United Steelworkers: News Articles

USW Statement on Congressman John Murtha's Passing

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), made the following statement on the death yesterday of Congressman John P. Murtha, 77, (D-PA-12) after complications with gallbladder surgery.

“The passing of Rep. John Murtha is a great lost to the working families of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the veterans who defend the nation. He was a steadfast advocate for Steelworkers in Johnstown, Latrobe and Greensburg, giving decorated service to his country in the U.S. Marine Corps, plus stewardship as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense ... more

NEW VIDEO: 'Buy, Buy American Pie' Song Humorous, Accurate Portrayal of Trade

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Our friends at Campaign for America's Future posted a video on their blog called "Buy, Buy American Pie" by The Capital Steps, a political satire musical group. It's a humorous - yet sadly true - portrayal of trade and the negative impact it has had on our nation. Check it our below and check out our Manufacturing a Better Future for America tool kit to find out how you can help turn our country around.

USW Comments on U.S.-Canada Bilateral Trade Deal

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard today commented on the tentative deal between the U.S. and Canada on bilateral trade relations.

"Canada and the U.S. have a strong economic and trade relationship. The agreement that's been announced will reportedly enhance the reciprocal nature of that relationship," Gerard said. "The goal of the Steelworkers in government procurement has always been to strengthen our manufacturing base in order to generate the most jobs for our members.

Click here for the entire statement.

The Call Goes Out for All Rapid Response Activists

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The National Rapid Response Conference will be held during the first week of May at the Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C. A Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference will occur simultaneously with our Conference, beginning on Tuesday, May 4 at 8:30 a.m. Rapid Response Conference attendees are encouraged to join USW International President Leo Gerard to kick off the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference and participate in a series of USW-specific sessions throughout the day on Tuesday. The Rapid Response Conference will then begin at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 5 and will end at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 6 ... more

Union lauds Obama's jobs plan, calls for focus on manufacturing

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard today lauded President Obama's State of the Union address for its focus on creating and protecting jobs.

“We agree that getting people back to work should be our nation’s top priority. With unemployment in double digits, there is no time to waste," Gerard said. "But not just any job will do. We need quality jobs that give our families a real shot at a better life, that support our communities and that serve as the solid foundation for a healthy economy."

Gerard called for a long-term strategy to create jobs and revitalize domestic manufacturing.

"It’s urgent that we keep Main Street in mind as we move forward. Our members are losing patience with talk; they desperately want action now," he said.

The USW president also called for green jobs that are good jobs, fair and real health care reform that does not tax benefits and caution when dealing with trade.

"We urge the president and Congress to not let bad trade deals undermine the creation of good jobs. We’ve heard the vow before that trade deals would be good for us. Unfortunately, we’ve felt the pain of those broken promises first-hand. When these agreements are not enforced, it not only costs us millions of good jobs, it’s counterproductive to our commitment to a cleaner environment and human rights worldwide. And it’s deadly for trade unionists in places like Colombia and South Korea."

Click here for the entire statement.

Global union protests invite of British National Party to white supremacist meeting

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Leaders of the largest trade unions in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Caribbean and Canada are protesting the decision of a large hotel chain to host a conference where the leader of the far right British National Party (BNP) Nick Griffin is scheduled to speak.

In a letter sent this week to the Westin Hotel, Workers Uniting expresses deep anger about the decision to allow an individual whose views are so offensive to so many to address a white supremacist conference on its premises.

The Westin Hotel chain has over 160 hotels and resorts worldwide. Workers Uniting, the world’s first global union representing more than three million working people is a partnership between Unite from the United Kingdom and the United Steelworkers (USW) from the United States, Caribbean and Canada.

Unite General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley and USW International President Leo Gerard say in the letter: “Workers Uniting is appalled that the Westin would allow an individual whose views are so offensive and abhorrent to many to hold a public address on its premises.

“You should be aware that (in the UK) a court order was made against the BNP on the grounds that their membership requirements discriminated on grounds of, among other things, race. In 1996, Griffin received a nine-month prison sentence (suspended for two years) after being found guilty of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred. As well as this, Griffin is reported to have referred to the Holocaust as the 'Holohoax'.”

Simpson, Woodley and Gerard are urging the hotel management to reconsider their decision in order to avoid serious reputational damage to their business. For the full text of the letter, click here.

Griffin is due to be the keynote speaker at the “American Renaissance” conference February 19 -21 at The Westin Washington Dulles Airport, 2520 Wasser Terrace, Herndon, Va. 20171.

Info for USW members, locals wishing to donate to Haiti

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

In the aftermath of the terrible earthquake in Haiti, we've had several USW members and locals ask how they can help. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the Steelworkers Charitable and Educational Organization, the same fund that has collected money for the victims of U.S. hurricanes like Katrina and Gustav.

Please send checks made out to Steelworkers Charitable and Educational Organization to:

United Steelworkers
c/o Vice President Fred Redmond
Human Affairs
Five Gateway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Please designate on your check that you'd like your donation to go towards Haiti relief efforts.

The United Steelworkers Charitable and Education Organization is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and contributions are tax deductible. Please note that contributions to the Chariitable and Education Organization for Haiti made BEFORE March 1, 2010, are eligible as tax deductable donations (for an individual who itemizes their deductions) in either 2009 or 2010 at the donors' discretion.

Steelworkers wishing to donate to the Humanity Fund in Canada can designate donations to Haitian relief efforts on checks sent to:

Steelworkers Humanity Fund
234 Eglinton Avenue East Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario
M4P 1K7

Please note that U.S. donations to the Humanity Fund are accepted but are not tax deductible.

The USW responded immediately to the tragedy by donating $20,000 from its Humanity Fund the day after the quake and pledging continued solidarity. Click here to read the statement.

Also, Union Plus announced today that it is matching donations dollar-for-dollar for Haiti earthquake relief with a $100,000 commitment. Please visit http://www.UnionPlus.org/Haiti for more information about Union Plus' automatic doubling of contributions made to the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center’s Earthquake Relief for Haitian Workers Fund. That means $10 becomes $20, $25 becomes $50, and $100 becomes $200.

Also, the TransAfrica Forum, a longtime ally of the union movement, also suggested donations to two organizations already providing aid on the ground: Partners in Health (http://www.pih.org/inforesources/news/Haiti_Earthquake.html) and Doctors Without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/).

USW President to FOX News: Campaign Finance Ruling Very Troubling

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

USW International President Leo W. Gerard says the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited corporate spending in campaigns is very troubling.

In an interview with the FOX News Network last night, Gerard said the decision opens the doors for a flood of big business money in politics. Click here for more from the FOX.

"The four largest Wall Street banks, if they expended one-tenth of 1 percent of their resources in a political campaign, that would eclipse every single penny of union revenue for every union in the country," Gerard said.

Gerard said the decision has concerned a lot of people and reiterates the need for public financing of campaigns in the United States.

“We need to move to public financing of elections. Otherwise, people will get cynical about their votes and will believe participation doesn’t matter," he said. "The vote of the make-up girl in the Fox studio, the teacher, the librarian or steelworker should matter as much as the banker. If people believe the voice of money speaks louder than their vote, they won’t participate in elections. We have to fix this.”

VIDEO: USW President on FOX: 'Cadillac' tax bad for workers, bad politics

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

USW International President Leo W. Gerard appeared on Fox Business Network to talk about why a so-called "Cadillac" tax to pay for health insurance reform is not only bad policy, but bad politics. Check out what he had to say then pick up the phone and call 1-866-203-4960, ask to be connected to your Congress members and tell them to stand strong against the excise tax. Click here for more info on this national day of action.

Trumka: Working class revolt wake-up call for more action on jobs, health care

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka had this to say about Tuesday's election in Massachusetts:

What happened Tuesday in Massachusetts was a wake-up call to all of us.

It was a working class revolt—a signal that in this economic crisis, the American people demand jobs, health care and an economy that works for them now—not political business as usual.

It was a loud and clear message that our elected leaders—and our labor movement—must do more for working people, do it fast and do it smarter.

An AFL-CIO poll taken Tuesday night shows without doubt:

Voters are fed up that elected leaders have done too little to help working families.

They said Democrats have NOT overreached on jobs, the economy and health care—they have underreached.

Voters have seen too much help for Wall Street and not nearly enough help for Main Street.

Unless Democrats demonstrate that fixing the economy is their overriding priority, and begin to create more jobs for working Americans NOW, we’re going to see more results this November like the Massachusetts election.

For the union movement and activists, the message was also clear: It’s not time to leave it to any political party to take care of us once we put them in office. It’s time to organize and mobilize as never before to make every elected or aspiring leader PROVE he or she will create the jobs we need in an economy we need with the health care we need.

I am not discouraged by Tuesday’s election results. Actually, I’m energized and I want you to be, too. Working America is demanding major change NOW—not timid, go-slow, partial solutions.

I know we are the people who can mobilize a massive army to force elected leaders to deliver.

Let’s do it—starting NOW.

USW, Others Call for Reform of Federal Toxic Chemical Law

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers today joined forces with the Learning Disabilities Association, the Cancer Institute, and the Pennsylvania Nurses Association to call for reforms of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act needed to ensure the health and safety of America's workers and families.

USW's director of Health, Safety and the Environment Mike Wright, was among those who spoke at a press conference at the Steelworker's international headquarters. The group said being proactive about testing chemicals and for chemical exposure would not only save lives, but money.

Michael Wright, United Steelworkers department head for Health, Safety and Environment

A new report, "The Health Case for Reforming Toxic Substances Control Act," shows that if there was a new health-based legislative framework to reduce chronic diseases caused by chemical exposure by 0.1 percent, it would reduce health care costs by $5 billion a year. And that's a very conservative estimate.

Dr. Maryann Donovan, associate director of research services for the University of Pittsburgh's Cancer Institute and director of the Center for Environmental Oncology

"It's not a matter of whether we test toxic chemicals. It's a matter of how we test them. Right now we test them in the bodies of our children, our consumers, our workers, ourselves. It's time to start testing chemicals in the lab, and to take action before anyone is harmed," Wright said.

The 34-year-old law has led to required testing of only 200 of the 80,000 chemicals used in the United States. Only five chemicals have been regulated.

Maureen Swanson, national coordinator of the Healthy Children Project and the Pittsburgh-based Learning Disabilities Association of America

"In the last 30 years, a growing body of scientific evidence has shown that levels of chemicals once thought to be safe can actually cause great harm," said Maureen Swanson, national coordinator of the Learning Disabilities Association of America's Healthy Children Project.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., are expected to introduce new legislation meant to bring the toxics law into the 21st Century. Stay tuned to www.usw.org for the latest.

USW members, children eligible for Union Plus scholarships

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Editors note: The Union Plus scholarship deadline is Saturday, January 30, 2010.

United Steelworkers members and their children are eligible for Union Plus scholarships ranging from $500 to $4,000 to be used for college graduate and undergraduate programs.

Since 1992, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more than $2.4 million to union members and their families.

You can find eligibility details and download the application here. Please note that the deadline is Jan. 30, 2010.

USW makes statement on health reform tax changes

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers union, tonight said that the union is pleased with the progress that has been made to make health insurance reform legislation fairer for working families.

Gerard said: “Let’s be clear, no legislation is ever perfect. But for generations we’ve been fighting for health care for all in the United States, and we are too close to reaching a historical milestone on this long journey to turn back now.

Our union and others in the labor movement have worked hard to fight for reform that helps working families and that will lower the cost of health care for all Americans. It appears we’ve been able to improve reform for all working families – not just those in a union - with several significant changes to the proposed excise tax on expensive health care plans. We’re pleased with the progress but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop working to make this bill better.” Click here for more of the union's response.

Click here for more from the AFL-CIO. And click here to visit the USW's health insurance reform tool kit.

Global Union Challenges Aggressive Behavior of Crown Holdings

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Workers Uniting, the global union in the UK, USA and Canada, has written to the chief executive officer of Crown Holdings to challenge the company’s aggressive behavior towards some of its employees around the world.

The United Steelworkers union (USW) and Unite the union have partnered to form Workers Uniting, the world’s first global union. The transatlantic campaign involving the workers at Crown Holdings in the UK, USA and Canada is just one example of how the global union is using its power to improve the lives of workers around the world.

Click here for more details.

Standing strong in Canada: 6 months on the line for Vale Inco workers

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers is marking the sixth-month anniversary of its strike against Vale Inco by filing a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labor Relations Board, asking it to order the company to resume bargaining with the union and a mediator.

The complaint also asks the board to order Vale Inco to compensate strikers for wages, benefits and seniority lost if the OLRB determines Vale Inco has prolonged the strike with its bargaining practices. Click here for more on this story.

Click here for more information about this important fight our sisters and brothers in Canada are involved in. And click here to find out how you can help by participating in the Workers Uniting campaign to help the strikers and their families. Workers Uniting is the world's first global union, a partnership between the United Steelworkers in the United States and Canada and Unite the Union in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

USW Offers Support, Solidarity after Devastating Earthquake in Haiti

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers today donated $20,000 from the Steelworkers Humanity Fund to assist with emergency aid in Haiti after a devastating earthquake killed thousands and left immeasurable damage. Click here for information about how you can help.

USW International President Leo W. Gerard said, "Many of our sisters and brothers who live and work in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean have friends and relatives from Haiti. Our hearts and thoughts are with them during these trying moments.

It’s times like these that we are reminded that regardless of the bloodline that runs through our veins, or the address of the place we call home, we are all family connected by our common humanity."

Founded by the United Steelworkers in 1985 in Canada, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is a registered charitable organization. Steelworker members contribute to the Fund through clauses negotiated into collective agreements. Click here for more of this story.

NEW VIDEO: AFL-CIO President: Nation in crisis needs political courage

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke this week to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. In the major address, he discussed the economic crisis and the decline of the nation’s middle class, saying the crisis “cries out for political courage.”

Trumka also discussed the health insurance reform debate, urging Congress to reject plans to tax working peoples' benefits as a way to pay for much-needed reform.

Pointing to the conversations he has had with workers on his recent jobs-focused swing through California, Trumka told the nation’s leading journalists:

"Everywhere I went, people asked me, why do so many of the people we elect seem to care only about Wall Street? Why is helping banks a matter of urgency, but unemployment is something we just have to live with? Why don’t we make anything in America anymore? And why is it so hard to pass a health care bill that guarantees Americans healthy lives instead of guaranteeing insurance companies healthy profits?"

He said it is time to remake and build a new economy and reverse the fundamental changes in the nation’s economic structure and rules that for the past decade-plus “have celebrated private greed over public service.” Click here for the full text of his speech.

Tell Congress: Don't Tax Our Benefits

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Wednesday is a national call-in day to tell Congress not to tax our hard-earned health insurance benefits. Please plan to partipate and urge others to do the same! Click here to visit the USW health insurance reform tool kit.

The Senate recently passed their version of health care reform. While containing some positive reforms, it also gives us cause for concern, particularly over a new tax on health care benefits to finance the proposal. Now that the bills from the House and Senate will be merged into one, we need to make sure our members of Congress know that the “excise tax” is a big problem, and that we don’t want it in the final bill.

What is the “Excise Tax?”: This would be a tax on higher-cost benefit plans. Many USW members have health insurance plans that qualify for the tax ($23,000 for family and $8,500 for individual coverage). That’s because plans covering older workers, workers employed by small businesses, workers with worse than average health histories, workers from higher-risk workplaces, etc. all have higher health care costs. Many of us have bargained – giving other things up along the way – to maintain high-quality benefits.

WE ARE STRONGLY OPPOSED TO THIS TAX ON BENEFITS.

Action Instructions:

Many of you have already called your legislators. Please call once again this Wednesday, January 13, to register your opinion on health care reform.

Dial Toll-Free, 1-866-203-4960.
Ask for each Senator and your Representative.
Note: Make three calls total, one to each Senator and one to your Representative. You can call all three on the same day, or spread the calls out over a couple of days. The important thing is that each person gets the message!
Tell him or her that you are a voter and that we need health care reform that:
     *DOES NOT TAX BENEFITS,
    *Ensures employers provide care or pay into a system to ensure everyone can get care, and
     *Has a strong public option.

USW Confident WTO Dispute Panel Will Uphold U.S. Tire Action

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) responded to the World Trade Organization (WTO) decision to launch an investigation into President Obama’s decision to impose tariffs on surging Chinese tire imports by enforcing U.S. trade law to protect American jobs in the tire sector:

“The USW has complete faith that the decision of the President following the extensive investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission will be found to be consistent with the U.S. rights under the WTO -- specifically, the special safeguard that China agreed to as part of its accession process," Gerard said.

Click here for more.

8 more Bangladesh workers die in ship explosion

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Eight more workers in Bangladesh were burned to death on December 26, 2009, when the ship they were dismantling exploded. The workers had been told that the gas tanks on the Agate oil tanker had been cleaned. It was a lie.

Click here for a full report from the National Labor Committee on the Dec. 26 accident.

As the NLC reports, when the workers started to cut into the tank using their blow torches, the sparks set off a massive explosion, engulfing them in flames, which burned out of control for several hours. Along with the eight workers killed, more than a dozen suffered serious burns.

The Rahim Steel & Shipbreaking Yard reputes to be the largest industrial steel complex in Bangladesh.

In 2009, 25 shipbreakers were killed, while a worker is seriously injured every day. The workers, some of whom are 14 and 15 years of age, are paid just 22 to 32 cents an hour to do some of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The shipbreaking yards continue to violate with complete impunity even then most rudimentary health and safety standards and labor laws in Bangladesh. Click here for an earlier report about this sad situation.

Below is a video about what many call the most dangerous job in the world:

EPI, others debunk 'Cadillac' tax myths and mistruths

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Robert Reich, Rep. Joe Courtney, and Economic Policy Institute's Lawrence Mishel and Josh Bivens have reviewed and refuted “facts” regarding the so-called "Cadillac" tax in the health insurance reform debate, Their info is below. For more on this important issue, visit our Health Insurance Reform Tool Kit here.

As the national wrestling match over the future of the nation's health care system moves to its new conference committee arena, there are growing signs that some essential facts are already on the ropes.

In a news conference call this week, Robert Reich, Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration; Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT); and Lawrence Mishel and Josh Bivens, president and economist/health care expert, respectively, at the Economic Policy Institute gave the facts a fighting chance by sharing their expertise and research findings.

Mishel took on one of the latest claims by excise tax supporters, which has been espoused by a range of public officials, journalists and pundits: the argument that an excise tax will rein in health care costs and that those savings will lead to much higher wage growth.

Those who make this argument point to the latter half of the '90s – a time when health costs were relatively stable and wages rose – as their evidence. While that argument seems logical, Mishel pointed out on the call and in a detailed paper issued concurrently that the logic is only skin deep and doesn‟t pass the test of deeper examination.

Rep. Joe Courtney, who represents Connecticut‟s Second District, released the text of his letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which he has spearheaded in the House, urging leadership to abandon the excise tax idea, given its well-documented pitfalls.

“One-hundred-ninety House Democrats have joined my effort to stop the proposed 'Cadillac' tax on health care plans, which is a number that cannot be ignored during health care reform negotiations,” Rep. Courtney said. “The Economic Policy Institute‟s report should serve as another red flag to the misguided Senate-backed excise tax on health care benefits because there is no question that the tax will hurt the wages of working families. The House must stand firm in its opposition to the tax.”

Mishel‟s paper, “Employer Health Costs Do Not Drive Wage Trends”, notes that the size of health care costs, large as it is, is too small to explain the magnitude of the rise that occurred in wages during the late '90s. What‟s more, the rise in wages was most dramatic among lower-paid workers, who are much less likely to have any health care coverage on the job at all. He notes that about half of all U.S. workers currently do not receive health care coverage from their employers and, thus, could not have benefited from the theoretical health care-wages trade-off.

“Just as the sun doesn't rise because the rooster crows, moderating health care costs had little to do with why wages rose in the late '90s,” Mishel said.

“Many economic benefits will flow to the nation as a whole and to working people from sound health care reform, but there‟s precious little evidence that these benefits will be driven by the proposed excise tax on high-cost plans and its effect on workers' wages,” he added. “In fact, recent history would argue that any reduction in businesses costs for health care will more likely go to boost income for CEOs and top managers, at least in the short run, not to raise wages across the workplace. Even if workers' wages eventually manage to claim some of the gains from lower health costs, these costs just aren't large enough to make a significant contribution to their paychecks.”

Economist Josh Bivens focused his remarks on a particularly persistent and misleading claim by supporters of the excise tax that it will only affect the highest paid workers with the most generous insurance plans, which they refer to as “Cadillac” plans to reinforce their point. The fallacy in this argument, as Bivens pointed out, is that the cost of health care coverage is not a reliable indicator of its quality. Far more important in determining the price of an insurance plan are factors like the size of the workplace and the age and health care needs of its workers. He noted that insurance companies charge small businesses 18% more than big companies for identical coverage. [See further analysis here: “House Health Bill is Right on the Money: Taxing High Incomes Better Than Taxing High Premiums”.

“The excise tax proponents say their target is a Cadillac, but in reality they‟re about as likely to hit a Chevy,” Bivens explained. “The excise tax is not a progressive levy on lavish plans, instead it's a tax that will hit small businesses, older workers, and those most in need of health care the hardest.”

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States and around the world. EPI's mission is to inform people and empower them to seek solutions that will ensure broadly shared prosperity and opportunity.

USW updates info for laid-off members

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The ARRA included COBRA subsidies for individuals (and their eligible dependents) who lost their health care coverage due to a recent involuntary job loss.

On Dec. 19, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Appropriations Act (DAA) which extended and expanded the eligibility provisions of the COBRA subsidy program. Many USW members who have suffered recent job losses will be able to take advantage of the COBRA subsidy program.

Therefore, we have made this information available to our laid-off members and urge employers to get the required notices out as quickly as possible. Click here for more details. And click here for our guide to help members in who have unfortunately lost their jobs.

NEW AUDIO: WIN airs report about USW's trade fight

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Workers Independent News today aired a story about the USW's reaction to trade duties being applied this month against China for violating trade rules. Click here to hear the report by WIN's Doug Cunningham.

And click here for background on the trade issue.

USW Reacts to Trade Case Vote on Tariffs Against OCTG China Pipe Imports

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers (USW) reacted positively to today’s affirmative 6-0 vote by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on a petition in the anti-subsidy portion of a case against Chinese pipe imports called oil country tubular goods (OCTG).

USW International President Leo W. Gerard declared, “Today’s vote by the trade commission makes it clear to American pipe workers and industry that the U.S. government will standup against China’s violation of fair trade rules when domestic job losses and industry injury are clearly demonstrated.”

He added, “We are fed up with China’s constant cheating and false claims of U.S. protectionism, when it is China that practices illegal state subsidization and dumping that seeks to destroy good jobs and fair competition under WTO standards their leaders agreed to abide ... more

Senate health care bill still inadequate

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following statement regarding the Senate's passage of health insurance reform legislation:

"In the face of inexcusable partisanship, obstruction and gamesmanship, it is remarkable that Majority Leader Reid was able to move a health care bill through the United States Senate. Not since the passage of Medicare 44 years ago have we seen Republican scare tactics so blatantly contrary to the interests of the American people.

At this historic moment, it is so important to the future of working Americans-and to our country-to get health care reform right. Despite doing some good things, the Senate bill remains inadequate. Substantial changes must be made in the final bill.

Genuine reform must bring down health costs, hold insurance companies accountable, assure that all Americans can get the health care they need and be financed fairly.
   * That's why we have been steadfast in support of a public health insurance option. It is the way to break the stranglehold of the insurance industry that has led to skyrocketing health care costs that have especially penalized small business.
   * Employers must pay their fair share.
   * It makes no sense to tax the benefits of hard-working Americans to pay for health reform. The House bill curbs

insurance companies and taxes the wealthy who benefited so richly from the Bush tax cuts. The Senate bill instead includes exorbitant new taxes on middle class health benefits that would affect one in five workers with employer-provided health coverage-or about 31 million people-in 2016. That's the wrong way to pay for health care reform and it's political suicide.

The House bill is the right model for reform. It covers more people, takes effect more quickly and is financed more fairly. The AFL-CIO is ready to fight on behalf of all working families to produce a final bill that can be called genuine reform. Working people cannot accept anything less."