Rapid Response Activists Focus on Trade

USW Rapid Response activists spent the second day of their annual conference on Tuesday preparing themselves for meetings on Capitol Hill by focusing on the top issue on the union’s agenda - fair trade.

USW President Leo W. Gerard kicked off the day’s events by using his keynote address to highlight decades of failed U.S. trade policies that have cost USW members and other workers their jobs by the thousands.

“We need to say to the members of the House and the Senate, ‘enough is enough, get your head out of the sand and do something,’” Gerard told the crowd. “Our members can compete with anyone in the world, if we’re competing on a level playing field.”

On Wednesday, the 700 USW members will take that message to their representatives in Washington, urging them to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that would include 40 percent of the world’s economy. The TPP, which Congress is expected to consider later this year, has been called “NAFTA on steroids.”

2016 Rapid Response Conference-DAY TWO

USW members spent most of the day Tuesday in workshops and training sessions designed to prepare them to deliver that message.

Nearly every USW sector has been affected by unfair trade, from paper to steel to aluminum to rubber and tires. A panel discussion that followed Gerard’s speech outlined the depth of the problem and the possible solutions.

One possible solution to the crisis is for Congress to tackle the issue of global overcapacity in industries such as steel and aluminum, problems driven largely by China, said USW Vice President Tom Conway.

Members of Congress could take action to address the problem and help to save jobs in manufacturing, all they need is the will to act, Conway said.

“Don’t let them go quietly on this issue,” he urged the crowd.

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