USW News & Info

• April 23, 2013 Pennsylvania Think Tank Plans to 'Slay' Unions, Like in Wisconsin
• February 27, 2013 Austerity Kills Government Jobs as Cuts to Budgets Loom
• February 21, 2013 Where the sequester would hurt the most Much of the talk about the looming sequester has focused on the big cuts to the defense budget. But as the chart below from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows, federal grants to the states will also feel the brunt of the spending cuts.
• January 31, 2013 Government is hurting the economy — by spending too little You’ve heard this before: The government is holding the economy back. And it’s true. The newly released numbers for economic growth in the fourth quarter, which show the economy shrinking at an 0.1 percent annual rate, prove that. But exactly what the government is doing to hold the economy back might surprise you.
• January 14, 2013 AFL-CIO State battles Report - Jan. 11, 2013
• December 08, 2012 2012 Public Sector Conference Photos
• December 11, 2012 Detroit Free Press Urges Snyder To Put Right-To-Work Laws On Ballot The Detroit Free Press urged Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to accept a compromise from the state's Democratic congressional delegation to put right-to-work laws on the ballot rather than signing them into law, in an editorial published Monday afternoon.
• December 11, 2012 Taking Aim at Michigan’s Middle Class The decline of the middle class in this country has paralleled that of the labor movement, which has been battered by the relentless efforts of business groups and Republicans to drive down wages, boost corporate profits and inflate executive salaries and bonuses. Now that campaign is on the verge of a devastating victory in Michigan ...
• December 10, 2012 PA: Privatizing lottery not a winning proposition, Pa. Dems say The state’s auditor general elect has joined Democratic colleagues in protesting Gov Tom Corbett’s effort to put a private company in charge of the Pennsylvania Lottery
• December 10, 2012 OH: City, Union Reach Deal Over Parking Privatization In order to win the support of the largest city employees union for the leasing of Cincinnati’s parking facilities, the city administration has agreed to pay raises and no layoffs for three years.
• December 10, 2012 OH: Ohio Awaits Turnpike Study Many Ohioans are eagerly awaiting the results of a yearlong study on the future of the Ohio Turnpike, but almost everybody, it seems, assumes that the study will call for privatization of the 241-mile-long toll road. The study, which cost the state $3.4 million, is due by the end of the month.
• September 16, 2012 Judge throws out Walker's union bargaining law Gov. Scott Walker's law repealing most collective bargaining for local and school employees was struck down by a Dane County judge Friday, yet another dramatic twist in a year and a half saga that likely sets up another showdown in the Supreme Court.
• August 29, 2012 The Secret Weapon: All of Us The Republican National Convention opened by smacking President Obama with the theme “We Built it.” To pound that message, Republicans turned to a Delaware businesswoman, Sher Valenzuela, who is also a candidate for lieutenant governor. Valenzuela and her husband built an upholstery business that now employs dozens of workers.
• August 27, 2012 Announcing the 2012 Public Employee Conference in San Diego For questions about registration contact:<P> Tom O'Brien at 412-562-2464<P> United Steelworkers<P> 5 Gateway Center<P> Pittsburgh, PA 15222<P> <p>Email: <a href="mailto:tobrien@usw.org">tobrien@usw.org</a></p>
• July 16, 2012 How Public Sector Jobs Beget Private Sector Ones This is a very rigorous and useful bit of analysis on our jobs situation from a couple of my former EPI colleagues, Heidi Shierholz and Josh Bivens. One of their key points is that what's uniquely tough about the current job market is not so much the private sector pace of job creation ...
• June 01, 2012 Recall Election Could Foretell November Vote With more than $30 million raised from conservative donors, many of them from other states, and visits from a who’s who of high-profile Republican governors (Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell), Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign to survive a recall vote has the feel, the money and the stakes of a national race.
• April 30, 2012 Recall Election Tests Strategies for November “Recall Walker” bumper stickers dotted the workers’ parking lot at the Georgia Pacific paper mill on Day Street here one recent afternoon, proof of their union’s role in the effort to oust Gov. Scott Walker from office early for his legislation limiting public employees’ bargaining rights.
• April 01, 2012 Limit on Public Sector Unions Is Voided A federal judge concluded on Friday that parts of a law limiting public sector unions in Wisconsin — the law that started a political battle between Republican officials and labor leaders in the state a year ago — violate the Constitution.
• April 01, 2012 Recall Election for Wisconsin Governor Who Battled Unions Wisconsin officials announced on Friday that critics of Gov. Scott Walker had met the requirements for a recall election, starting a bitterly contentious campaign cycle all over again.
• March 09, 2012 Union supporters rally to preserve right to bargain A labor union coalition officially launched a broad campaign Tuesday aimed at protecting collective bargaining rights and pre-empting a possible “right-to-work” movement by Michigan Republicans.
• February 08, 2012 SB 5 an issue for many in statehouse races A special edition of Pulp Truth has been established. This edition contains an article about USW’s Continued Work on Boiler MACT, Related Waste Definition Rule.
• November 09, 2011 USW Calls Repeal of Ohio SB 5 a Citizens’ Victory for All; Elections in Other States Build New Politics for Jobs The United Steelworkers (USW) declared the 99 percent stood up and fought back with votes against the millions of dollars poured into Ohio by the one percent of Wall Street on Election Day and among other states to declare a turning point in protecting good jobs, working families and workplace rights.
• October 08, 2011 As states cut aid, localities learn to do less with less You can get accustomed to hard times, and over the last few years Ohio’s towns and cities learned to scrape by. Faced with the long-term decay of Rust Belt manufacturing and the financial travails of homeowners, banks and businesses of all sorts, they watched their tax revenues shrink and did their best to adjust. They deferred road maintenance.
• September 27, 2011 Perry Appointees May Raid Public School Funds To Give Oil Refineries $135 Million Tax Break The nation’s biggest oil companies — many of them headquartered in oil-rich Texas — are raking in record profits this year and don’t need any more incentive to keep doing business. But Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) and his hand-picked appointees are giving them one anyway, and literally taking money away from children and schools to pay for it.
• September 13, 2011 We don’t shrink from a fight
• July 25, 2011 Minn. Workers Relieved by Shutdown’s End, Outraged by Budget While thousands of public- and private-sector workers are relieved to be returning to work after the nearly three-week state government shutdown, they are outraged by a budget that protects millionaires and increases the burden on Minnesota’s most vulnerable residents.
• July 25, 2011 SB 5 outlook looks grim in latest poll Ohio's collective-bargaining law would be crushed out of existence if the vote were today, a new poll shows. Senate Bill 5 trails by 24 points, 56 percent to 32 percent, in the Quinnipiac Poll released yesterday. The measure, which limits collective bargaining by government employees, is losing big among all demographic groups except Republicans, and across all regions ... more
• July 25, 2011 Tentative Deal Is Reached in Connecticut Between Governor and Unions Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut and state employee union leaders announced late Friday night that they had reached a tentative agreement on a “clarified” labor savings and concessions deal, giving rank-and-file union members a second chance to ratify the agreement and stop thousands of layoffs.
• July 13, 2011 Real Democrats Beat GOP Fakes in All Six Wisconsin Recall Primaries Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, his conservative legislative allies, the Republican Party of Wisconsin and county Republican parties across Wisconsin tried everything in their power to thwart the recall election process that could check and balance Walker’s extreme anti-labor, anti-public schools, anti-social services and anti-local democracy agenda.
• July 13, 2011 The Minnesota Shut Down May Cost More Than it Saves With state parks and rest stops shuttered, and the state lottery frozen, Minnesota's government shutdown is losing the state money. But how much, exactly? Thursday marks the seventh day of Minnesota's deadlock over a projected $5 billion deficit.
• July 07, 2011 Minnesota: An Overture, but No Movement on Budget Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, offered proposals on Wednesday to end a budget impasse and government shutdown, but Republicans rejected them. Mr. Dayton proposed a temporary income tax increase on people making more than $1 million a year or a $1 per pack tobacco tax increase ...
• June 15, 2011 Wisconsin Court Reinstates Law on Union Rights The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for significant cuts to collective bargaining rights for public workers in the state, undoing a lower court’s decision that Wisconsin’s controversial law had been passed improperly.
• June 09, 2011 Chris Christie Anti-Union Bill In New Jersey Would Restrict Collective Bargaining Rights New Jersey's Republican governor and Democratic state Senate president reached a deal Wednesday on legislation that would make public employees pay more for pension and health benefits, but Assembly Democrats refused to go along, leaving the bill's prospects in doubt.
• June 02, 2011 Wisconsin Public Sector Workers: Go to Sleep! This just out. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Republican state Sen. Dan Kapanke, who’s facing a recall election after voting to kill collective bargaining rights for public employees, says he’s got one huge obstacle that he must overcome to keep his seat ... more
• June 01, 2011 We're not broke, nor will be EPI President Lawrence Mishel debunks the assertion that our nation is going broke.
• May 27, 2011 US Rep Denis Kucinich Rallies for Public Sector Workers in Wisconsin
• May 26, 2011 Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin Law Curbing Unions Ruling that Republicans in the State Senate had violated the state's open meetings law, a judge in Wisconsin dealt a blow to them and to Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday by granting a permanent injunction striking down a new law curbing collective bargaining rights for many state and local employees.
• May 19, 2011 Public Sector Conference Concludes with Plans for Action The United Steelworkers (USW) Public Sector Conference was held from May 16 through May 19, 2011 at the Wyndham Grand Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA. Over 100 USW public sector delegates attended the four day sessions chaired by USW International Vice President, Fred Redmond with a focus on “ACTION”.
• April 26, 2011 The Leslie Marshall Show - The King (or Dictator) of Michigan? In this episode, Leslie Marshall talks with Fred Redmond, International Vice President of Human Affairs for the United Steelworkers (USW). Redmond talked about how Governor Snyder’s bill to impose “financial martial law” on the people of Michigan is a threat to democracy and the electoral process.
• April 21, 2011 Financial Martial Law Imposed in First Mich. City–Walker Denies Seeking Similar Powers On Friday, Benton Harbor, Mich., became the first town in that state to get crushed under the boot of Gov. Rick Snyder’s (R) “financial martial law,” when his appointed so-called “emergency manager” suspended the decision-making powers of city officials.
• April 05, 2011 Union-Bashing, Now in Ohio This is Ohio’s new concept of how to deal fairly with its public employees: Make them an offer, and if they don’t accept it, impose it anyway. There will be no appeal or arbitration. And unions will no longer be able to negotiate their health-care benefits or require the payment of dues from members.
• March 26, 2011 Michigan Governor Backs Anti-labor Law In this video from the Ed Show last night about Michigan, Ed Schultz talks about the continued connection between the Koch Bros and other fat cats and the truly draconian legislation put forward by their Gov Rick Schneider.
• March 26, 2011 Today's wages and benefits are because of unions I am writing in regard to the op-ed (March 6) written by Mr. Elofsky. It stated the need for unions in the workplace today is irrelevant and no longer needed. He states that unions should be pushed into our country's history and that it was a great idea gone terribly wrong.
• March 26, 2011 Ohio Women Lead In Disapproval Of New Governor Ohio voters disapprove 46 – 30 percent of the way Gov. John Kasich is handling his job, with women disapproving 48 – 25 percent and men disapproving 44 – 37 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters say 53 – 36 percent that Gov. Kasich’s budget is unfair to them.
• March 18, 2011 Ohio Town Sees Public Job as Only Route to Middle Class Jodi and Ralph Taylor are public workers whose jobs as a janitor and a sewer manager cover life’s basics. They have moved out of a trailer into a house, do not have to rely on food stamps and sometimes even splurge for the spicy wing specials at the Courtside Bar and Grill.
• March 14, 2011 What if we’re not broke? You can practically break a search engine if you start looking around the Internet for those words. They’re used repeatedly with reference to our local, state and federal governments, almost always to make a case for slashing programs — and, lately, to go after public-employee unions. The phrase is designed to create a sense of crisis that justifies rapid and radical actions before citizens have a chance to debate the consequences.
• March 08, 2011 Collective bargaining rights must be maintained for public workers The king can do no wrong. I first heard that maxim when I was a young labor lawyer in Michigan in the early 1960s. I had called an official of a public institution on behalf of their employees who wanted to be represented and engaged in collective bargaining. “As a public entity,” the official responded, “we cannot bind ourselves.”
• February 28, 2011 USW 2011 Public Employee Conference The 2011 Public Employee Conference will be held on Monday, May 16th through Thursday, May 19th at the Wyndham Grand Hotel Pittsburgh Downtown, 600 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh PA 15222-1003.
• February 17, 2011 Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Faces Backlash For Threatening Public Workers With National Guard Public employees around the country have become the nation's scapegoats for the rough economy, with many Republican politicians in recent months criticizing them as privileged, overpaid and underworked -- unlike their private sector counterparts. But in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker ... more
• February 16, 2011 In Action in Wisconsin: USW Mobilizing for Jobs, Working Families The USW is among those mobilizing in Wisconsin to send a clear message to Gov. Scott Walker, who is trying to balance the state's budget on the backs of working families and bust unions.
• January 27, 2011 Varney Falsely Blames State Budgetary Woes On Pensions On Fox News' America Live, Fox Business host Stuart Varney falsely claimed that pensions are the "biggest reason" states are facing budget shortfalls and that pensions "are one of the biggest expenses [states] have." In fact, short-term budgetary challenges facing states are the result of the financial crisis, not pensions, and current pension obligations ... more
• January 27, 2011 Bankrupt Reasoning: Why you don't need to worry about your state declaring bankruptcy You might not have noticed, but an investment panic swept through Wall Street last week. According to Bond Buyer, investors set a new record for weekly withdrawals from municipal mutual funds last week, taking out about $4 billion. Over the past 10 weeks, they have redeemed $29.3 billion, also a record, roiling the normally staid $2.8-trillion municipal debt market.
• January 18, 2011 Scapegoating in Ohio, Minnesota & New Jersey Ohio’s Governor John Kasich, Minnesota’s former Governor and Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty, and New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie claim that unionized public service workers are the cause of the financial crisis, apparently hoping to focus the attention of their states and the nation ... more
• January 15, 2011 The FIGHT BACK STARTS HERE Please see the links to TV shows, articles, and websites below that examine the right wing attack on public service workers. In one, USW President Leo Gerard talks with MSNBC host Keith Olbermann about the attack. In your Fight Back, you can tap these resources for information and inspiration
• January 06, 2011 The Shameful Attack on Public Employees In 1968, 1,300 sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to support them. That was where he lost his life. Eventually Memphis heard the grievances of its sanitation workers. And in subsequent years millions of public employees across the nation have benefited from the job protections they've earned.
• January 04, 2011 Public Workers Face Outrage as Budget Crises Grow Ever since Marie Corfield’s confrontation with Gov. Chris Christie this fall over the state’s education cuts became a YouTube classic, she has received a stream of vituperative e-mails and Facebook postings. “People I don’t even know are calling me horrible names,” said Ms. Corfield, an art teacher who had pleaded the case of struggling teachers.
• January 03, 2011 Kasich appears ready for a confrontation with unions It’s been more than 50 years since a Republican governor declared war on organized labor in Ohio. Gov.-elect John Kasich hasn’t made such a declaration, but Kasich seems determined to abandon the get-along, go-along approach that the last three Republican governors — Jim Rhodes, George Voinovich and Bob Taft — took with unions.
• August 12, 2010 GOP Vilifies Workers Who Serve the Public Government workers are the latest victims of a GOP smear campaign. Right-wing strategists have revived the tactic of false accusation in a vain attempt to keep voters from noticing that the policies of the current batch of Republican candidates mirror those of the batch who laid waste to our economy.
• July 13, 2010 Author: GOP incites class warfare
• May 21, 2010 Steelworker Council of Public Employees Click here for more information about the Steelworker Council of Public Employees.
• May 20, 2010 Communities across country face devastating layoffs
• May 20, 2010 With Obama, Regulations Are Back in Fashion
• May 20, 2010 The Wage Penalty for State and Local Government Employees
• May 20, 2010 Obey suggests education, labor, health programs could face $3.5B in cuts