Contact: R.J. Hufnagel: 412- 562-2450, rhufnagel@usw.org
PITTSBURGH (March 31) – The United Steelworkers (USW) union today announced its support for the renationalization of the United Kingdom’s steel industry. In a letter to Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite the Union, Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union, the USW called on other friends and allies to support the move as well.
The USW said that Tata Steel’s recent announcement that it would sell all of its operations in the UK “threatens the livelihood of 19,000 steelworkers, their families and communities.”
“A temporary nationalization would allow government, business and unions to devise a rational plan to restructure the industry,” USW President Leo W. Gerard wrote in the letter.
Unite has warned that the collapse of the nation’s steel industry would put the entire economy and national security of the UK at risk.
“The threatened destruction of the entire UK steel industry would do serious damage to the UK’s economy and national security, with implications not only for national defense but for the UK’s allies as well,” Gerard wrote.
For a copy of the USW’s letter, Click Here.
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, and municipal governments and agencies.
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