Rapid Response Activists Kick Off Annual Conference

Nearly 700 USW activists kicked off the union’s 2016 Rapid Response and Legislative Conference on Monday with a series of speeches, workshops and panel discussions on issues ranging from fair trade to health and safety to the rights of workers to organize.

The union members are meeting in Washington, D.C., preparing for a day of visits with lawmakers this Wednesday on Capitol Hill to urge Congressional action on those issues.

The group heard from USW Secretary Treasurer Stan Johnson, who oversees the Rapid Response program, as well as from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, OSHA Director David Michaels, USW Rapid Response Director Kim Miller, Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul, and BlueGreen Alliance Director Kim Glas.

“You are the bedrock of our program,” Johnson told the crowd. “This is not a program we put on auto-pilot. It demands constant attention and activism.”

The morning began with Johnson and others reminding the group of the success of that activism over the past year, while urging continued action.

2016 Rapid Response Conference-DAY ONE

To open the afternoon session, members stood in silence as the USW paid tribute to 28 members who died on the job during the past year.

Johnson, Trumka and others reminded the activists that union members’ voices will be particularly important as the country prepares for a presidential election this fall that could have wide-ranging consequences for workers.

“Our jobs and our wages and our way of life and the future of our country are all on the line right now,” Trumka said, singling out the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement as potentially devastating to workers. “We support trade. What we oppose are bad trade deals that hurt workers and send our jobs away and destroy our communities.”

You can follow the conference live on social media, follow the @steelworkers on Twitterlike us on Facebook or follow the #USWRR16 feed below.

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