President Conway Talks Worker Activism on the Leslie Marshall Show

USW International President Tom Conway appeared on the Leslie Marshall Show this week to discuss how workers are leading the way on a host of challenges, from economic inequality to trade policy.

The most effective way for workers to harness their power is to organize, Conway said.

“If your goal is to take care of yourself and your family and have a thriving community so you’re not always struggling and watching the companies is reap benefits and walk away – there’s no other way to do it without a strong labor movement and without organizing,” Conway said.

One vital area in which workers and their unions are leading the way is on trade. Through filing trade cases with the International Trade Commission, advocating for controls on bad actors like China and Russia and working closely with the USTR, the USW is ensuring workers’ concerns remain at the forefront of the nation’s trade policy, Conway said.

“Our union has been very active on trade issues for decades now,” Conway said. “We’re largely made up of a lot of trade impacted industries, steel, aluminum, cement, others, and we had to become experts on this.”

Workers are further using their power to promote needed legislation, like bills supporting veterans, and to repeal bad laws, as they recently did in turning back destructive right-to-work measures in Michigan.

“Real, lasting, positive change can only be achieved when workers come together,” Conway said.

Listen to the full interview below.