USW Activists, Allies Hold Rally Calling for Safer, Healthier Workplaces

Contact: Bonnie Reese, 717-870-3680

PITTSBURGH – About 100 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) and their allies marched through downtown Pittsburgh on Friday, Aug. 22, calling on lawmakers and employers to prioritize worker health and safety in the face of federal budget cuts.

Behind a banner calling for “Safe Jobs Now,” workers marched from the union’s headquarters to a rally in Mellon Square Park. Speakers included U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, USW International Secretary-Treasurer Myles Sullivan, and several USW members from across the United States and Canada, including Kayla Flowers, Shelley Savoury and Curtis Green.

Wearing a USW shirt, Deluzio criticized the Trump administration’s cuts to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other agencies, saying that the issue of keeping workers safe should be a bipartisan one.

“This isn’t supposed to be a complicated thing,” Deluzio said. “But we know that it is. And we know the cost of the work that you and your brothers and sisters all over this country do, it can be dangerous.”

Speakers at the rally highlighted statistics from the AFL-CIO’s report, “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect,” including that 5,283 workers were killed on the job in the United States in 2023, while an estimated 135,304 workers died from occupational diseases. Employers also reported nearly 3.2 million work-related injuries and illnesses, which carry an estimated cost between $174 billion and $348 billion per year.

The Trump administration’s budget includes significant cuts to OSHA, the elimination of the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), and a reduction in the number of OSHA inspectors. These changes are just a few examples of the administration’s efforts to decimate worker safety and health agencies.

As workers marched through the streets Friday, they chanted “safe jobs now” and handed out informational flyers detailing the potential effects of cuts to federal safety agencies.

As Savoury declared in her remarks: “Workplace safety isn’t a privilege. It’s a right.”

The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, technology and service occupations.

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