USW on Black History Month: It Is Our Duty to Fight Injustice Everywhere

Contact: Chelsey Engel, (412) 212-8173, cengel@usw.org

(Pittsburgh) — The United Steelworkers (USW) union released the following statement in honor of Black History Month:

We enter Black History Month with a renewed urgency this year, as the fight for democracy faces new existential challenges.

The national theme selected, “African Americans and Labor,” serves as a stark reminder of how intertwined the challenges of advancing civil and workers’ rights remain.

“It is vital to our future to remember the past, including all of the incredible contributions Black Americans have made to improve working and social conditions here in the United States,” said USW Vice President of Human Affairs Kevin Mapp.

From Bayard Rustin, who organized the March on Washington, to Hattie Canty, who organized a 75-day strike of casino workers, it is clear that Black Americans are some of the most resilient and determined leaders in our communities.

This month, we uplift their legacies. We must also use this time to reflect on what each of us can do to protect and advance civil rights, such as building out our Civil and Human Rights Committees in our local unions and donating to mutual aid groups.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It is our honor and our duty to embrace this principle across the labor movement.

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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, tech and service occupations.