Contact: Jess Kamm Broomell, 412-562-2444, jkamm@usw.org
United Steelworkers (USW) International President Tom Conway testified today before the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, calling for robust investments in domestic manufacturing that will both create jobs and reduce emissions.
“We can and must transform our manufacturing sector to become the cleanest, most efficient, most advanced in the world,” said Conway in his testimony. “Our goal should be to accomplish that mission without displacing a single worker.”
This will require financial commitments from top policymakers, so that manufacturers can upgrade their operations to make them more efficient, Conway said. These include the recommendations outlined in the BlueGreen Alliance’s manufacturing agenda released last week.
Ensuring that domestic manufacturers can remain globally competitive as they make costly investments is also essential.
“As long as domestic manufacturers are bearing any cost of reducing emissions that is not borne by foreign competitors, they will be at a disadvantage in the marketplace,” said Conway. “Therefore, we must also have a strong, comprehensive, and timely border adjustment mechanism.”
Finally, preserving and creating good, family-sustaining jobs must remain the central focus. “We must, above all, ensure that American workers are the leaders of this charge, not the victims of it,” Conway said.
Read the full testimony here.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, mining, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, the service, public and health care sectors and higher education.