Sisters and Brothers,
My name is Ken Frankforther and I am proud to call myself a United Steelworker. I, like you maybe, used to sometimes wonder what the union was really about. I didn’t really understand all the benefits or realize the power we have. Then, unfair trade laws allowed cheap tires from China to be subsidized and dumped into America – and my job at Copper Tire and Rubber in Findlay, Ohio, was threatened.
Last week, I was privileged to go to Washington, D.C., with our union to tell my story to bureaucrats reviewing trade violations. I saw first hand just how smart, powerful and respected the USW is. We have always said that our fighting union is a constant champion for good jobs and strong communities, and trust me - we mean it!
The USW filed an unfair trade cases on May 30, 2014, alleging that certain tires from China had been dumped and subsidized, resulting in lost jobs and injury to our domestic tire industry. Well, last Friday the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC) announced the final antidumping and countervailing duty margins to set out the tariffs that will be applied to unfairly traded imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tire imports from China that benefited from subsidies or were dumped in the U.S. market.
This is a huge victory for workers and we couldn’t have done it without you! Our union is often the ONLY one standing up for workers like me. Let’s keep it up.
Stay plugged into the USDOC tariff case and say something good about our union – we walk the walk!
Proud to be a Steelworker,
Ken Frankforther
USW Local 207L
Findlay, Ohio