Six days ago, members of the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) began “From Fargo to Findlay: A Journey for Justice.” On February 27, the Journey concluded with a roundtable discussion about the most recent wave of greed-motivated corporate attacks on workers and their unions at the Ohio AFL-CIO’s Columbus, Ohio headquarters.

Eight locked-out workers traveled over 1,000 miles from the American Crystal Sugar Company offices near Fargo, ND, to Cooper Tire and Rubber Company’s headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, and participated in rallies, fundraisers, and direct actions with local union members and allies along the way.

Workers who participated in the Journey shared their perspectives on the six-state tour. The Journey was originally intended to wrap with a rally in Findlay, but plans changed when the USW announced last week that it reached a tentative agreement with Cooper and scheduled a ratification vote by the members of Local 207L for Feb. 27.

Participants said that the Journey inspired union solidarity among workers at stops along the route as well as from supporters following the Journey on-line. Supporters followed the Journey via the workers’ weblog, crystalgreed.com/journeyforjustice/, and sent messages of solidarity to the Journey using Facebook and Twitter.

“We’ve seen the power of solidarity at work in bargaining, during the lockout, and on the road,” said USW Local 207L Rapid Response Coordinator Robert Greer. “We all understand that we are stronger together than we are divided.”

That observation was echoed by the other participants, who understand that the fight for fairness and dignity on the job extends beyond the ACS and Cooper labor disputes.

“We are sharing our stories about the ways Crystal Sugar’s lockout is affecting us and our families,” saidLee Schlichtmann, who is currently locked out of ACS’s Hillsboro facility. “We’ve learned there are many other companies using the recession as an excuse for taking advantage of their workers too. It’s bullying, and workers shouldn’t have to take it.”

Journey participants reported that sharing their personal stories about being locked out inspires activism in others because workers know that if companies like American Crystal Sugar and Cooper Tire are successful at driving down wages and cutting benefits, their employers may follow suit.

“The support we’ve received over the last five days has strengthened my resolve to keep up our fight for a fair contract,” said Becki Jacobson, a 30-year ACS employee from Moorhead, Minn. ”If Crystal Sugar succeeds in breaking our union with a lockout, other companies will try the same thing with their union workers.”

In recent months, thousands of workers throughout North America have been locked out of their jobs at Caterpillar, Rio Tinto Alcan, HealthBridge and elsewhere as employers try to drive wages and benefits down so that corporate executives can continue to enjoy bonuses and other compensation worth millions of dollars.

“We set out to spread the message that we must stand together to make a difference, and we sent that message loud and clear,” said USW Local 207L Women of Steel Coordinator Teresa Brown, a 12-year Cooper employee. “Out our fight and the fight for justice for thousands of other workers continues every day.”

The USW represents about 850,000 workers in a wide variety of industries, ranging from glass making, mining, paper, steel, tire and rubber and other manufacturing environments to the public sector, service and health care industries. The BCTGM represents approximately 100,000 workers in bakeries, candy, cereal, sugar, grain mills, tobacco plants, food processing and manufacturing facilities and occupations related to these industries.

For more information, contact: Michael Moore, BCTGM, 651-303-9865; Tony Montana, USW, 412-562-2592

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/unitedsteelworkers/

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Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), on February 07, 2012 issued a positive but cautious reaction to the signing of understandings reached by the U.S. with the European Union, and separately with Japan, in long running trade disputes over antidumping methodology called ‘zeroing.’

“USW members have been a petitioner or supporter of more than a third of the antidumping cases brought against imports during the last twenty years,” Gerard said.  “Strong trade remedy laws are important for stopping the destructive practices of many of our trading partners who dump products in our market that harm our union members and domestic producers.”

Historically, U.S. law has captured 100 percent of dumping found with no reduction based on non-dumped sales. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body, in a series of decisions in the last decade, viewed the WTO Antidumping Agreement as requiring WTO members to give ‘credit’ for non-dumped sales. The U.S. under two Administrations has viewed the WTO Appellate Body decisions as overreaching and contrary to what the U.S. had negotiated.

The agreements made by the USTR with the European Union and Japan were the result of U.S. efforts to settle long standing disputes with two major trading partners.

The USW has long urged a clarification of U.S. rights within the WTO in the ongoing Doha negotiations to specifically permit capture of 100 percent of dumping found, while also seeking to clarify the intended limits on the power of the WTO Appellate Body. The announcement from U.S. Ambassador Ron Kirk is a positive development on two counts – and raises cautions on a third.

“One count of our core objectives has been met with these announced agreements – a prospective application of any change – meaning no retroactivity – while avoiding retaliation is certainly a very positive outcome,” Gerard said.

“Also positive is Ambassador Kirk’s confirmation that the U.S. will continue to pursue clarification of our rights within the WTO to apply zeroing, which is important to all companies and their workers who rely on conditions of fair trade in the U.S.  We will be working with the Administration to see that the clarification happens as quickly as possible,” he added.

The USW President acknowledged there was no question that the modification will significantly undermine the historic ability of our antidumping duty law to address all injurious dumping. ”U.S. manufacturers and their workers will be disadvantaged, which now makes clarification of such rights extremely important.”

Gerard said the USW will be monitoring how the changes are implemented and trusts that the Administration will rebalance the operation of U.S. law so jobs are not needlessly lost to international price discrimination. “This is a highly technical area of the law but, it has a huge impact on the jobs of our members,” he explained.

“The Administration has the opportunity to review and alter existing U.S. practices by reviewing our rights under international law and determining how we can alter our approach to address the predatory pricing of our competitors to implement our rights and fight for our producers and workers.”

Gerard emphasized: “Rebalancing must be a priority of the Obama Administration and of the Congress.  No group has a greater interest in the vigorous enforcement of our antidumping law than the men and women who are employed in American manufacturing facilities.”

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/unitedsteelworkers/

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United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard expressed support for the Administration’s decision to challenge partisan politics and not bow to Republican pressure to prematurely approve TransCanada’s permit to develop a proposed 1,700-mile pipeline.  The Keystone XL Pipeline would transport crude oil and bitumen from Alberta, Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast.

“The Administration made the right decision to ensure that a project of this scale is done in a way that is good for both jobs and the environment,” said Gerard. “The White House is facing forces in Congress that have decided to use this project as a litmus test for their commitment to jobs, at the same time as they have blocked the door to every one of the Administration’s job proposals, but the fact is more time is needed to ensure that this project will have the economic and environmental benefits claimed by the developer.”

Proponents of the pipeline estimate that the project will create 13,000 construction jobs, 7,000 manufacturing jobs and allow the U.S. to supply our oil needs with Canada, a long-standing ally instead of unstable nations.

“While the jobs projections are promising, more needs to be done to ensure that North American companies and workers will benefit,” said Gerard. “We’ve seen too many instances where key elements of our nation’s infrastructure were outsourced to foreign producers – such as the $7 billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge project that is being built using questionable steel from a state-owned Chinese company.

“That project is a slap in the face to American manufacturing workers at a time when unemployment is still high and U.S. factories are still closing.  We have to make sure that if there is going to be a TransCanada pipeline, manufacturing workers will benefit by using as much North American material as possible in its construction.”

The USW says that the State Department’s decision to deny the current permit does not prevent the potential development and deployment of a TransCanada pipeline as the door remains open for the project to be proposed again.  In fact, TransCanada, the lead company on the pipeline project, already has said it intends to re-apply for the needed permits.

“When dealing with our nation’s infrastructure, we have to make sure that we tap all of our capacity and ingenuity to build and repair it,” said Gerard. “That means making sure that as many of the component parts – from the pipe to the valves and cement – are made using North American materials.”

Much to the dismay of our idled members at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Steel facility, in 2009 TransCanada sourced most of the pipe from India for the initial stages.  At that time, over 2,000 Steelworkers were laid off for lack of orders.  To add insult to injury, the Indian pipe destined for the ConocoPhillips/TransCanada pipeline sat right outside the idled steel plant.

“Ensuring a domestic supply chain is our only chance to grow both the American workforce and our critical manufacturing sector,” said Gerard. “When TransCanada presents its new proposal for a pipeline, the USW looks forward to working with the Administration and others to ensure that the eventual project is done in the safest and most economically beneficial way for our members and their communities,” said Gerard.

The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors.

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