel industry was imploding in the
1980s when President Williams took office. Steel towns throughout the United
States and Canada were decimated by
the loss of hundreds of thousands of
jobs.
Faced with dramatic industrial
restructuring and upheaval, President
Williams developed new bargaining
techniques to protect the interests of
workers and retirees and played a leading role in the restructuring of the North
American steel industry.
President Williams demanded financial transparency from the industry and
hired investment bankers to advise the
union on stock options, profit sharing
and ways to leverage the union’s power
in corporate takeovers. He mediated
bailouts that saved dozens of steel
plants from closing by leveraging employee stock holdings.
Seats on corporate boards
In exchange for wage and benefit
concessions, President Williams negotiated contract provisions allowing employee stock-ownership plans and union
seats on corporate boards.
“Workers really have something to
say,” he said then, “but it has to be done
in a way where working people are recognized as important in the institutions
where they work.”
President Williams cooperated with
industry when the result would benefit
workers. Under his leadership, for example, the USW worked with industry
to invest in domestic facilities and to
protect American jobs from unfair foreign competition.
Later in retirement, President Williams called the steel industry collapse a
“frightful time” for the union, its members and retirees. The crisis created a
wave of early retirements that, in many
cases, threatened retiree health benefits
and pensions.
“If you can imagine an old mattress
out in the junkyard with the springs
popping up, I was like a guy lying
on the springs trying to hold them all
down,” he told USW@Work in 2010.
“And I didn’t have enough body
parts to put a hand on this one, a hand
on that one and a knee on another one.
I didn’t have enough body parts to hold
them all down.”
Lynn Russell Williams was born
July 21, 1924, in rural Springfield, Ontario, one of three children in a devoutly
religious family. His father was a minister in the United Church of Canada. His
mother, Emma Elizabeth Fisher Williams, was an ardent churchgoer who
named him after Lynn Harold Hough, a
Methodist theologian.
His father moved the family to
Sarnia in 1931 so he could take over the
pulpit of a church whose congregation
was primarily working-class people.
Many of the workers then in Sarnia,
which was built around a railroad and
an oil refinery, had lost jobs or were
suffering through periods of layoffs and
reduced working hours and wages. The
economic tragedy extended to teachers,
business professionals and President
Williams’ own family.
Impressed by his father’s selfless
commitment to his congregation in time
of need, President Williams briefly considered following him into the ministry,
and in 1941 enrolled in McMaster University in Hamilton, studying English
and philosophy as an introduction to
theology.
He quickly decided, however, to
give up theology as a career for the
growing labor movement, which he saw
as a more democratic way of helping
people than the ministry.
After graduating with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in 1944 and serving a year
in the Royal Canadian Navy, President
Williams married Audrey Hansuld in
1946 and began work towards a master’s degree in industrial relations at the
University of Toronto.
Williams remembered the time as
heady days for the North American labor
movement. In 1945 and 1946 industrial
unionism embraced by the Congress
of Industrial Organizations (CIO) had
come of age in the United States and
Canada.
Industrial unionism grows
Under the leadership of John L.
Lewis, the CIO was committed to leaving behind the old model of craft unionism, in which workers were organized
by craft, in favor of industrial unionism,
where all workers in an industry would
be organized into a single union, regardless of their specific occupations.
Organization of unions grew in
both countries and new sectors, such
as public employees, joined the fold of
organized labor. As a result, incomes
and living standards improved.
“I had decided by then that the labour movement was where I was heading,” Williams said in his book.
During the summer break after his
first year at the university, President
International President Leo W.
Gerard and Lynn R. Williams
Former International President George
Becker and Lynn R. Williams
Williams was hired at John Inglis and
Company and joined Local 2900, which
represented the work force. Inglis made
weapons for the military during the
war and then became a major appliance
company.
President Williams volunteered for
everything available at the local union,
including a summer school conducted
by the Canadian Labour Congress
(CLC). The CLC subsequently hired
him to help with an organizing campaign at Eaton’s department store in
Toronto, which then employed 13,000
people.
In 1956, President Williams joined
the USWA’s staff as an organizer in Canada, where he worked in Regina, Saskatchewan, the Niagara Peninsula and
Toronto. He transferred to the District
6 headquarters in Toronto in 1965 and
became director of District 6 in 1973.
In 1977, President Williams was elected
International Secretary of the union and
moved to Pittsburgh.
Leadership roles
He was the first union leader to hold
executive leadership roles, although
not simultaneously, with the CLC and
the American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO).
President Williams was the driving
force behind the creation of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees
(SOAR) to harness the power and influence of the union’s pensioners.
In retirement, he served as president
of SOAR, which has grown into a force
of labor, political and social justice
activism in both the United States and
Canada.
“Lynn’s vision was the union should
be there to help people – not just when
they are at work, but when they are out
of work and retired,” Gerard said.
President Williams also helped to
launch the Institute for Career Development, a unique work force training program for USW members at participating
companies.
The institute was created in 1989 as
a result of contract negotiations with
major steel companies. It has since
expanded to include other industries
including tire and rubber, glass and
packaging. Today, there are more than
70 career development programs nationwide.
In retirement, President Williams
moved from Pittsburgh back to Canada,
where in 2005 he was named an Officer
of the Order of Canada, the country’s
highest civilian honor, in recognition for
a lifetime of achievement in the labor
movement.
The city of Toronto in 2007 named a
street after President Williams in the former factory district near the John Inglis
plant where he once worked.
George Becker, Lynn R. Williams and John “Jack”
Sheehan, retired USW legislative director
USW photos
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A
look around Western New
York quickly reveals the toll
that the U.S. manufacturing
crisis has taken on this longtime industrial hub.
Once home to thriving steel mills,
automotive parts factories, refineries,
foundries and other industrial sites, the
region, like many others around the
country, has seen more than its share of
factories shuttered thanks to unfair trade
and an uneven economy.
One place that has escaped that
fate is the Aurubis (formerly known
as American Brass) mill in northern
Buffalo, where production has been
relatively steady, even in some of the
toughest economic times.
“In my 24 years here, any time I
wanted to work I was able to work,”
Local 593 member Tom Kukula said
as he prepared to operate a hot rolling
machine. “This place has been good to
me.”
Kukula, one of more than 500 Local
593 members who work at Aurubis Buffalo, said that while the economic crisis
brought some temporary belt-tightening
to the 1.1 million-square-foot factory,
the presence of the union has made a
big difference in workers’ lives.
In fact, in 2010, while other companies were idling operations or laying off
workers, the Buffalo plant, then owned
by Sweden’s Nordic Capital, was
expanding its press room at a cost of
$2.5 million. Since 2011, the company
has added 30 union jobs and plans to
continue hiring.
Copper producer, recycler
Jim Smith
USW photos by Steve Dietz
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Aurubis, based in Hamburg, Germany, is the second-largest copper producer and largest copper recycler in the
world. The company employs more than
6,300 workers at 36 locations worldwide. The Buffalo plant, which Aurubis
acquired in 2011, is the company’s only
production facility in the United States.
One other U.S. location in Chicago is
devoted exclusively to sales.
The Buffalo site began as a
61,000-square-foot factory in 1906, and
the hourly workers have been union
members since 1937. They became
Steelworkers in 1967 when the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter
Workers merged with the USW.
One difference the USW has made
at Aurubis has been in the kind of
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
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USW photos by Steve Dietz
highly skilled, experienced work force
that comes with good, family-sustaining
jobs. For member Marc Alston, that has
meant a cleaner and safer work environment, as well as better wages and
benefits.
“It’s good to have the union there to
relieve the pressure, to have your back,”
Alston said.
Bernard Green, a furnace manager
and caster who has worked at the factory for 33 years, said the USW has
helped the workers in Buffalo keep up
with the ever-rising cost of living. In
non-union businesses, he said, owners retain too high a percentage of the
profits, and workers and their families
suffer.
“Everything goes to the top and
there’s nothing left at the bottom,”
Green said.
Product flexibility
Over the years, employee workloads
at the mill have grown. Without the
USW, the workers would have no way
to push back, Green said.
“I know the company has to make
money, but there needs to be compromise,” he added.
The workers at Aurubis have compromised, remaining flexible enough
to adjust the company’s product lineup
as customer needs change. As a result,
the company has been able to increase
market share, add jobs and continue to
thrive.
The workers also are dedicated to
efficiency, recycling scrap metal from
the press room and putting it back into
the furnaces to be re-melted. Around
the factory are massive containers of
various types of scrap metal, including
old Canadian pennies, which are melted
down for reuse. According to Aurubis,
65 percent of the metal produced at the
factory is delivered to customers, while
35 percent is recycled back into the
process.
One area in which the union workers
have not been as willing to compromise,
though, has been health and safety.
After a worker was killed in an
accident at the mill in 2007, management began to pay closer attention to
the union’s concerns on worker safety,
said Local 593 Recording Secretary Tim
Hook. That commitment continued to
improve when Aurubis took over the
operation in 2011.
Wake-up call
“That was such a wake-up call,”
Hook said of the accident, adding that
until the 1980s, workers in some parts
of the facility were not even required to
wear hard hats. “Things have changed a
lot. It’s all about education, and that is
up to all of us.”
Another wake-up call on worker
health has been the case of USW
member Alan White, who has worked
at the facility for 19 years. Five years
ago, White was diagnosed with the
deadly lung disease silicosis, the result
of exposure to silica dust in the mill’s
foundry. While he has since been moved
to a safer job within the factory, White’s
condition is permanent.
White’s case has contributed to big
changes beyond his Buffalo workplace.
The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration has proposed new rules
to dramatically reduce silica exposure
for all American workers.
“Employers know that they can
control silica exposure,” White said last
year during testimony in support of the
new rules. “This is not rocket science.”
Bud Malucci, a member of the
USW bargaining committee who has
worked at Aurubis for 35 years, said
the union has made “great strides” in
safety, including negotiating a full-time,
company-paid union safety representative 10 years ago.
Health and safety isn’t the only issue
that is remaking the Aurubis workplace. Kukula said several dozen of his
longest-tenured colleagues would be approaching retirement in the next two or
three years. As they leave, he said, “we
are going to lose a lot of knowledge.”
Perched in a control room one story
above the shop floor, Kukula rolled 20,000-pound
Rocco Schiavone
Marc Alston
Brad Laude
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USW photos by Steve Dietz
Mary Mack
Donna Poulsen
slabs of hot brass created in the
casting shop back and forth until they
were methodically spread out into long,
thin sheets.
He said many of his co-workers
have been at the factory since before
its processes were largely automated
– gaining a wealth of institutional
knowledge that will require extensive
training of new workers to replace.
Learning the process
Even with increasing automation,
new workers “need to learn how to roll,
not how to be a button-pusher,” Kukula
said.
New employees at Aurubis learn the
entire metal-making process from start
to finish, said Brad Laude, a foundry
worker who makes sure final products
are free from impurities.
Ken Tangelder, a 30-year employee
who worked at a nearby Republic Steel
plant for eight years before joining
Aurubis, is one of the workers closing
in on retirement.
When Republic shut down its
South Buffalo mill in 1984, about 100
workers including Tangelder landed
jobs at Aurubis, providing the growing company with a seasoned group of
workers.
“We were all experienced at running machinery,” he said.
The workers take a great deal
of pride in the metal and parts they
manufacture. The process begins when
workers in the foundry melt down raw
material supplied by mines, which is
mixed with recycled scrap metal. The
resulting molten material is formed
into huge bars of copper or brass.
Those bars are shipped to the hot
roll department where they are reheated and flattened into long, thin plates,
which are eventually rolled into coils.
Some of that metal is earmarked for
specific customers, and some ends up
in the Aurubis press room, where workers employ a dozen presses to form the
metal into rings, nuts, casings and other
small pieces of hardware that eventually become part of something else.
Aurubis products become compo-
nents in heat-exchange technology for
automobiles and buildings, as well as
connector strips, zippers, batteries, caskets, lighters, ammunition and more.
Before the United States changed
the composition of the penny in 1982,
workers at the Buffalo plant even
produced the one-cent coins for the
U.S. Mint.
Family working together
Hook has worked at the plant for
18 years. He said that it is not uncommon at Aurubis for family members to
work side by side. Hook’s brother, who
has worked there 28 years, is a roll
operator, and an uncle was in charge of
the tube room before he retired.
Sharon Goodison has worked at the
facility for 28 years, while her husband
recently retired from a job there. She
said the USW has helped workers hold
on to the good benefits they’ve earned
over the years, despite a difficult
economy.
Soon after its acquisition by the
German conglomerate, workers at the
mill began to build connections with
their international colleagues.
In October 2013, the Buffalo plant
welcomed four workers from Europe
who spent six months helping to install
a slitter machine that was relocated
from Sweden.
Despite language and cultural
barriers, the transition went smoothly.
It’s just one example of how the work
force at Aurubis has built a cooperative
relationship throughout the company.
When Aurubis took over, management asked union members to ramp up
production, and the workers obliged,
exceeding management’s expectations.
As a result, Kukula said, the union in
2014 reached a new three-year contract
that will run through 2017 and provide
USW members with raises and benefit
enhancements.
“It’s not us against them anymore,”
Kukula said. “We’re all on the same
team. You’ve got to work together.”
Anthony Cambio
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USW photos by Steve Dietz
Workers at the IP plant in
Bogalusa, La.
U
SW members ratified master contract agreements
with International Paper (IP) covering nearly 9,000
employees at paper mills and converter operations
around the United States.
“International Paper is our largest bargaining partner in
the paper sector. These two agreements demonstrate the quality of our relationship with IP and set a mark for the rest of
the industry,” International President Leo W. Gerard said.
The agreements, Gerard said, “build on the legacy of
family-supporting union jobs in urban and rural communities
throughout the country.”
Master agreements cover wages, benefits and overall
working conditions, such as health and safety. Local issues
pertaining to each facility are negotiated separately between
local unions and management.
Both of the new master agreements improved wages and
pensions and secured stable long-term health care coverage
for employees at a time of upheaval in the paper industry,
which has been battered by unfairly traded imports, declining global demand for paper and challenging prices for raw
materials and finished products.
International Vice President Jon Geenen, who heads the
USW’s paper sector, praised members and local union leaders
at the USW IP sites for their high level of engagement during
the negotiations.
Collective bargaining in the paper industry has evolved
since the USW-PACE merger in 2005 toward a model of
strategic coordination that has given members more control
over the agenda.
“The strength of our local union leadership has enabled us
to continue making progress in an economy and industry that
has seen significant challenges,” Geenen said.
14
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
The first of two master agreements, a six-year pact covering over 6,000 workers at 18 IP paper mills, was approved by
a nearly 4-to-1 margin in April.
A separate master agreement covering 2,800 plus workers at 53 IP converter plants was ratified by a 10-to-1 margin
at the end of May. Converting plants fabricate products like
envelopes, paper bags, boxes and containers from paper produced in the mills.
The newly ratified IP contracts are third-generation master
agreements that build on the progress made in the previous
two rounds of coordinated bargaining.
Pay rates differ in the mills and converting plants, but both
of the master agreements included general wage increases
of 2.5 percent in each of the first three years and 2 percent in
each of the final three years.
IP agreed to increase defined benefit pension plan multipliers in both agreements – a meaningful gain in an era when
many employers are eliminating defined benefit pension plans
altogether or refusing to give increases in benefit multipliers.
The contracts maintain quality health care coverage with
some changes, giving IP members long-term stability through
the life of the agreements while health care reform in the
United States develops. Wellness initiatives were introduced.
Cost-sharing percentages for health care coverage in both
master agreements continue to be frozen at the current 20 percent level for employees and 80 percent for the corporation.
“The mill and converter master agreements are another
substantial step forward,” said International Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson.
“These agreements provide our members earnings, benefit
and retirement protections throughout their terms and should
provide for stable, secure and efficient operations going
forward for both USW members and International Paper.”
The IP Converter Bargaining Council has undergone significant changes since negotiating its first master agreement
with IP in 2008. After IP acquired Weyerhaeuser’s packaging
business for $6 billion that year, the council welcomed and
bargained Weyerhaeuser locals into the master agreement.
The converter council then negotiated a second converter
master agreement and, after IP acquired Temple Inland,
integrated those locals into the contract. There are now 56 IP
converter locations covered by the master agreement.
To accomplish our strategic objectives in the 2014 round
of talks, the bargaining councils late last year decided to
move up negotiations for new master agreements by several
months.
That accomplished the goal of having the master agreements and separate pension council agreements expire much
closer to one another than they previously did. Harmonizing
the expiration dates makes sense because wages, pensions
and insurance are integral parts of the overall compensation
package.
Local unions at IP found some appeal in doing the agreements early since the industry has been in a state of flux, and
IP is expected to also see some significant changes in the
coming years.
The longer term of the agreements brings more stability and ultimately benefits IP workers, their families and the
company, while setting a higher bar for the rest of the industry.
In addition, the bargaining environment was positive in
terms of the company’s financial position, as was the level of
engagement on the shop floor – a good place to start a positive discussion.
The converter master agreement covers the following locations:
Anaheim, Calif.
Atlanta (Forest
Park), Ga.
Arden Hills, Minn.
Barrington, N.J.
Bay Minette, Ala.
Bellmawr, N.J.
Biglerville, Pa.
Binghamton, N.Y.
Bogalusa, La.
Butler, Ind.
Carrollton, Texas
Charlotte, N.C.
Cleveland, Tenn.
Dallas, Texas
Des Plaines, Ill.
Eaton, Ohio
Edinburg, Texas
Eighty Four, Pa.
Fond du Lac, Wis.
Ft. Wayne, Ind.,
Georgetown, S.C.
Gilroy, Calif.
Grand Prairie, Texas
(Bag)
Grand Prairie, Texas
(Box)
Hazelton, Pa.
Houston, Miss.
Lynchburg, Va.
Magnolia, Miss.
Manitowoc, Wis.
Marion, Ohio
McAllen, Texas
Middletown, Ohio
Milltown, N.J.
Morristown, Tenn.
Mt. Carmel, Pa.
Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Newton, N.C.
Olive Branch, Miss.
Omaha, Neb.
Orlando, Fla.
Petersburg, Va.
Richmond, Va.
San Antonio, Texas
Santa Fe Springs,
Calif.
Savannah, Ga.
Shakopee, Minn.
Spotswood, N.J.
Springhill, La.
Springhill, La. (C&D)
St. Anthony, Ind.
St. Louis, Mo.
Statesville, N.C.
Thorofare, N.J.
Three Rivers, Mich.
Waterloo, Iowa
Wooster, Ohio
The mill master agreement covers the following locations represented
by the USW, the IBEW, IAM, IBB and UA:
Augusta, Ga.
Bogalusa, La.
Franklin, Va.
Georgetown, S.C.
Newport, Ind.
Orange, Texas
Pensacola, Fl.
Pine Hill, Ala.
Prattville, Ala.
Red River, La.
Riegelwood, N.C.
Riverdale, Ala.
Rome, Ga.
Savannah, Ga.
Texarkana, Texas
Ticonderoga, N.Y.
Valliant, Okla.
Vicksburg, Miss.
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
15
I
n June, USW members voted
by secret ballot to ratify a
five-year agreement that raises
wages for 6,100 workers at
Alcoa and preserves health and
pension benefits that the aluminum
maker unsuccessfully sought to
change.
The USW negotiating committee beat back the company’s initial
demands made when talks opened
in April for cuts in health care
benefits, elimination of defined
benefit pensions for new hires and
establishment of a temporary work
force.
“These were difficult negotiations,” International President Leo
W. Gerard said. “Alcoa tested
our membership, but they stuck
together, stood up and rejected any
concessions or two-tier proposals.”
Members approved the settlement overwhelmingly in voting
held June 5 and 6. Negotiators
for the union and company had
reached a tentative agreement in
Pittsburgh late on May 15 as the
last pact, a four-year deal, was
expiring.
“This agreement includes
significant wage increases in each
year of the contract which won’t
be eroded by rising health care
premiums or unexpected medical
expenses,” said International Vice
President Tom Conway, who led
the negotiations for the USW.
“It reflects the contributions
Alcoa’s employees have made to
the company and its prospects for
growth.”
USW photo by Steve Dietz
Molten metal in Warrick, Ind.
Angie White, a member of Local 105 at Alcoa’s
Davenport, Iowa, Works, prepares to vote.
Photo courtesy of Quad-City Times
Pact expires in 2019
Workers at Alcoa’s facility in Warrick, Ind.
16
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
The agreement is retroactive to
May 16, 2014, and expires on May
15, 2019. It covers members of 11
local unions at 10 Alcoa plants in
Warrick and Lafayette, Ind.; Point
Comfort and Rockdale, Texas;
Davenport, Iowa; Badin, N.C.;
Alcoa, Tenn.; Wenatchee, Wash.;
Massena, N.Y., and Gum Springs,
Ark.
The agreement provides a ratification bonus of $1,000 and general
wage increases each year that average $3.22 per hour, or 14.2 percent,
over the life of the contract.
As a result of the strong stance
taken by the bargaining committee,
the contract preserves active and
retiree health care benefits, with
no increases in deductibles, copays
or coinsurance. There also are no
changes to health care contribution
rates for active or retired employees.
Retiree health care benefits
and premiums remain unchanged
for five years thanks to a Retiree
Health Care Account established in
previous negotiations.
The agreement includes an
increase in the defined benefit pension formula multiplier of $2 per
month per year of service. Funding
was improved for a performance
pay plan and an innovative new
benefit was included for Alcoa employees who suffer severe burns.
Members show unity
USW members supported their
negotiators with a strong show of
unity, starting with informational
picket lines in April when the talks
began and a strike authorization
vote held when negotiations went
down to the wire.
“The solidarity and determination of our members – along
with their activism and ability to
mobilize – made this agreement
possible,” Gerard said.
Alcoa said the new contract
gives the global company labor
stability as it continues to revamp
a business impacted by world
oversupply of aluminum smelting
capacity.
The company has cut smelting capacity around the world and
invested money in growth areas,
such as sheet products for the
automotive industry and parts for
aircraft. Those investments include
$575 million to expand plants in
Alcoa, Tenn., and in Davenport,
Iowa.
Throughout the negotiations,
USW members showed management they were prepared to hold
their ground.
Jeremy Kaye, a member of
Local 115 and 16-year employee at
Lafayette, expressed the sentiments
of many when he wore a shirt that
read: “The Concession Stand is
Closed.”
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
17
Delegates at the 2011 USW
Constitutional Convention
USW photo by Steve Dietz
M
ore than 2,500 delegates,
representing local unions
from across the United
States and Canada will
attend the United Steelworkers 2014
Constitutional Convention this August
in Las Vegas.
The convention will open at 10 a.m.,
Monday, Aug. 11, at the MGM Grand
Hotel and Casino, and conclude by 5
p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 14. Registration
will open on Saturday, Aug. 9.
International President Leo W.
Gerard will lead the proceedings at the
MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom, which
will be outfitted with a large stage and
multi-media screens to ensure that all
of the delegates and invited guests from
around the world will have a great view.
Enlarged images of USW members
on the job will be placed around the
convention hall and adjoining spaces to
act as directional signs and to celebrate
the rich diversity of work performed by
the membership.
Working union
The theme of the convention this
year is “A Union That Works,” reflecting a return to the basics of organizing
new members, servicing current mem-
18
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
bers and expanding participation in both
the union and politics to further the fight
for a better future.
“Stand Up, Fight Back,” was the
defiant convention theme three years
ago in 2011, when the economy and
working families were still reeling from
a global recession considered to be the
worst financial crisis since the Great
Depression of the 1930s.
“If you look at what was accomplished by standing up and fighting
back, as tough as times are and as tough
as they were, we made progress,” Gerard said.
Held every three years, the Constitutional Convention is the USW’s top
governing body. Delegates will debate
and pass policy resolutions submitted
by local unions and International leadership that will guide the union’s direction
until the next convention in 2017.
Last convention
At the last convention, delegates
adopted measures calling for USW
members to work tirelessly to re-elect
President Obama, to replace the antiunion majorities in state legislatures
and elect strong pro-labor majorities in
the U.S. House and Senate. They also
unanimously voted to retain the current
dues structure.
The USW signed a solidarity agreement with Los Mineros, the Mexican
metal and mineworkers union, reaffirming the commitment to build a union for
all of North America.
The USW and UNITE HERE also
agreed to a strategic alliance under
which the two unions work together in
Canada on issues of common interest.
Union Plus, the AFL-CIO benefits
program, is co-sponsoring the “Workers
Helping Workers” concert on Wednesday night during convention week.
Text “STEEL” to 22555 by Aug. 14,
and Union Plus will make a $1 donation on your behalf to the Steelworkers
Charitable and Educational Organization (SCEO) Disaster Relief Fund.
With your help, the USW and Union
Plus can be there for our members in
their time of need.
I
n 2012, as the USW was engaged in public disputes with
China over unfair trade practices, a People’s Liberation
Army soldier hacked into the union’s computers and
stole sensitive e-mail correspondence.
The alleged thief, Capt. Wen Xinyu, was one of five
Chinese military officers indicted in May by the U.S. Department of Justice for breaking into the computer systems of five
American companies and the USW.
“Foreign competitors are stopping at nothing to steal our
information, flood our markets and take our jobs,” said U.S.
Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.), who expressed alarm at the allegations.
The 31-count indictment issued on May 19 is an escalation of U.S. government efforts to combat Chinese statesponsored espionage and the first time it has publicly accused
employees of a foreign power with cybercrimes.
The Justice Department’s decision to charge Chinese
officers was approved at high levels of government and was
undertaken, department officials told the Washington Post,
because talks had brought little progress.
Diplomacy and criminal prosecution are both part of a
broad strategy by the Obama administration to hold China accountable for an apparently growing campaign of commercial
cyber-spying.
“For too long, the Chinese government has blatantly
sought to use cyber espionage to obtain economic advantage
for its state-owned industries,” FBI Director James B. Comey
said.
Among those named as victims were the USW and three
firms that employ USW members – U.S. Steel, Allegheny
Technologies (ATI) and Alcoa. Also named were Westinghouse Electric Co. and SolarWorld.
The USW called the situation very troubling. “We take it
very seriously,” a spokesman said.
military, U.S. Steel, the Steelworkers, ATI and other companies were involved in trade disputes to redress dumping by
China’s state-owned steel companies through accepted international dispute resolution mechanisms,” said David Hickton,
the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “The success of these entities in trade litigation also
made them targets.”
USW trade cases
In 2012, when the indictment says the USW’s systems
were compromised, the union was involved in trade cases
involving China’s auto parts exports and its control of rare
earth metals.
The indictment alleges Wen stole e-mails from senior
USW employees containing “sensitive, non-public and deliberative information about USW strategies,” including those
related to pending trade disputes.
SolarWorld, a leading solar products manufacturing company, lost technological secrets, production cost data, cash
flow projections and details of its legal strategies to hacking
in 2012 at about the same time the U.S. Department of Commerce found that Chinese solar product manufacturers had
dumped products into the U.S. market at below fair-market
value.
Westinghouse, one of the world’s leading developers of
nuclear power technology, was hacked for trade secrets while
it was building four of its AP1000 power plants in China and
negotiating construction terms.
Alcoa, the nation’s largest aluminum producer, was the
victim of an email fraud in February 2008, about three weeks
after it announced a partnership with a Chinese state-owned
enterprise. Thousands of e-mail messages and attachments
were stolen.
Aggressive response demanded
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the range of trade
secrets and other sensitive business information stolen in the
case was significant and demanded an aggressive response.
“This administration will not tolerate actions by any nation that seeks to illegally sabotage American companies and
undermine the integrity of fair competition in the operation of
the free market,” Holder told a news conference in Washington.
As expected, the allegations elicited strong denials from
the Chinese government, which dismissed the case as fabricated and warned it would jeopardize diplomatic and commercial relations.
The indictment suggests that the USW, the nation’s largest
industrial union, and several of the named companies were
victims of retaliation by the Chinese government for seeking
enforcement of international trade rules.
In the years since China was admitted to the World Trade
Organization in 2001, the USW has used every available legal
avenue to enforce international trade laws to protect members’ living standards from predatory practices such as illegal
export subsidies and dumping.
“At the time of these computer intrusions by the Chinese
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
19
T
he USW has launched a new
trade case against Chinese-made
tires that are once again surging
into the United States at unfairly
low prices, undercutting domestic producers and American employment.
“We cannot stand idly by while
China steals our jobs,” International
President Leo W. Gerard said in announcing the action.
Petitions filed by the USW on June 3
with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Department
of Commerce seek to have U.S. trade
authorities impose anti-dumping and
countervailing (subsidy) duties on passenger and light truck tires imported from
China.
“Filing trade cases is not something
we take lightly,” Gerard said. “We would
prefer that countries live by the rules, but
when our members are injured, we act.”
The petitions filed by the union under
Sections 701 and 731 of the Trade Act of
1930 demonstrate that surging imports
from China are aggressively subsidized
by the Chinese government and dumped
in the U.S. market at prices below fair
value. Domestic tire makers have been
rapidly losing market share as a result.
This is the second time in five years
that the USW has sought relief to preserve the domestic tire industry. In 2009,
the USW filed a China-specific “safeguard” action against Chinese passenger
and light truck tires under Section 421 of
U.S. trade law. It was the first and only
such successful action in history where
relief was provided to a petitioning party.
U.S. market targeted
At a preliminary hearing on June 24,
the USW argued that the huge upsurge
in Chinese tire imports since the Section
421 tariffs ended in September 2012 was
evidence of the need for duties.
With China no longer subject to Section 421 relief, it has once again targeted
the U.S. market, with exports to the
United States skyrocketing to more than
50.8 million tires last year, an all-time
high. In the first quarter of 2014 alone,
tires imported from China surged an additional 24 percent.
Mark Williams, president of Local
351L at the Michelin plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., testified that the layoffs of
100 workers there in 2013 were directly
attributable to unfair competition from
China.
Tuscaloosa built 16,500 tires a day
in early 2012 before production began
declining as the Section 421 tariffs were
ending. After the layoffs, production fell
to 9,500 tires a day while excess inventory was depleted.
“We have now crept up to 12,000 tires
a day, but that is still less than 75 percent
of what we produced when the safeguard
was in place,” Williams testified.
Predictably, lawyers representing the
Chinese industry claimed there was no
correlation between Chinese imports and
employment troubles at American tire
factories.
Deadlines set
Commerce will make its determination on whether to initiate investigation
on July 14 after completing polling
analysis of support for the USW peti-
tions. Assuming that the Commerce Department will find that there is adequate
support for the initiation, the ITC will
then conclude the preliminary phase of
its investigation.
Specifically, the ITC has a July 22
vote set on whether there is a reasonable
indication that the domestic industry is
materially injured or threated with injury
by the imports claimed to be dumped
and subsidized. If the ITC votes yes, the
Commerce Department will proceed to
investigate the extent of dumping and
subsidization that is occurring.
The ITC will then conduct a final
injury investigation next year. Import relief requires final affirmative determinations by both the ITC and the Commerce
Department. If the Commission makes
a negative determination on July 22, the
investigations terminate.
In the four years prior to the nowexpired 2009 tariffs, imports from China
skyrocketed from 14.6 million to 46
million tires, causing significant harm to
the U.S. tire industry with multiple plant
closures and job losses.
“President Obama supported our effort, and during the period that relief was
in place Chinese tire imports declined to
roughly half of the pre-surge level,” said
International Secretary-Treasurer Stan
Johnson, who heads the Rubber/Plastics
Industry Council. “Unfortunately, China
is at it again.”
When the USW filed its first trade
case, it asked that the relief be provided
in the form of quotas. The ITC agreed
with the USW’s position, but decided that
tariffs would be a better response.
President Obama imposed three years
of relief with tariffs of 35 percent the
first year, 30 percent the second year
and 25 percent in the third year. Those
tariffs succeeded in restoring production,
market share and employment to the U.S.
tire sector.
U.S. market targeted
The USW petitions demonstrate that
there is massive dumping of Chinese tires
in the U.S. market at below fair market
prices.
Dumping margins, the difference
between the fair price and the prices
charged for export, are as high as 92
percent, while publicly available price
information from retailers indicates
Chinese tires are undercutting U.S.-made
tires by margins of 12 to 40 percent.
“Simply put, China is stealing American jobs, and we intend to fight for every
one of those jobs,” Gerard said.
The USW’s petitions identify 41 different subsidy programs available to tire
producers in China, including numerous
export subsidies that are prohibited under
international trading rules.
“China is expanding its industry and
has targeted the U.S. market as the place
to dump product and subsidize sales,”
International Vice President Tom Conway said. “As China expands production
and increases employment in this sector,
it is our workers who pay the price with
job losses.”
China’s share of the U.S. market grew
from about 9 percent in 2011 to more
than 18 percent last year. At the same
time, domestic tire producers saw their
share of the U.S. market fall.
If those trends continue, the USW
estimates that U.S. producers may lose
another 10 million tire shipments this
year. Such a loss would be enough to put
any of a number of U.S. facilities, and
many USW members’ jobs, in jeopardy.
Chinese workers transport tires at the Hankook Tire
factory in Jiaxing city, Zhejiang province, China.
(Imaginechina via AP Images)
20
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
21
I
n a victory for Steelworkers who rallied with supporters to save their jobs,
the U.S. Department of Commerce has
reversed itself and imposed duties on
low-cost South Korean oil pipe.
On July 11, the Commerce Department
declared that South Korean steel companies
and those in seven other countries were
illegally dumping pipe and tubing into the
United States at below fair-market cost.
The decision, subject to ratification by the
U.S. International Trade Commission in
August, paves the way for tariffs.
“With this decision, the U.S. Commerce Department listened to thousands of
hard-working Americans and took a stand
for fairness on behalf of those workers and
their employers,” International President
Leo W. Gerard said.
The ruling reversed a preliminary
decision by the Commerce Department
in February that took no action against
South Korea even though it is the largest
source of dumped oil country tubular goods
(OCTG).
South Korea produces virtually all of its
OCTG for export, almost exclusively to undercut U.S. manufacturers, said International Vice President Tom Conway, secretary of
the USW Basic Steel Industry Conference.
“South Korea is not using one inch of
this product,” he added.
Members protest decision
In response to the February ruling,
USW members joined forces with steel
company managers and political allies to
protest the decision and persuade Commerce to recognize the damaging impact of
South Korea’s dumping.
The USW and the Alliance for Ameri-
can Manufacturing (AAM) organized six
“Stand up for Steel Jobs” rallies at steel and
mining communities nationwide in addition
to lobbying in Washington.
By the time the decision came on July
11, unfairly priced imports had already
killed 1,000 steel jobs. Failure to impose
the duties threatened as many as 500,000 in
the overall economy, according to a study
issued in May by the Economic Policy
Institute.
Gerard commended the Commerce
Department for recognizing its earlier error
and finally “getting it right.” He said the
ruling was long overdue.
“This practice has already caused serious harm to our domestic industry,” Gerard
said. “Plants are being idled, workers are
losing jobs and communities are suffering.”
few weeks later.
Local 5852 President Mark Fronczek said
the McKeesport facility had recently begun
to “turn the corner” after a few difficult years
and could be thriving if not for the effects of
unfair trade.
“We have a great work force,” added
McKeesport plant Manager John Blozik.
“We can fairly compete with anybody in the
world.”
Keep it Made in America
Fairfield
Furloughs announced
In June, U.S. Steel announced plans
to idle tube operations in Pennsylvania
and Texas, leading to indefinite furlough
for 265 union members. The facilities, in
McKeesport, Pa., and Bellville, Texas, are
scheduled to close in August.
That same month, U.S. Steel CEO Mario Longhi joined Gerard and other industry
leaders who testified before the U.S. Senate
Finance Committee about the importance
of trade law enforcement and protecting
good jobs.
“Government must set priorities,” Gerard told the panel. “To me manufacturing
has to be the single most important focus of
our trade enforcement.”
Nearly all of the USW members at the
McKeesport pipe mill attended a Stand Up
for Steel Jobs rally, not knowing then that
their plant would be targeted for closure a
Mon Valley
Lorain
Granite City
USW Photos by Ike Gittlen
22
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
In addition to the Pennsylvania event,
members rallied in Lorain, Ohio; Granite
City, Ill.; Fairfield, Ala.; Lone Star, Texas,
and Virginia, Minn.
In Granite City, hundreds of USW members and allies held signs that read “Save our
Steel Jobs” and “Keep it Made in America.”
They chanted, “Jobs!” and “American steel!”
as speakers called on the Commerce Department to reverse its recommendation.
At the rally in Lorain, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and U.S. Rep. Marcy
Kaptur (D-Ohio) told those in attendance that
ensuring fair trade is essential to maintaining
a solid middle class.
“This fight for fair trade is the biggest
economic fight of our generation,” Kaptur
said.
U.S. Steel has invested $100 million in
the Lorain plant since 2010, but was forced
to lay off 73 workers there earlier this year as
a result of unfairly priced imports.
“Lorain can compete and win against
anyone in the world if the playing field is
fair,” said John Wilkinson, plant manager
for U.S. Steel’s tubular operations at Lorain,
Ohio, 30 miles west of Cleveland.
In Alabama, U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt,
Terri Sewell and Spencer Bachus joined District 9 Director Daniel Flippo and Local 1013
President David Clark.
Minnesota final stop
The final stop of the campaign was June
23 in Minnesota, where more than 2,000
USW members and allies stood united while
Gov. Mark Dayton pledged his support and
promised to take their concerns directly to
President Obama.
Talk show host Ed Schultz was in Minnesota for the rally and used several segments
of his show that week to raise awareness
about the issue.
The issue of fair trade is one on which
Democrats and Republicans, unions and
managers should agree, said AAM Director
Scott Paul.
In the GOP stronghold of Lone Star,
Texas, Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall told
the audience that he would never stop work-
ing to save American jobs.
“We just have to keep the pressure on,”
Hall said.
Bob Territ, who works in central maintenance at U.S. Steel’s Irvin plant near Pittsburgh, said he has seen a number of similar
battles against unfair trade in his 36 years as
a steelworker.
Territ, a trustee of Local 2227, said workers with families depend on the good jobs
that steel mills provide. They shouldn’t have
to hold rallies to convince leaders in Washington about the importance of taking action,
he said.
“We elect these people,” Territ said.
“They are supposed to be working for us, and
we have to fight them to save our own jobs.”
Fighting back
The rallies were just one way in which
USW members fought back. Former U.S.
Army Specialist Steve Korotko, former U.S.
Marine Lance Corporal Chad Cramer and
former U.S. Army Corporal Mike Grillo, who
work for U.S. Steel in Braddock, Pa., near
Pittsburgh, appealed to Americans’ patriotism, appearing in a poster under the headline: “We Served Our Country. Help Us Fight
for Our Jobs.”
The poster image was aimed at generating
petition signatures to pressure leaders in the
House and Senate to support action on trade.
A majority of the U.S. Senate stood on
the side of American workers. Fifty-seven
members, including 14 Republicans, signed a
letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker
in May calling for duties on South Korean
steel pipe. About 150 members of the House
signed a similar letter.
“We are proud that more than 200 members of Congress, including a majority of
the Senate and over one-third of the House,
voiced objections to the preliminary findings
that South Korea was not breaking the law,
Gerard said. “We thank them for their leadership.”
Even with such strong bipartisan support,
USW members did not take the Commerce
Department’s decision for granted, continuing to make their voices heard on trade.
“Enough is enough,” said Dan Voorhees of Local 1104 in Lorain. “We need to
stand up, fight back and save our jobs.”
Gerard said he was thankful that labor
and management worked together to demand
fair play.
“Still, enforcing our laws should not be a
hard-earned reward,” Gerard said. “It’s time
for all of our leaders in Washington to stand
with us and fight hard for fair – not just free
– trade.”
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
23
T
he U.S. Department of Commerce cleared the way for
tariffs on imports of grainoriented electrical steel from
China, Russia, Japan, Germany, South
Korea, Poland and the Czech Republic.
In a preliminary decision issued in
May, the department ruled that the seven
countries were selling, or dumping,
grain-oriented electrical steel in the U.S.
market at unfairly low prices.
“The USW appreciates the decision
by the Commerce Department, which
will ultimately help save hundreds of
family-supporting jobs in this important
American industry,” International President Leo W. Gerard said.
T
Grain-oriented electrical steel is
manufactured using a specialized rolling
and annealing process that yields grain
structures that are uniformly oriented in
the rolling - or lengthwise - direction of
the product. It is used primarily in large
and medium-sized power transformers.
AK, Ludlum, USW file complaints
The investigation began last October
in response to complaints filed by the
USW and two steel producers, AK Steel
Corp. and Allegheny Ludlum, a unit of
Allegheny Technologies Inc.
The Commerce Department said it
would instruct U.S. Customs and Border
Protection to require cash deposits from
he American steel industry is facing its worst import crisis in more than a decade. A flood of cheap
foreign products and rising excess global capacity is
putting 500,000 jobs in jeopardy.
A report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and Stewart & Stewart, the USW’s trade counsel in Washington, D.C.,
documents how foreign competitors, often supported by their
governments, are building up capacity and shipping products
around the globe.
The large, open U.S. market is the prime target for steel
made with this excess production capacity, estimated by the
study at over half a billion metric tons. That’s twice the volume of the excess capacity that existed in the last steel import
crisis that followed the Asian financial crisis more than a
decade ago.
“This report should be a wake-up call to Congress and the
24
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
foreign producers based on dumping
margins it said ranged from 5.3 percent
to 241.9 percent.
The preliminary findings came about
seven months after the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found
that the imports posed a threat to U.S.
producers.
Presuming that the Commerce Department affirms the dumping margins
in a report due on Sept. 15, the case will
go back to the ITC for a final determination on injury to U.S. producers. That
decision is due by Oct. 29.
Obama administration,” said International President Leo W.
Gerard. “The U.S. steel sector supports up to half a million
U.S. jobs, which are at risk without strong action against rising excess global capacity and a flood of unfairly priced and
traded steel imports swamping our market.”
While the jobs at risk are primarily Steelworker jobs, the
employment of thousands of other Americans depends on
the steel industry, including those who supply materials, ship
products and fabricate steel into countless applications.
“Having the industry and so many jobs at risk is unacceptable at any time, but as our manufacturing sector and economy continues to dig out of the Great Recession, it is now a
crisis,” Gerard said.
The excess capacity plaguing the industry largely stems
from massive government support and direct government
involvement in the steel industry in other countries.
While China accounts for more than a third of global
excess capacity, the report notes that there is also significant
overcapacity in South Korea, India and elsewhere.
“China is certainly the main culprit in rising capacity and
unfairly traded imports, but their approach is being copied by
other countries such as India and South Korea,” Gerard said.
Typically, these governments view their steel industries as
strategic enterprises, important to grow regardless of whether
or not they make a profit. They support them with grants, tax
breaks, subsidized loans, debt forgiveness and low-cost materials, among other incentives.
This leads to increases in steelmaking capacity driven not
by customer demand but national concerns. The surplus is
then exported at below-market costs.
I
n a victory for U.S. auto parts
workers, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against China
in a dispute over its imposition of
punitive tariffs on American-made cars
and sport utility vehicles.
International President Leo W. Gerard applauded the decision on behalf of
350,000 USW members who make products used in vehicles, including steel,
aluminum, glass, tires and plastics.
“The auto sector and the supply
chain that supports it is one of America’s
most important job engines,” Gerard
said. “It’s time for China to start playing
by the rules.”
A WTO dispute resolution panel
spent more than a year reviewing arguments before ruling in May that China
violated international trade rules in
2011 when it imposed anti-dumping and
countervailing (anti-subsidy) tariffs on
large-engine family vehicles made in the
United States.
China has repeatedly violated international trade rules since joining the
WTO in 2001, and, the USW contends,
its protectionist policies continue to rob
America of export opportunities and
jobs while it expects the United States to
keep its market open.
“China’s unfair trade practices have
left behind too many shattered workers’
dreams, shuttered factories and hollowed
out communities,” Gerard said. “China
continues to wage war on America’s
manufacturing sector and workers.”
The Chinese government’s decision
to impose duties of up to 21.5 percent
on large American-made cars and sport
utility vehicles appeared to be part of a
high-stakes game of tit for tat with the
United States.
In 2009, the U.S. government, acting
on petitions filed by the USW, imposed
anti-dumping tariffs of as much as 35
percent on Chinese-made tires that had
flooded the American market. China
challenged the move with the WTO but
lost.
Beijing retaliated with the car tariffs
in 2011 a week after the Obama administration announced it would file a WTO
case against Chinese restrictions on
imports of American chicken products.
China was also irritated by a U.S.
Department of Commerce decision a
few months earlier to begin a broad antidumping and anti-subsidy investigation
of solar panels from China. That investigation led to steep tariffs the next year.
The vehicle tariffs were applied for
two years to well-known General Motors and Chrysler products including the
Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Jeep Wrangler, the Buick Enclave, the Cadillac
Escalade and others.
Significant victory
About $5.1 billion in exports were
affected, or roughly two thirds of the
$8.5 billion worth of U.S. auto exports
to China, the second largest foreign market for U.S. automakers after Canada.
“This is a significant victory,” U.S.
Trade Rep. Michael Froman said in announcing the WTO panel’s decision.
“Americans deserve to compete on a
fair and level playing field, and we will
never stop fighting to ensure that our
trading partners live up to the commitments they made in our international
trade agreements,” he added.
The United States pressed the WTO
to declare that China had misapplied
anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rules in
imposing the tariffs on vehicles. The
goal was to limit China’s ability to
impose similar duties on other products
without following the rules.
China contended that the govern-
ment-managed bankruptcies of GM and
Chrysler during the Great Recession had
the effect of providing prohibited export
subsidies.
In its ruling, the WTO panel of experts agreed that China’s duties violated
the trade organization’s rules. They
determined China had failed to first
prove that the imports caused injury to
its domestic manufacturers as required
by international trade rules.
Third U.S. WTO win
The ruling was the third time in
recent history where the United States
prevailed in a WTO dispute challenging
China’s unjustified use of trade remedies.
“The message is clear. China must
follow the rules, just like other WTO
members,” Froman said at a press conference with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow
(D-Mich.) and U.S. Rep. Sandy Levin,
also a Democrat from Michigan.
Stabenow, co-chair of the Senate
Manufacturing Caucus, called the ruling
a “major victory” for American workers
and said it was another blow to China’s
continued illegal trade practices.
“It is long past time China recognizes
that its repeated attempts to flout the
rules will not be tolerated,” she added.
“Strong enforcement actions like this
one are essential to the ongoing resurgence of American manufacturing.”
Worker on job at
Chinese auto factory
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
25
H
ealth and safety is an important priority for all USW
members, but for Pat Avila,
an intensive care unit nurse
for 25 years, it has been a lifelong mission.
At Robert Wood Johnson University
Hospital (RWJ) in New Brunswick,
N.J., Avila works with her fellow Local
4-200 members and hospital management to make sure workers are employing the most up-to-date safety devices
and that members consistently receive
the latest training on the best patient
care and personal safety practices.
“A lot of it is nurse-driven,” Avila
said of the hospital’s focus on safety.
“We are not just taking reports and
treating injuries – we’re making sure
that it doesn’t happen again.”
That worker-led focus on health
and safety is one reason why RWJ is a
regular on U.S. News & World Report’s
list of “America’s Best Hospitals” and
why the facility – and its staff of about
1,400 USW members – has been able
to reduce needle-stick injuries by 70
percent since 2010.
The hospital’s director of employee
health and wellness, Doris L. Dicristina,
shared that success story in a recent
article in the Journal of the Association
of Occupational Health Professionals in
Healthcare.
Needle-stick injuries, one of the most
common safety issues for hospital
workers, can lead to HIV, hepatitis and
other bloodborne diseases. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 5.6 million
American workers are at risk of infection via needle injuries, and 1,000 of
them sustain such injuries each day.
Inadequate safety controls
As they sought to address those
numbers, RWJ hospital management
soon realized that inadequate safety
controls – not worker errors – were the
problem.
“Our first instinct in 2010 was to
retrain,” Dicristina wrote. “It became
clear that retraining – although important – was not the solution and that the
current engineering control was in fact
the problem.”
To address that problem, the RWJ
nursing staff worked with Dicristina
and other hospital managers to research
safety products for every sharp device
the nurses might employ, from syringes
and lancets to butterfly needles and IV
insertion tips.
USW members tested the devices
and then voted on which ones they
thought worked the best. Retraining also
was part of the effort, Avila said.
“The nurses tried everything,” said
Avila, Local 4-200’s corresponding secretary and safety officer. “We don’t want
anybody to get stuck with a needle and
exposed to body fluids.”
Nurses at RWJ and elsewhere have
worked hard for years to reduce injuries
from needle sticks. In 2000, after nationwide activism from nurses’ unions, Congress updated the OSHA standard for
needle safety. The same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimated that as many as 88 percent of
needle injuries could be prevented with
the use of better safety devices.
Saving lives saves money
RWJ has elected to employ the best
possible devices, despite added initial
costs, Dicristina said. “Protecting and
saving their lives was the focus and RWJ
is now beginning to see the cost savings,” she wrote.
Reducing needle injuries cuts the
costs for testing and follow-up treatment
of injured workers, which can run as
much as $5,000 per injury, not to mention lost time from work and the mental
toll the incidents can have on workers.
RWJ nurse safely disposes of a used needle.
26
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
A nurse in this 2009 file photo prepares to
give a patient a shot from an unprotected
hypodermic needle.
Photo by David Cheskin/ Press Association
via AP images
R
epublic Steel will work
with the USW to find and
fix workplace hazards as
part of a $2.4 million settlement with the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) to abate
health and safety violations.
The settlement, signed on April 28,
Workers’ Memorial Day, covers more
than 100 OSHA citations resulting from
inspections at Republic facilities in
Canton, Massillon and Lorain, Ohio,
and its Lackawanna plant in Blasdell,
N.Y.
It also resolves contested OSHA
citations related to a dangerous flash
of electric current through the air at
Lorain last June and a case brought last
August alleging numerous fall hazards
at Canton. Workers at Canton were
exposed to falls of up to 30 feet above a
slag pit and 20 feet above an electric arc
furnace and molten steel ladle.
“This is a terrific agreement and it
clearly shows the value of strong OSHA
enforcement,” said David McCall,
director of District 1 in Ohio and chair
of the USW’s Republic Steel bargaining
committee.
The USW was involved in the settlement negotiations, which took place
over a period of almost seven months.
The agreement took effect on May 1, a
few days after it was signed.
A comprehensive injury and illness
prevention program that goes beyond
accepted compliance with OSHA
standards is included in the settlement,
McCall said.
Republic agreed to hire additional
health and safety staff, conduct internal
safety and health inspections with USW
representatives and implement a program to identify and correct hazardous
working conditions.
“This new program gives us the
tools to correct problems and creates a
model system for preventing injuries
and illnesses,” McCall said. “It will
lead to a safer company and to a stronger one.”
The agreement also requires Republic’s management to hire third-party
auditors to monitor and ensure that
hazards are identified and improvements are made. The company must
meet quarterly with OSHA to assure the
agreement’s implementation.
In addition to the $2.4 million fine,
Republic agreed to pay additional
penalty amounts in the event there is
substantial non-compliance with the
agreement.
Inspections expanded
OSHA initiated the inspections last
fall in response to a serious injury to an
employee who fell through the roof of a
building at the Lorain plant.
The agency expanded inspections to
all Republic facilities under its Severe
Violator Enforcement Program, which
focuses on recalcitrant employers that
endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations.
The company agreed to fix all safety
and health hazards identified by OSHA,
including willful and serious violations
for failure to provide required fall protection, failure to implement lockout/
tag out procedures to protect workers
who service or maintain machines, and
failure to provide protective guards on
hazardous machinery.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas
Perez said his department looks forward
to working with Republic to ensure that
it lives up to its commitment to improve
workplace safety.
“By agreeing to the terms of this settlement, Republic Steel has demonstrated a commitment to change its culture,
invest in its employees and work with
OSHA and the United Steelworkers to
make significant changes at its facilities
that will improve the safety and health
of its workers,” Perez said.
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
27
T
he United States ranks in the
bottom half of 139 countries in
a workers’ rights comparison
compiled by the International
Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), an
umbrella group of labor unions around
the world.
The ITUC, which has kept a database of labor rights violations for 30
years, measured the 139 countries
against 97 internationally recognized
indictors, including the ability to join
unions, access to legal protections and
due process, and freedom from violent
conditions. It ranked each country on a
scale of one to five plus, with one having the best protections and five plus,
the worst.
“The guarantee of the free exercise
of workers’ rights is also a guarantee
of a more equal and a more prosperous society,” ITUC General Secretary
Sharan Burrow, a former president of
the Australian Council of Trade, said in
the report’s foreword.
“When workers enjoy the freedom
of a collective voice, can bargain for
safe workplaces and fair wages and
conditions and are free from discrimination, then productivity and economic
growth can flourish.”
Collective bargaining rights are
generally guaranteed in the 17 countries ranked No. 1, including Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Iceland, Italy, Norway, Sweden and
Uruguay. Workers in those countries
can freely associate, defend their rights
against employers and the government
and improve their conditions through
collective bargaining. There are violations but they don’t occur regularly.
Repeated attacks
Second-ranked countries, including
Japan, Hungary, Russia and Spain, have
slightly weaker collective labor rights
than those ranked at the top. Certain
rights have come under repeated attack
by government and employers, undermining the struggle for better conditions, the report said.
Canada and the United Kingdom
are among 33 countries that the ITUC
ranked third – a category in which
government and/or companies regularly
interfere with labor rights or fail to fully
guarantee important aspects of these
rights. There are regular deficiencies in
laws and practice which make possible
frequent violations.
The United States scored four,
joining countries like El Salvador,
Haiti, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Mexico,
Pakistan and Thailand where the ITUC
found systematic violations of workers’
rights in the previous year.
The five and five plus rankings
include countries where conditions are
among the worst in the world. Even
when labor legislation exists, workers
in those countries have effectively no
access to those rights. Libya, Palestine,
Somalia, Ukraine and other countries
ranked five plus have dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict
or military occupation.
Burrow said workers everywhere
are struggling for their right to collective representation. “Abuses of rights
are getting worse, not better, and too
many countries take no responsibility for
protecting workers’ rights in a national
context or through corporate supply
chains,” she added.
Temporary or precarious work,
subcontracting and other informal work
arrangements are rapidly expanding in
virtually all countries, the report said.
Temporary workers are discouraged
from joining unions by their unstable
employment situation and the high risk of
dismissal.
While the right to strike is recognized
in most countries, the ITUC said laws and
practices in at least 87 countries exclude
certain workers from this right. Qatar
and Saudi Arabia, for example, exclude
migrant workers who make up some 90
percent of their work forces. At least 37
countries impose fines or imprisonment
for legitimate and peaceful strikes.
In the 12-month period covered by the
report, governments of at least 35 countries arrested or imprisoned workers as
a tactic to resist demands for democratic
rights, decent wages, safer working conditions and secure jobs.
Source: Economic Policy Institute
I
t must be great to be a CEO.
A new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that
CEOs of America’s largest corporations were paid an average of $15.2
million last year – 296 times more than the typical worker.
On the rise for decades, CEO pay has exploded by 937 percent since
1978 when adjusted for inflation. That’s more than double the gains made by
the stock market. It even outpaces what the top 0.1 percent of wage earners
made.
While CEO pay reached the stratosphere, the typical worker saw his or
her compensation grow by a painfully slow 10.2 percent during the same
period since 1978.
Not unexpectedly, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio has widened
considerably.
The ratio of CEO pay to that of a typical worker was 20-to-1 back in 1965
and 29.9-to-1 in 1978. It grew to 122.6-to-1 by 1995 and peaked at 383.4-to1 in 2000.
Last year, the ratio dropped somewhat to 296-to-1, down from the boom
years of the 2000s, but up from the 193-to-1 ratio recorded during the depths
of the Great Recession. The ratio last year was still far higher than anytime
during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s or 1990s.
Tops the top
Among the top 0.1 percent of wage earners – those bringing in more than
99.9 percent of the working population – CEO compensation still looks outrageous. According to the EPI, average CEO compensation in 2012 was 4.75
times greater than that of the average top 0.1 percent wage earner.
The data covers the 350 publicly owned companies with the largest annual revenue in the United States and includes the value of stock options
exercised in a given year, up 2.8 percent since 2012 and 21.7 percent since
2010.
Facebook, the social media giant, was excluded from the calculations in
2012 and 2013, the only years the firm has been a public company, because
its CEO made so much money the results would have been skewed. Facebook granted its CEO compensation of $2.3 billion in 2012 and $3.3 billion
in 2013.
Because CEO pay grew so fast, EPI argued that the higher pay “does not
indicate a growth of executives’ individual contribution to rising output.” In
other words, higher CEO pay does not reflect greater executive productivity.
Accordingly, EPI said if CEOs earned less or were taxed more, “there
would be no adverse impact on output or employment.”
No guarantee of rights due to
breakdown of the rule of law
No guarantee of rights
Systematic violations of rights
Regular violations of rights
Repeated violations of rights
Irregular violations of rights
Source: International Trade Union Confereration
28
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
29
Point Park University adjunct faculty members celebrate after voting to join the Adjunct Faculty Association of the USW.
USW photo
T
A
bout 300 adjunct
faculty members at
Point Park University
in Pittsburgh became
USW members in June when
nearly 70 percent voted in favor of
joining the Adjunct Faculty Association of the USW (AFA-USW).
The Point Park teachers, the
second group of adjunct instructors to join the USW, filed a
petition with the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) in April
to hold a mail ballot election. A
total of 314 Point Park instructors
were eligible to vote. The ballots
were counted on June 25.
“The adjunct instructors have
spoken very clearly with this
vote,” International President Leo
W. Gerard said. “Now it’s time
for the Point Park administration
to work with them to craft a fair
collective bargaining agreement
that provides the faculty with the
benefits and basic protections that
all workers deserve.”
Among the issues the instructors hope to address in bargaining
are a decade of wage stagnation
as well as their lack of benefits,
job security, office space and other
tools needed to provide the quality
education that Point Park students
deserve.
Point Park instructor Sharon
30
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
Brady said the vote was a victory
for the university’s teachers and
their students.
“I am looking forward to
working with the administration,
with the support of the USW,
to enhance both the adjuncts’
experience and their effectiveness
for the students they serve,” said
Brady, who has taught theater arts
at the college for 13 years.
The Point Park instructors join
adjuncts at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne
University, who voted overwhelmingly in the spring of 2012
to join the AFA-USW. Duquesne
at first agreed to abide by the
election results before quickly
reversing that decision, claiming a
religious exemption from NLRB
rules.
Adam Davis, an adjunct
instructor who teaches at both
Point Park and Duquesne, said the
ultimate goal of the AFA-USW is
to organize adjuncts at all colleges
and universities across the Steel
City and elsewhere.
“It’s really good to see a solid,
decisive victory here,” Davis said,
adding that low pay and secondrate treatment of adjunct faculty
members is the rule – not the
exception – in higher education.
“It’s a problem everywhere.”
he Boston Taxi Drivers Association (BTDA), an affiliate of
the USW, is honking mad over
non-union and unlicensed ridesharing services like Uber that connect
with customers over smartphones.
BTDA members blowing their horns
and chanting “Uber out!” took their
complaints to the streets of Boston on
May 22 with a rolling rally around Uber’s
headquarters near South Station.
The 1,500-member BTDA is demanding that Uber and other services like it be
banned from Boston until the city figures
out how to regulate them like they do
traditional cab companies and drivers.
Every day these unlicensed for-hire
vehicles and drivers operate in Boston,
the BTDA contends it puts at risk residents, tourists and business passengers
who assume that Uber drivers and vehicles are safe and the rates are fair.
“We can’t wait any longer to demand
that Uber be shut down until it is properly
regulated, until its drivers are vetted,”
said BTDA staff representative Donna
Blythe-Shaw. “We can’t wait any longer
while they essentially deregulate the
industry.”
The BTDA protest was the first major
labor action in the United States against
Uber, although calls for regulation of new
Internet-enabled ride-sharing services
have occurred elsewhere over the last
few months in other U.S. cities including
Pittsburgh, Houston and Austin, Texas,
and Madison, Wis. Some states including
California and Colorado have passed laws
to regulate the services.
Protests in Europe
Uber is being protested by cab drivers around the world. On June 11, for
example, cabbies walked off the job in
several major European cities, snarling
traffic in London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid
and Barcelona, among others.
In Paris, drivers slowed to a snail’s
pace in what they called “Operation
Escargot.” Horns blared around Trafalgar
Square in London not far from the Prime
Minister’s residence, and in Berlin, taxis
massed at Central Station.
In all of those cities, cab drivers argue
that Uber and similar ride-sharing companies like Lyft, Sidecar and eRideShare
should be forced to comply with the
same rules including licensing, insurance, driver training and background
checks.
Traditional taxi drivers typically pay
for insurance, gas and car rental fees
from the taxi company. They go through
training and follow laws that dictate
where and when they can pick people up
and how much they can charge passengers.
Uber, which in June completed a
round of funding that valued the company at $18.2 billion, describes itself as a
technology firm that makes mobile apps
rather than a transportation company.
Regulation overhaul sought
The customer uses the app to order
the car, track it to the pickup point and
rate the drivers’ performance. Because
Uber drivers provide their own vehicles,
Uber doesn’t have the costs of cars,
maintenance or driver insurance. It takes
a 20 percent cut of the fare.
In Boston, many drivers would like a
comprehensive and modernized overhaul of their regulations, which are now
handled by the city police department’s
Hackney Carriage Division.
Blythe-Shaw urged Boston Mayor
Marty Walsh to bring both taxis and
ride-sharing companies under the supervision of a civilian commission that
would set across-the-board requirements
for all. The commission, she suggested,
could be composed of taxi drivers, business leaders, transportation experts and
members of the elderly and disabled
communities.
Boston driver Ahmed Farah participated in the rally, holding high a sign
urging that the current taxi regulators be
replaced by a civilian commission.
“I believe that Hackney isn’t doing
its job and it is failing the taxi industry,”
Farah said. “I am suffering as a taxi
driver. I believe by organizing with my
Steelworkers union, the BTDA, we are
making changes to end the suffering.”
Uber’s unlicensed work force has cut
the legitimate taxi business in Boston by
30 percent, the BTDA estimates. Without a level playing field, BTDA believes
traditional taxis will be driven out of
business.
The city must demand more from
companies like Uber including commercial drivers’ licenses for all drivers,
driver vetting by the police department,
twice-yearly vehicle inspections, posted
pricing policies and the elimination of
surge pricing where fares rise in periods
of high demand, Blythe-Shaw said.
“People say this is good, old-fashioned competition,” Blythe-Shaw said.
“But that’s nonsense because it’s not a
level playing field.”
Taxi drivers would also like to be
able to use a dispatching app like the one
Uber developed, but Blythe-Shaw said
current city regulations make that idea
overly challenging.
The mayor, she said, has agreed
to meet with the BTDA to discuss the
issues raised by the association and its
members.
Taxi driver Ahmed Farah
carried a sign.
Boston Globe photo by
Aram Boghosian
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
31
National Oil Bargaining:
Save the Date!
Photo by Steve Dietz
T
he National Oil Bargaining Program Conference is scheduled
for October 27 to 31 in Pittsburgh for local unions having membership in oil and related industry groups.
The conference will develop and
set the agenda for the USW’s National
Oil Bargaining Program (NOBP), an
industrywide bargaining program that sets standards for
improvements to pay, benefits
and health and safety. The next round
of talks begins in January 2015.
More than 30,000 USW members
work in oil refineries, pipelines and
terminals across the country. Most of
them participate in the oil bargaining
program.
As the bargaining deadline approaches, Steelworkers at oil refineries,
pipelines and terminals are mobilizing
for support at work, in their communities and online to win a fair agreement.
Conference registration will open on
Monday, Oct. 27. The conference starts
Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. and will end
on Friday, Oct. 31 after ratification of
the council’s contract demands.
Gerard Receives Degree
B
rock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree to
International President Leo W. Gerard
in recognition of his unwavering commitment to social justice.
Gerard received the degree during
Brock’s convocation ceremonies on
June 5. He previously received honorary degrees from the University of
Guelph and from Laurentian University
in his hometown of Sudbury, Ontario,
Canada.
Brock cited Gerard’s significant
contributions to the advancement of
workers’ interests, his unwavering commitment to social justice causes and his
commitment to environmental justice,
having long championed the transition
to a clean and green economy.
In his convocation address, Gerard
encouraged graduates to strive to “build
a better world” by staying true to their
values and remaining idealistic. “We
can’t just sit back and let things happen,” he said. “We’ve got to fight for
the values that we hold dear.”
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U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
USW Rallies for Locked-Out Workers
L
ocal union leaders from each of the USW’s 13
districts in the United States, Canada and the
Caribbean rallied on June 19 in support of lockedout workers at the Indspec chemical plant in Petrolia, Pa.
Some 150 members of Local 6346-25 were locked
out of their jobs on April 5. They offered to continue
working under terms of their expired contract while
negotiations proceeded, but Indspec management locked
them out instead.
Prior to the lockout, the plant enjoyed 38 years of
labor peace. Over those years, workers made sacrifices
to keep the plant viable as an employer.
The USW contingent planned the rally with community activists to take place in conjunction with the Local
6346-25 family day and picnic at the Petrolia Municipal
Park.
Speakers at the rally urged Indspec, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., to end the
lockout and negotiate a fair contract in good faith with
the workers in Petrolia. Occidental reported over $6 billion in sales during the 2014 first quarter.
More States Restrict Voting
S
ince Republicans gained control of many state legislatures in the 2010 elections, 22 states — nearly
all of them in the South and the Midwest — have
rolled out new restrictions on the right to vote.
Voters in many of those states were protected by a
key section of the Voting Rights Act that covered parts
of 16 states with histories of voter discrimination until
the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it last year, according to the Brennan School for Justice at New York
University.
The new laws range from photo ID requirements to
early voting cutbacks to voter registration restrictions
and are aimed at reducing voter turnout.
USW Members Attend White House Summit
A
delegation of 50 USW-represented workers joined other
AFL-CIO union members at the White House Summit on
Working Families with President Barack Obama, First Lady
Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and Second Lady Jill Biden.
The June summit brought together a coalition of more than 250
activists, particularly women, to focus on challenges facing working
families and to raise awareness and mobilize support for collective
action to address problems including equal pay, sick leave and fair
workplace scheduling.
International President Leo W. Gerard said collective action is
the best way for workers to advocate for change. “Through collective advocacy, we’ve helped enact policies that give women equal
opportunities as breadwinners and low-wage workers a better deal
with a higher minimum wage, but collective action with a union
contract is the best way to help all working families,” he said.
USW members who attended cited the value of strong union
contracts with family benefits and workplace standards that are not
guaranteed to those who work non-union jobs.
“Being in a union means that I can walk into my plant every
day and know that as a woman, I will earn equal pay,” said Tiffaney
Lewis, a clerical worker and Local 3267 member at Evraz Steel in
Pueblo, Colo.
Photo by Ike Gittlen
NLRB Says Novelis Broke Law in Oswego
T
he National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charged aluminum producer Novelis with violating labor laws in its
response to worker efforts to organize 600 employees in
Oswego, N.Y.
Novelis was charged with illegally threatening job loss, plant
closure and wage reductions and with providing benefits to employees in order to dissuade them from voting to join the USW. The
company is also accused of manipulating documents to make it appear that the union was behind a plan to rescind those benefits.
The USW also represents workers at Novelis plants in Indiana,
West Virginia and Ontario, Canada.
Billionaire Chooses Fines over Health Care
T
he USW criticized the management of PSC Metals, a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises, for billionaire owner Carl Icahn’s refusal to negotiate a fair contract
with the union or comply with the employer mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
PSC Metals locked out more than 60 members of Local 3610-02 in Canton,
Ohio, on Feb. 1 in an attempt to force workers to accept deep economic concessions,
including the elimination of all employee medical insurance benefits.
Under the ACA, employers that do not provide health insurance will be subject
to a fine of $2,000 per worker starting in 2015.
“The ACA was never intended to be used by employers as an excuse to deprive
workers of insurance,” said District 1 Director David McCall. “Yet Carl Icahn would
rather pay the fine than negotiate a contract in Canton that includes fair pay and
benefits.”
McCall called Icahn’s scheme to force PSC Metals employees into looking for
subsidized benefits on the health care exchange an unnecessary burden on taxpayers
and said that the union filed unlawful bargaining charges with the NLRB’s Region 8
over the company’s take-it-or-leave-it contract proposals.
McCall urged PSC Metals to end its lockout, return USW members to their jobs
and reciprocate the union’s good faith while contract negotiations proceed.
USW members, their friends and families on June 7 held a food drive for Local
3610-02 members. Food, household supplies and money were donated.
Vista Metals Honored
V
ista Metals Corp. of Fontana,
Calif., whose workers are
represented by Local 5632,
was named a California Manufacturing Champion by the California
Manufacturers & Technology Association.
Local 5632 member and veteran employee Ignazio Ruiz was on
hand June 18 when the award was
presented to the specialty aluminum
products company at the Sacramento
Convention Center.
The award was given to Vista and
six other companies who are growing
in California and work to improve the
state’s business climate. Local 5632
represents about 150 Vista Metals
employees.
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
33
TMK IPSCO Pacts Ratified
Buy America Campaigns
Advance in N.Y., N.J.
T
he USW’s campaign to make sure state
agencies use American-made products in
public projects is making headway in New
York and New Jersey.
The USW in June launched a campaign to
pass Buy America legislation that would require
all New York Port Authority and Transit Authority projects to use American-made products.
New York officials recently cost Americans
good-paying jobs by skirting these regulations.
Legislation currently pending in the New York
Assembly would require state agencies, regardless of the source of their funding, to abide by
Buy America standards spelled out in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
In the past year, New York authorities have
approved a $235 million bid to two Chinese steel
facilities for local projects, including rebuilding
the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
Meanwhile, the USW worked with the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the AFLCIO to push the New Jersey State Senate to pass
a series of bills requiring products used in certain
contracts to be made in America.
The primary bill requires that vendors receiving contracts, including public works contracts,
with state and local governments, as well as
public colleges, purchase goods manufactured in
the United States.
Foster Joins Energy Department
B
lueGreen Alliance Director David Foster has left the labor-environmental partnership to serve as a senior adviser to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on industrial and economic policy.
Foster, who served as director of District 11 from 1989 to 2006, joined
the Energy Department on June 27. Moniz praised him for finding common
ground between energy, environmental issues and job creation.
Huhtamaki Workers Stand Together
U
nion members around the world who work for Finnish packaging and
paper giant Huhtamaki are standing up for their brothers and sisters in
Commerce, Calif., where workers are attempting to raise concerns with
management about poor working conditions.
Huhtamaki has 3,500 workers at 21 plants in the United States, including
five locations represented by the USW.
Workers at the Commerce facility asked management to engage in a “good
faith dialogue” about issues including working conditions and discipline.
Huhtamaki employees from the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil,
New Zealand and elsewhere presented letters to Huhtamaki plant managers
calling on the company to respect the Commerce workers.
The USW and the AFL-CIO in June issued a report detailing how the company’s expansion strategy in the United States is creating low-wage, temporary
employment while threatening the job security and living standards of unionized employees.
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U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
M
embers of Local 9305 at TMK IPSCO’s
pipe production facilities in Koppel and
Ambridge, Pa., have approved a new
labor agreement that runs until Nov. 1, 2018.
The agreement, ratified on June 20, includes
annual wage increases of 60 cents per hour and
increased contributions from the company toward pension and sickness and accident benefits.
Health care coverage was maintained.
TMK IPSCO is the U.S. division of global
pipe manufacturer OAO TMK, headquartered in
Moscow, Russia.
Unfair Labor Practices Alleged
T
he National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) is seeking a federal court injunction in Tennessee against a logistics company that allegedly violated federal labor law by
threatening and firing USW members.
Kathleen McKinney, a regional director for
the NLRB, filed suit in Memphis on June 13
against Ozburn-Hessey Logistics LLC alleging
unfair labor practice violations of the National
Labor Relations Act.
The lawsuit seeks a stop to the company’s
labor law violations and to reinstate the nine
employees who were fired for alleged union
activities.
The suit alleges Ozburn-Hessey monitored
employees engaged in union activities, ordered
union employees to leave the premises, confiscated pro-union materials from an employee
break room and threatened employees for engaging in union activities.
In 2013, the USW was certified as the collective bargaining agent for more than 300 workers
at six Ozburn-Hessey facilities in the Memphis
area.
McKinney is regional director for NLRB Region 15, based in New Orleans, which serves all
of Mississippi and Louisiana and parts of Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee.
Texarkana Women of Steel Honored
T
he Central Oklahoma Labor Federation has presented its
Whitey Sneed/Bob Spinks Education & Humanitarian
Volunteer Award to the Women of Steel (WOS) in Texarkana, Texas.
The award recognizes union activists who display their
passion for educating the public about organized labor and/or
volunteer to assist fellow union members and the community in
times of need.
After a series of devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma on May
19 and 30, 2013, the WOS in Texarkana contacted the labor
federation to see how they could help. On May 31, seven WOS
members drove to Oklahoma City and were greeted by more
tornadoes. Undaunted, they worked to help clear storm debris.
On June 17 and 18, the Texarkana WOS returned to Oklahoma City in another show of solidarity. This time they delivered
donated purses filled with toiletry items to union sisters, union
halls and to the Multi-Agency Resource Center in Moore, Okla.
Union plus scholarships
F
ive children of USW members were among 116 students representing 39 unions who received a total of
$150,000 in scholarships from Union Plus, the AFLCIO’s benefits program for union members. More than 5,300
applications were received from union members and families
in all 50 states. USW winners are:
• Cha’Leah Bennett, West Carrollton, Ohio, $500. Her
father, Robert Bennett, is a member of Local 1193.
• Marcena Briles, Bernie, Mo., $500. Her father, Daniel Briles, is a member of Local 7686.
• John Ertl, Hartford, Conn., a member of Local
134-L, $2,000. His father, John Ertl, is a member of
Local 2-0445.
• Kaden Littrell, Canton, Kan., $4000. His father,
Jarod Littrell, is a member of Local 558.
• Jessica Vaillancourt, Anson, Maine, $1,000. Her
parents, Rino and Pamela Vaillancourt, are both
members of Local 4-9.
Student Loan Help
BASF Council Plans Ahead
T
he USW’s BASF Council, representing a dozen local
unions at facilities in eight states, held its annual meeting
in Pittsburgh this June to share information and prepare
for the future.
The council heard reports from each participating local.
Members discussed contracts, health and safety issues, organizing and improving participation among new members.
“Knowledge is power. The connections we make through this
council give us more power to handle everything from bargaining to safety issues and everyday grievances,” said International
Vice President Carol Landry, who attended the meeting.
The BASF Council was formed at the end of 2007. It
includes locals in McIntosh, Ala., Quincy, Fla.; Attapulgus,
Gordon, McIntyre and Oconee, Ga.; Kankanee, Ill.; Geismar and
Vidalia, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Streetsboro, Ohio, and Monaca, Pa.
District 9 Director Dan Flippo, who chairs the council, said
its work is especially important during the time between contract
expirations.
“These are the times when we can build our strength and
solidarity for the fights that we will need to win in the future,”
Flippo said. “This council understands that and has grown stronger and more connected over the years. Continuing on this path
is our best bet for success.”
O
ne of the biggest issues facing American students
today is debt. Union Plus is offering help through a
grant program called Student Debt Eraser.
Student Debt Eraser offers grants of $500 to help union
members pay down student loan debts. Applicants must have
a Union Plus credit card, mortgage or insurance policy, and
at least $10,000 in outstanding debt from federal or private
student loans.
The grants are paid directly to the applicant’s student
loan financial institution. For information on eligibility requirements and how to apply for the grants, visit UnionPlus.
org/Education.
Steelworkers End Allied Tube Strike
L
ocal 9777-18 ratified a new four-year contract with
Allied Tube and Conduit in Harvey, Ill., after a weeklong strike over the company’s demand for conces-
sions.
About 460 workers had struck the firm, which makes
mechanical and electrical tubing for commercial buildings,
after working without a contract for about a year.
The local’s members at first voted to reject a proposed
deal containing more than 150 contract changes, but ratified
a new agreement with improvements a week later on May 4.
The company dropped plans to freeze pensions, deprive
workers of the ability to choose which jobs they will work
and to require 10- to 12-hour workdays.
U S W @ Wo r k • S u m m e r 2 0 1 4
35
Have You Moved?
Notify your local union financial secretary, or clip out this form
with your old address label and send your new address to:
USW@Work
USW Membership Department,
3340 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
Name ______________________________________
New Address ________________________________
City ________________________________________
State _________________________ Zip _________
Lynn R. Williams addresses 1990 Constitutional Convention in Toronto, Canada.
See page 4.
“Lynn served as a life-long mentor to me. Lynn taught me
the value of patience, of keeping a clear head in the midst of
chaos. We owe him much more than we can say.”
International President Leo W. Gerard