United Steelworkers: News Articles

Serious concerns from working families about Senate health proposal

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

We appreciate and applaud the progress that has been made towards real health insurance reform. We want to work with our elected officials to make sure we win comprehensive health reform that brings down costs, improves the quality of care, and guarantees coverage for all.

The recent Senate Finance Committee vote means we are closer than ever to real health care reform. We are close, but not there yet. Working families have some serious concerns and we need to be sure our lawmakers hear from us so they can be addressed:

• A public health insurance plan option is essential to reform. It will lower premiums for everybody and save money – over $100 billion according to an independent study. It will mean real competition to break the stranglehold of big insurance companies, and be a real guarantee that coverage will always be there, no matter what. No wonder 73 percent of voters want the choice of a public health insurance option.
• Health care reform has to ease the cost burden on individuals and families, not worsen it. Americans whose health care premium costs have gone up 300 percent—while insurance company profits have gone up 1,000 percent—should not be asked to pay money we do not have. Penalties on individuals who cannot obtain coverage should not be more than what employers are required to pay.
• Employers have to pay a fair share of costs. Most of us get health care at work, but too many employers do not provide coverage. They dump their costs on the rest of us. More than $1000 of the cost of our family premiums goes to cover the uninsured because of corporate free riders. The only fair way is to require all employers to provide health coverage or contribute a truly meaningful sum to help pay for subsidies for the uninsured.
• Health care can’t be paid for by a new tax on middle class benefits. The Senate Finance Committee health reform bill slaps an enormous 40 percent excise tax starting in 2013 on plans valued at more than $8,000 for individual coverage and $21,000 for family coverage (with some adjustments). They say it will only impact the so-called “Cadillac Plans” but even the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that this big new tax would soon hit 40 percent of all plans. Most likely to be hit: plans with people who are older or sicker or those who work for small employers. That’s not the change America voted for. A new tax on the middle class is unacceptable.

Please click here to find and contact your Senators and Representatives about this important issue.

Support our brothers and sisters at Vale; sign petition today

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Since being privatized in 1997, the global mining giant Vale has unleashed a vicious attack on workers. The company undermined health and safety standards in Brazil and now it's set its sights on Canada.

In 2009 negotiations with the United Steelworkers (USW), Vale claimed it needed deep concessions - despite making over $13 billion (USD) in 2008 net profits.

The company’s strategy is to divide and conquer by undermining seniority and providing lesser benefits to new employees. Some 3,500 members of the USW rejected Vale’s demands and went on strike in mid-July.

Vale has since announced it will hire replacement workers and force other union members to do the work of the striking miners. Meanwhile Vale workers throughout Brazil are struggling to hold on to jobs, earn a living wage, achieve minimum standards for safe working conditions, and guarantee basic labor rights. Vale employees and their unions in Brazil and Canada are fighting back together, reaching out to workers in a global campaign for fair treatment at Vale.

Please sign our online petition by clicking here to support our brothers and sisters who are on strike. Then pass it on to your friends and family and encourage them to sign.

For more information please click here.

USW Criticizes Decision to Confirm Grupo Mexico Plan of Reorganization as a Blow to ASARCO Workers, Retirees and Communities

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

On Friday, November 13, the United States District Court in Brownsville, Texas issued an order in the ASARCO LLC Chapter 11 bankruptcy confirming a plan of reorganization proposed by Asarco, Inc., an entity controlled by Mexico City-based conglomerate Grupo Mexico.

“The USW is certainly disappointed with the District Court’s decision. We are reviewing the 135-page decision, as well as our legal and other options,” said Robert LaVenture, Director of USW District 12 and union chairman of bargaining with ASARCO. “It appears that the District Court committed the same error as the Bankruptcy Court by disregarding contractual provisions that protect employee rights and benefits in the event of a sale or other change in control ... more

In Coal Country, Young Miner Organizes for a Better Future

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Coal miner Travis Hartley can relate to the concerns expressed by other young workers in a recent survey. Many are losing ground financially – and they’re less optimistic about the future.

The third-generation member of the United Mine Workers counts himself lucky to belong to an organization that improved the lives of his father and grandfather. So he’s organizing other young workers to challenge a giant coal company threatening to open two non-union operations in southwestern Pennsylvania.

“I’m proud to be a union coal miner and I’m going to make sure I stay that way,” he declared.

The drive to the borough of Clarksville (population 240) winds along the scenic Monongahela River past an abandoned coal mine and a shuttered union hall – once damaged by a bomb during an organizing drive.

Click here to read more

Steelworkers at Asarco Win Pension Benefits for 19 Former Workers at El Paso Smelter

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Nineteen members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union who were employed at the Asarco smelter in El Paso will receive full pension benefits as a result of an arbitrator’s decision issued late last week.

“Each of these former employees worked at the El Paso smelter for over 20 years,” said Bob LaVenture, USW District 12 Director. “They should have received these benefits eight years ago. It is unfortunate that it took so long, but we are glad that they will finally receive the pensions they were due.”

Asarco suspended operations at its copper smelter in El Paso, Texas in February 1999, laying off 350 employees. Approximately 100 employees retired in the two years following the curtailment, and the USW bargained early retirement benefits for other long-term employees affected by the layoff in June 2001 ... more

2 USW brothers die while on the job

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Sadly, we've lost two more brothers at the workplace.

On Oct. 28, USW member Pete Lesmeister, 55, was fatality injured while working at Illinois Cement Co. in LaSalle, Ill. Brother Lesmeister fell 40 feet to his death. Emergency Response Team Coordinator Alan McDougall is assisting the family and ERT District Coordinator Randy Virgin will do a follow up. Health and Safety rep Steve Sallman will investigate.

On Oct. 30, Brian "Paw" E. Hair, 50, a member of USW Local 15-100, fell from the fork truck he had park while working at Robinson Industries located in Coleman, Mich. Brother Hair died while en route the hospital. The results of the autopsy have not been released.

ERT's John Alexander is conducting the preliminary investigation.

Global union shows solidarity for striking Vale workers; you can help, too

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Members of Unite the union today picketed outside a Deutsche Bank metals' conference in London to show solidarity for striking Vale Inco workers in Canada.

The protest organized by the global union, Workers Uniting, also included two United Steelworkers members who are striking the mining operations. Keep reading to find out how you can show solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Canada.

Vale workers in Canada are on indefinite strike to defend their pay and conditions. Vale wants to impose drastic cuts to pensions and other benefits of the Canadian miners. The workers believe the company wants to push wages and conditions down to the level of Vale operations in Brazil.

“Mining natural resources has been a profitable enterprise for generations in Sudbury, Canada for both the company and the workers. For a multinational company to now attempt to slash living standards while enjoying sky-rocketing profits is totally unacceptable, " USW International President Leo W. Gerard said.

Click here for more of the Workers Uniting story. You can show support for our brothers and sisters, too.

Vale, the second largest mining company in the world, provoked 3,500 Steelworkers in Canada to strike over three months ago. Although Vale is a hugely profitable mining company, it is attacking our members' pensions, bonuses and seniority.

Now Vale wants to replace the striking Steelworkers. Send a message to Vale that this is wrong by clicking here. There you can send an e-mail to Vale demanding that it return to the bargaining table and make a fair offer.

For more on the Vale Inco strike, visit http://www.fairdealnow.ca/.

NEW VIDEO: Fenton Art Glass to be featured on 'Dirty Jobs'

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Fenton employees, many of them USW members, participated in filming an episode of the Discovery Channel television show "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" and will be featured in an espisode scheduled to air Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Click here for a sneak peek of the episode. The clip shows Fenton employee Jon Anderson demonstrating how to make a swung vase.

Fenton is featuring Fenton USA products made exclusively for Mike Rowe. The USW featured Fenton and its employees this summer in our magazine, USW@Work. Click here to view a photo slide show from the visit.

"Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe writes on his Web site about his experience in the glass factory, mentioning the USW:

"...True, I did see a lot of precious little trinkets that brought back a flood of troubling memories but watching them get made was a revelation. As was meeting the people who made them – people like Frank Workman.

Frank lives up to both his names and does things with magma you’ll need to see to believe. Many other employees at Fenton are in the steelworkers union, and look like it. They spend long days pulling thick wads of blistering lava out of giant kilns with mysterious tools that take decades to master. They do incredibly difficult things with amazing ease and dexterity. They laugh and sing and cuss a little, but care deeply about their work. The whole scene is a chaotic, but perfectly choreographed dance and I loved every minute of it."

Historic House action on health care giant step, but not final step

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

This weekend, our nation took a giant step forward in the historic fight for health care for all. The U.S. House passed the Affordable Health Care for America act 220-215. This couldn't have happened without your hard work.

But the mission is not complete. We're still facing a tough Senate vote, and we need to keep up the push to ensure we get health insurance reform that helps, doesn't hurt, working families and retirees.

Here are some things you can do right now:

Take a moment to find out how your member of Congress voted, and if appropriate, take some time to thank them.
Review the Affordable Health Care for America Act as it passed the House on Saturday.
Visit our online USW Health Care Tool Kit for the latest information, and please pass it on.
Keep the pressure on members of the Senate to pass the House version of health insurance reform. Click here for info on why the Senate legislation is bad for working families.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the bill is a big victory for working families.

"We heard a lot of rhetoric today, but in the end it boils down to this: It is time to say “yes” to a more secure future for Americans—and that is how the majority in the House of Representatives answered. It is time to say “yes” to lowering health costs, breaking the stranglehold of the insurance companies and extending health care to those in our rich country who are sick and need it. Shame on those who stood for the failed status quo by voting 'no.'" Trumka said.

For the first time in America’s history, all Americans will have access to quality, affordable health care under updated health insurance reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation will cover 96 percent of Americans by 2015, while reducing the deficit by tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), blends and revises the three versions of reform legislation passed by the House committees of jurisdiction in July. It embodies President Obama’s key goals for health reform. It will slow the growth in out-of-control health costs, and introduce competition into the health care marketplace to keep coverage affordable and insurers honest. Additionally, it will protect people’s choices of doctors and health plans, and assure all have Americans access to quality, stable, affordable health care.

For more details on the House bill, click here.

Ahead of historical health insurance reform vote, Congress must hear from us

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Within days, the U.S. House will vote on H.R. 3962 — the Affordable Health Care for America Act. It's a historic health care reform bill that includes a public health insurance option, guarantees that employers pay their fare share and doesn’t tax our benefits.

Many of us have been fighting for real health care reform for our entire lives, and this vote is going to be very close. If you've never called your representative before, now is the time. If you've called before, please call again. Tell your representative the time for reform is now: Support H.R. 3962.

Call your representative toll free today in Washington in support of H.R. 3962, the House bill. You can call 1-877-702-0976 to get connected. Click here for a list of House members who particularly need to hear from us.

The House bill covers 96 percent of Americans, is entirely paid for, reduces the deficit and lets families keep the health care they have instead of facing cuts in benefits and higher costs.

When you call, you will be joining tens of thousands of activists in a nationwide action for real health care reform.

The USW mobilizing nationwide this week in support of real health insurance reform that works for us. Click here to visit our tool kit to find out how you can get involved and to find more information about health insurance reform. Don't forget to send us your photos, videos and reports from this week's actions.

USW, paper companies applaud ITC decision to investigate unfair trade case

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers, along with Appleton Coated LLC, NewPage Corp., and Sappi Fine Paper North America, applauded today's decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission to proceed with a full investigation of coated paper imports from China and Indonesia.

The companies and the USW filed unfair trade cases on Sept. 23 with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the ITC alleging that certain coated paper from China and Indonesia had been dumped and subsidized resulting in injury to the domestic industry and its employees. The paper products covered by the petitions include coated paper used in high-quality writing, printing, and other graphic applications using sheet-fed presses with a GE brightness rating of 80 or higher up and weighing to 340 grams per square meter.

Leo W. Gerard, USW international president, cited as evidence of injury, a coated paper mill closure in Michigan earlier this year, on top of previous job losses at idled, or closed plants and paper machines in Maine, Wisconsin and other states. “We cannot stand by and let imports unfairly take away our good jobs and shutdown factories,” he declared. “Trade laws between nations must be enforced with government fact finding and the power to defend jobs and industries with strong tariff penalties for import violations.” More...

USW: Proposed Tariffs for China Pipe Sends Message to U.S. Workers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers (USW) said today’s order by the U.S. Department of Commerce for proposed anti-dumping tariffs on China pipe imports known as oil country tubular goods (OCTG) sent an overdue message for thousands of American laid-off workers: trade laws are being enforced.

According to documents, the OCTG trade case is the largest in U.S. history against China imports valued at $2.6 billion in 2008. The U.S. government order confirms overall, China’s practice of dumping OCTG. This is the fifth pipe and tube products dumping case since June 2007.

USW President Leo W. Gerard cited today’s Commerce Dept. anti-dumping margins for OCTG China exporters as promising to U.S. producers with nearly half its work force on layoff status caused by the huge inventory of dumped China pipe imports. “China’s government and exporters are being told we are fed up with their cheating on our fair trade laws and penalties for these transgressions are long overdue ... more

Sierra Club, USW Urge Regulators to Uphold Intent of Lacey Act

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Landmark reforms were aimed at halting deforestation, illegal wood products

The Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers (USW) today voiced concerns over a decision by regulators to grant special exemptions for pulp and paper from the Lacey Act reforms of 2008.

These landmark reforms aim to protect the world’s forests and communities by halting the import and sale of illegally-sourced wood products in the U.S. Under the Lacey Act reforms importers must declare the country and harvest of origin for their products, an essential step to creating transparency in a previously unregulated market where US demand was driving deforestation around the world.

The concerns were submitted in joint comments to the Federal Register on Nov. 2 ... more

USW Declares Support for 'Trade Enforcement Priorities Act' to Create Jobs

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Landmark reforms were aimed at halting deforestation, illegal wood products

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) today announced strong support for the ‘Trade Enforcement Priorities Act of 2009’ (S. 1982) introduced by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) that would breakdown foreign barriers for exports to help create American jobs.

Described as strengthening a trade law provision known as ‘Super 301,’ the legislation would require identification of priority trade barriers that hinder job creation and economic growth in the U.S. It would make sure foreign governments are living up to their trade agreements and not placing barriers that inhibit U.S. goods being shipped into their markets.

Gerard said, “The USW enthusiastically supports the efforts of Senators Brown, Stabenow and the other co-sponsors in taking this meaningful step forward to level the playing field for American manufacturers who export goods to foreign markets. After the past eight years of trade enforcement inaction by the U.S. government, it’s high time we reinvigorate the Super 301 as a priority,” he declared. “We seek a more aggressive posture in eliminating foreign trade-distorting practices that undermine our manufacturing jobs ... more

USW Updates U.S. Secretary Of State Clinton On Status Of Drummond Miners In Colombia

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The United Steelworkers (USW) today sent to Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton further information on the labor dispute in Colombia involving Drummond. In its letter to the Secretary dated September 17, 2009, the USW expressed concern for the fate of miners who went out on strike following a death of a contract employee of the company.

The USW, after conversations with Colombia union leaders, was initially apprehensive that Drummond would fire all of the workers for striking. The company did petition the Tribunal Superior de Valledupar, where a ruling was issued declaring the strike “illegal” and once confirmed by the Colombia Supreme Court, would permit Drummond the opportunity to dismiss all the workers. The company has since declared that it does not intend to fire all its workers, but it has dismissed five union workers and suspended four others ... more

October 30: A Day to Remember Nuclear Weapons Workers

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Today, we honor the work of over a half-million men and women who served our country during the second half of the twentieth century by producing nuclear weapons, the most dangerous weapons known to mankind.

These workers and scientists developed and crafted our bombs for five decades, from 1943 to 1989. They performed this work for many years, despite the known and unknown risks to their own health and safety.

They are our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers and our fellow Americans. They lived and toiled in places like Rocky Flats, Colorado; Paducah, Kentucky; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Portsmouth and Miamisburg Ohio; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Hanford, Washington; and elsewhere. Many thousands were USW members (or PACE or OCAW before that) and many are still working and are members of our and other unions. They are people who many of us have never met, or even heard of, though they were and continue to be quiet heroes.
Many of these nuclear weapons workers are no longer with us, having succumbed to illnesses caused by the radiation and toxic agents with which they worked. Others are alive but ill. Many more are sick with cancer, lung disease or other ailments. Many can no longer walk across the room without becoming short of breath or cannot hear the voices of their grandchildren due to occupational hearing loss.

Just as they protected us during World War II and the Cold War, we must vow to protect them, to preserve their health and well-being and to achieve justice for their sacrifice. Today, we recognize their hardships, their worries and their suffering, just as we remember and honor their hard work, selflessness and patriotism.

We praise our government for acting to aid these workers even as we raise our voices to seek greater assistance. And tomorrow, let us continue to remember them and continue our commitment to justice and dignity on their behalf.

Leo W. Gerard
International President

For a brief history and list of events, click here.

The Geography of a Recession

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

While many working men and women are feeling the effects of the recession now, the fact is that this economic upheaval began long before the present Administration took office. The link below shows a timeline of changes in unemployment across the country. For the first 24 months, prior to the onset of this recession, nothing was done by the Bush Administration to stem the rise in unemployment.

Click here to view "The Geography of a Recession."

Steelworkers Form Collaboration with MONDRAGON, the World's Largest Worker-Owned Cooperative

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The United Steelworkers (USW) and MONDRAGON Internacional, S.A. today announced a framework agreement for collaboration in establishing MONDRAGON cooperatives in the manufacturing sector within the United States and Canada. The USW and MONDRAGON will work to establish manufacturing cooperatives that adapt collective bargaining principles to the MONDRAGON worker ownership model of “one worker, one vote.”

“We see today’s agreement as a historic first step towards making union co-ops a viable business model that can create good jobs, empower workers, and support communities in the United States and Canada,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “Too often we have seen Wall Street hollow out companies by draining their cash and assets and hollowing out communities by shedding jobs and shuttering plants. We need a new business model that invests in workers and invests in communities ... more

New Photos: Striking Vale Inco Miners Descend on Wall Street

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Striking Northern Ontario miners and their supporters this week demonstrated on Wall Street in New York, Bay Street in Canada, in Brazil and in London against Vale Inco.

“Vale has been trying to avoid our shining a light on their managerial record,” said USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann. “Now it appears to be trying to hide from hard questions that might be raised by investors and the media.”

Strikers held a breakfast demonstration at a Vale Inco picket line in Sudbury, striking Steelworkers from Sudbury and Port Colborne were busy hand-billing and meeting investors outside the New York Stock Exchange, while other Steelworkers were joined by their Brazilian allies for a protest at Vale headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.

A similar demonstration is scheduled for London, when updates on contract negotiations in Canada and Brazil will be provided.

“We want to make it perfectly clear to Vale that we’re not going away, no matter where they run,” said Joe Guido, a USW Local 6500 member from Sudbury.

Some 3,500 Steelworkers from Sudbury, Port Colborne and Voisey’s Bay, N.L., have been on strike since July 13, 2009. The USW wants the company to return to the bargaining table in Canada and calls on its top management to rekindle negotiations.

Click here for more. Check out this photo slide show:

Tell Congress to say no to taxing health insurance benefits

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) analyzed the impact of the Senate Finance Committee’s proposed 40 percent excise tax on high-cost health care benefits on families and individuals.

The analysis, requested by Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut, confirms that costs are expected to be passed along to consumers through higher health coverage cost. These plans are often referred to as "Cadillac" plans in the media.

This tax would hurt many working families and retirees, including some membes of the USW. Please write or call your member of Congress and ask them to reject taxing health insurance benefits and to sign on to a letter penned by Rep. Courtney that is co-signed by some 182 fellow members of Congress. Visit our Health Insurance Reform Tool Kit for more information and letter writing tips.

The review of the excise tax proposal by the JCT shows:

The total number of individual and family plans impacted by the excise tax grows from 19% to 30% and 14% and 31% respectively between 2013 and 2019 -- many of them USW members and retirees.
The total number of family plans affected by the excise tax grows from 12.7 million to 31 million between 2013 and 2019.
The average tax increase for all households grows from $918 to $1,318 between 2013 and 2019.
For the middleclass income brackets, the number of households hit by the tax doubles, and in some income brackets nearly triples, by 2019.

Click here for the entire JCT analysis.

Again, please call and/or e-mail your members of Congress and ask them to sign on to Rep. Joe Courtney's letter opposing the proposed excise tax. If your member already has signed, thank them.

Click here for help finding your members of Congress. Here are some members who haven't signed who need to hear from you:

Rep. Brian Baird
Rep. Howard Berman
Rep. Marion Berry
Rep. Bobby Bright
Rep. G.K. Butterfield
Rep. Christopher P. Carney
Rep. Kathy Castor
Rep. Jim Costa
Rep. Susan Davis
Rep. Diana DeGette
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
Rep. Charles Gonzalez
Rep. Alan Grayson
Rep. Jane Harman
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa
Rep. Jay Inslee
Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski
Rep. Suzanne Kosmas
Rep. Edward Markey
Rep. Jerry McNerney
Rep. Rick Larsen
Rep. Jim Moran
Rep. Richard Neal
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr.
Rep. Tom Price
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger
Rep. Ike Skelton
Rep. Vic Snyder
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Rep. Melvin Watt

USW and Philips Remember Texas Chemical Explosion & Fire 20 Years Later

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The United Steelworkers (USW) and Chevron Philips Petroleum conducted a remembrance today of a horrific explosion and fire started at the Phillips petroleum refinery in Pasadena, Texas on this day in 1989, which took some ten hours to bring under control. There were 23 fatalities and 314 injures. Facility damages resulted in over $700 million as a result of a release of highly flammable polyethylene during a maintenance process.

“There are many for whom that day will live forever, vivid in their nightmares and waking hours,” said USW International vice president Gary Beevers. “Many were affected as they lost a family member or friend that day, while many others who work at other petrochemical facilities thought: ‘That could have been us.’”

Unfortunately, 20 years later, it is sad to note some other similar accidents in the petrochemical industry. Phillips had fatal accidents in 1999 and 2000 in the K-Resin section of the facility. In 1997 and again in 1999 the Tosco Avon refinery in California experienced fatal accidents. At Arco in Channelview, Texas in 1990, 17 workers were killed in an accident and in 1998; six workers were killed in an explosion and fire at the Equilon refinery in Anacortes, Washington. More recently the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas had a release and fire where 23 workers lost their lives in 2005 ... more

USW answers common member questions about health insurance reform

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The USW has just completed a series of conference calls with members, retirees and local union leaders about the important issue of health insurance reform. The calls resulted in many important questions and we tried our best to provide answers.

Click here to download a document summarizing those questions and answers and please pass it on. Visit our Health Insurance Reform Tool Kit for more information, including how you can get involved.

Preliminary Hearing Held by Trade Commission on Coated Paper Case

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Big stake for workers as U.S. investigation begins against China, Indonesia

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) began their investigation of the trade case filings by the United Steelworkers (USW) and three domestic companies against coated paper imports from China and Indonesia at a preliminary hearing yesterday.

“We have seen thousands of job losses by multiple plant shutdowns in coated paper manufacturing caused by imports since the period examined in the last petition to enforce fair trade rules against the flood of subsidized imports from Asia,” said Leo W. Gerard, USW international president.

“Imports jumped by 40 percent this year, forcing a mill closure in Michigan on top of previous layoffs at idled plants and paper machines in Maine, Wisconsin and other states. Sadly, our case is made stronger by these mounting job cuts. If the rule of law between nations mean something, predatory trade practices that steal jobs must be penalized with the power of government enforcement ... more

USW Blasts Seizure of Mexico's Electricity Plants by Federal Police as Another Attack on Labor Rights

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The United Steelworkers (USW) today sharply criticized the actions of the government of President Felipe Calderon for his announcing the liquidation of the Central Light and Power Company of Mexico (LyF) and the termination of the workers following the seizure of plants by the Mexican Federal Police. By terminating the workers, the government seeks to eliminate the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME), a frequent critic of Calderon's government policies.

SME has criticized the government's plan to privatize the electrical industry. It appears that by seizing LyF, which provides electricity to Mexico City and several states in central Mexico, the government is planning to merge its facilities with the Federal Electrical Commission and sell the facilities to a private corporation ... more

USW Mourns Loss of Brother from Arizona

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The United Steelworkers is mourning the loss of another brother, Robert Stewart of Kearny, Arizona.

Brother Stewart died Sept. 27 when the haulage truck he was driving for the Ray Mine owned by Asarco overturned. It was just two weeks shy of his 29th birthday.

Stewart was a member of USW Local 5252. He was known as Arizona's No. 1 Steelers fan and was buried in a casket adorned with his favorite team's logo.

Stewart leaves behind his fiancée, Cayci Ozaeta, and two children - Anakah and Jayden. He also is survived by his mother, Kim, Step-Father Salvador Hernandez, sisters Michelle, Amanda and Sabrina, grandfather Cecil Sellick, Uncle Kenny Sellick, and six nieces and nephews.

The accident is being investigated.