INSIDEUSW@WORK In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work.’ It is a law to rob us of our civil rights “ and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone. Martin Luther King Jr., 1961” INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD

Leo W. Gerard International President

Stan Johnson Int’l. Secretary-Treasurer 04 12 Thomas M. Conway PAPER MILL SAVED POLITICAL ACTION Int’l. Vice President The once shuttered Great Northern Paper mill in USW activists helped to win the presidential (Administration) East Millinocket, Maine, is up and running again election for Barack Obama by focusing on the Fred Redmond thanks to a USW-led effort to find a buyer and a economy, the need for good jobs, fair taxes and Int’l. Vice President timely paper order from a book publisher. preserving Medicare and Social Security. (Human Affairs)

Ken Neumann Nat’l. Dir. for Canada

Jon Geenen Int’l. Vice President

Gary Beevers 16 22 Int’l. Vice President ATOMIC WORKERS LIFELONG LEARNING Carol Landry The USW is fighting to save jobs and benefits The Institute for Career Development offers edu- Vice President at Large at nuclear sites across the United States that are cational opportunities for career and personal operated by contractors for the U.S. Department development to steelworkers at participating of Energy. companies in the steel, tire and glass industries.

DIRECTORS FEATURES ON THE COVER David R. McCall, District 1 Speaking Out 03 Rick Croft operates a cutting machine at Roaring Spring Paper Products. Trade Watch 26 Members of Local 488 produce notebooks, journals and other stationery Michael Bolton, District 2 News Bytes 32 products at the 125-year-old firm in rural Pennsylvania. Stephen Hunt, District 3 Union Security Clause 35 Photo by Steve Dietz John Shinn, District 4 Daniel Roy, District 5 Marty Warren, District 6 Jim Robinson, District 7 Ernest R. “Billy” Thompson, District 8 Volume 08/No.1 Winter 2013 Daniel Flippo, District 9 COMMUNICATIONS STAFF: Official publication of the United Steelworkers Jim McKay, Editor Direct inquiries and articles for USW@Work to: John DeFazio, District 10 Wayne Ranick, Director of Communications United Steelworkers Communications Department Robert Bratulich, District 11 Gary Hubbard, Director of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C. Five Gateway Center Aaron Hudson and Kenny Carlisle, Designers Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Robert LaVenture, District 12 Deb Davidek, Chelsey Engel, Lynne Hancock, R.J. Hufnagel, phone 412-562-2400 J.M. “Mickey” Breaux, District 13 Jess Kamm, Tony Montana, Barbara White Stack fax 412-562-2445 online: www.usw.org

USW@Work (ISSN 1931-6658) is published four times a year by the United Steelworkers AFL-CIO•CLC Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Subscriptions to non-members: $12 for one year; $20 for two years. Periodicals postage paid at Pittsburgh, PA and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: USW@Work, USW Membership Department, 3340 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville, TN 37211

Copyright 2013 by United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO•CLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the United Steelworkers. 2 USW@Work • Winter 2013 NFL Proves Value of Union Labor tions regarding the manufacturing of auto parts I’m not an avid NFL fan, but the referee designated for export. This should be on every lockout was interesting, fan or not. news station in the country. The last straw for the owners was the Sept. We are actually doing something about trade 24 Packers-Seahawks game. With the full bless- with China. Call it whatever you want, but we ing of the NFL, the replacements got it wrong. have been getting tough on China for a few It was so bad that public outcry drowned out the years now. From tires and oil field pipe to rare defiance of the owners. earth minerals necessary for advanced electron- The owners were trying to eliminate the ics, the U.S. markets have been at the mercy of union referees’ pension, substitute a 401(k) and dumping and other unfair trade practices. offer no raises. With that blown call, the owners’ I applaud the administration for its efforts to house of cards fell. stop the practice of treating American consum- Who was leading the charge? Wait for it — ers like an ATM. The Chinese agreed to play Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Yes, the union- ball by the rules set forward in the World Trade buster wanted the union refs back. It was ironic, Organization, and immediately after making but priceless. that agreement, they began breaking that I hope the tea partiers learned a valuable agreement. lesson: skilled, experienced and hardworking union members — police, firefighters, nurses, George Calko, Field Coordinator teachers, athletes, referees and others — form Alliance for American Manufacturing the backbone of our nation’s economic success. Thank You for Union Benefits Chris Tunney, Local 1123 Keep up the good work. It feels good to Louisville, Ohio retire with union earned benefits. Remember Sparrows Point David S. McAdoo, retired Local 1026 “Where do we go from here?” is the question Ogdensburg N.Y. Sparrows Point steelworkers are asking today. The time of the mighty steel mill is over. Over Want Less Unemployment? the years, many plants closed. Many thought, Buy American “The Point” was different; nothing could stop I am not a professor of economics. I am a the massive steel manufacturer. retired steelworker living in Arkansas. But this While the loss of jobs is devastating to indi- is what I see: Made in China, Made in Mexico, vidual workers and their families, the commu- Made in Korea, Made in India, Made in Paki- nity has also lost a part of its identity. Soon, no stan, Made in Japan. one will remember the contributions we made to I believe this is why we have unemployment. the construction and defense of this great nation. There is nothing imported into this country that An historical marker should be placed on cannot be made here, and with better quality. North Point Road to mark the historical contri- Made in America. butions of the plant. Although the plans for the future of the property are unclear, what cannot Thomas Hoffman be denied and should never be forgotten is the Bella Vista, Ark. significance of Sparrows Point. The memory of the steelworkers who lost their lives making the USW active and retired steel used to create and defend this great nation Counting on VEBA members and their must be honored. On behalf of all members of SOAR chapter families are invited to 27-6, I would like to thank (District 1 Director) “speak out” on these LeRoy R. McClelland Sr., Local 2609 Dave McCall and his hard working committee pages. Letters should be Essex, Md. for negotiating a new agreement with Arcelor- short and to the point. Mittal that continues to fund our VEBA. We reserve the right to This is something our members always edit for length. Getting Tough on China Trade count on. You also have made believers out of Recently the U.S. Trade Representative Ron those retirees who ask what has our union done Mail to: Kirk sent a letter of dispute to the World Trade for me. Organization on behalf of the American auto USW@Work Five Gateway Center, industry. Mr. Kirk asked the WTO to contact Tom Leone, retired LTV the Chinese government on its ongoing viola- Pittsburgh PA 15222 Youngstown, Ohio or e-mail: [email protected]

USW@Work • Winter 2013 3 ith a little help from the popular novel Fifty Shades of Grey, the once shuttered Great Northern Paper mill in EastW Millinocket, Maine, has successfully been back in business for more than a year. The mill, built in the early 1900s, is nestled in the forests of what once was one of the biggest paper-producing regions in the country. At its height, after a series of expansions in the 1950s, the mill operated Below: six papermaking machines and employed Left more than 1,000 people. Wood pile Foreign and domestic competition Middle Separating bark and other unus- gradually chipped away at Great Northern’s able waste materials from wood market share and the mill changed hands that will be used to make paper nearly a half dozen times after the early Right USW member marks a cut roll of 1980s. It finally closed in April 2011, leav- paper with ID number and size ing all but a handful of 220 workers without jobs and devastating the small mill town. Now, thanks to a USW-led effort to find new ownership and a timely order from Vintage Books, a division of Random House, the mill is open again, running two of the six machines and employing 257 people, including 140 members of Local 4-37.

4 USW@Work • Winter 2013 Bruce Cox, who was president of The road to the one-year anniversary Local 4-37 for over 25 years until this was a difficult one. Almost all of the jobs January, is optimistic about the future in East Millinocket were connected to the prospects of the mill, which was pur- mill in some way, and its closure rever- chased by the investment firm Cate Street berated throughout the local economy. Capital and reopened in October 2011. While the mill was closed, other lo- “I feel good about it,” Cox said. “We cal unions in Maine rallied around their made record production in the last six union brothers and sisters, donating food, months. Employees are doing the right clothes and money to help support them thing. Management is doing the right while they were unemployed. thing, and hopefully we’ll get some more The Katahdin Labor Council raised investment in the plant.” thousands of dollars to assist laid-off Stuart Kallgren, who just took over as employees, much of which went towards local president, agrees. He said that un- helping them buy home heating fuel. like previous owners, Cate Street is mak- The USW also worked with the ing a sincere effort to invest in the mill. Maine government to find a suitable It will take money to make it competitive buyer for the mill. The first interest came again, but, he added, “people have hope from a company that was looking only now.” to profit from the town’s misfortunes, making an offer that would have forced Expanding production, jobs the workers to take huge cuts to pay and The roughly 4,000 tons of paper that benefits. Random House ordered to print Fifty Shades of Grey and its two sequels gave Reviving Great Northern Great Northern a boost just as Cate Street Cate Street was different. They was considering expanding. Last sum- insisted on some tough compromises, mer, the mill was able to start production in particular asking the two USW lo- on the second machine, adding 37 jobs. cal unions and seven locals from other Fifty Shades of Grey and its sequels, unions to consolidate into a single entity. notable primarily for their erotic themes While all the unions rejected consoli- and explosive popularity, have sold more dation, they were willing to form a coun- than 35 million copies worldwide, setting cil to speak on behalf of the non-USW the record for fastest-selling paperbacks union workers and to merge Local 4-152 of all time. into Local 4-37 so that Cate Street would While the paper dedicated to Fifty only deal directly with two union groups. Shades of Grey represents just a small Cate Street also made it clear that fraction of the roughly 180,000 tons the they were invested in the continuing mill produced this year, the order’s size success of the mill. The management and timing helped support additional hir- was adamant that they revive the Great ing and the use of the second machine. Northern Paper brand, linking it with the The trilogy also has given Great original mill that was built over a hun- Northern national publicity, including dred years ago. a segment on NBC’s Rock Center with In the end, Cate Street agreed to buy Brian Williams dedicated to the impact the mill without demanding any wage of the book series on the newly reopened cuts from workers. mill. Now, Cate Street is making invest- In addition to the Fifty Shades of Grey ments to ensure that there will be plenty trilogy, Great Northern has contributed of other milestone celebrations, including Members of Local 4-37 tend the winder, a machine paper to popular titles like Girl with the a $1.5 million plan to replace one of the that cuts massive rolls of newly-made paper into manageable widths Dragon Tattoo, Game of Thrones, Les plant’s heating oil burners with a liquid Misérables, and The Merck Manual of natural gas burner. Photos by Gabor Degre Medical Information. “Its customer base is pleased with Last October, the workers and the the product of our work and anxious community joined together for a celebra- to buy more of it,” staff representative tion of the mill’s first year in operation Duane Lugdon said of the mill. “It seems since the reopening. Among the attendees hopeful that the East Millinocket site will was U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine), continue to make its way back to promi- who worked at the mill for nearly 30 nence in the paper industry.” years and remains a card-carrying mem- ber of the USW.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 5 ave Bowers runs a high- Daniel M. Bare founded the Roaring merger with the Paper, Allied-Industrial, speed ruling machine that Spring Blank Book Co. to produce Chemical and Energy Workers Union prepares paper to be cut, blank ledgers and journals for the busi- (PACE). folded and stitched into the nesses of the day. Prior to PACE, the plant’s employ- Dmarbled black and white composition The company marked its 125th anni- ees were represented by the United books known by generations of students versary in 2012 and remains one of the Paperworkers Industrial Union (UPIU), and writers. largest independently owned produc- which merged with the Oil, Chemical He’s one of 206 USW members who ers of school and office supplies in the and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) to proudly continue a 125-year tradition United States. It churns out more than form PACE in 1999. of converting rolls of paper into note- 20 million notebooks a year including Production worker and USW mem- books, journals and other stationery private-label products sold by national ber Jon Carmadre boxed bundles of products at Roaring Spring Paper Prod- retail chains. Other products include small notebooks on a shrink wrap line ucts in rural Martinsburg, Pa. pads, tablets, filler paper, composition and talked about his job and his plan to “Nowadays, you have people who books and pocket folders. retire this March. work three, four or more jobs in their “It has been an enjoyable 24 years. lifetimes,” Bowers said as he tended to Family-owned survivor I wake up every day with a smile,” said a large paper roll used in the process. Employees say the jobs supported by Carmadre, who was wearing a USW “This is the job I stuck with. I have no Roaring Spring, a family-owned survi- shirt as he worked. “I’m glad we have complaints.” vor in an era of global paper companies, a union here. We have lots of things we The business began in 1887 when are among the best in Blair County, wouldn’t have without one.” located some 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in central Pennsylvania. Committed work force Employees have been unionized Five generations of Bare descen- since 1955. The USW has represented dants have overseen the business as it workers at the plant since the 2005 grew from a handful of customers more than a century ago to thousands of ac- counts nationwide, including university and college bookstores. “This company has always had a

Ron Calhoun Gary Bisher

Rusty Beers

Nick Ritchey

Pat Dick

Dave Bowers

6 USW@Work • Winter 2013 committed work force and management “That’s part of the reason why I centerpiece of the small town. team, and that is why we survived,” do what I do in the union. It directly The spring provided clean and President and CEO Daniel Hoover, impacts my family and the community,” dependable water for a paper mill Bare Bare’s great-great-grandson, said in a Bowers said. “I’d love to retire from and some partners built in 1865. The statement commemorating the com- here, and I do like to work here. I don’t Roaring Spring Blank Book headquar- pany’s 125th anniversary. want to see anything happen to this ters remains in Roaring Spring, over- The business has often been a fam- place.” looking a spring-fed pond. ily affair for employees too, said Chris Bare initially founded the ledger- The paper mill that anchors the town Bowers, president of Local 488, who making company a few miles away of Roaring Spring was sold decades ago counts his father, a brother and a sister from Martinsburg in Roaring Spring, among relatives who have worked for Pa., a community he helped to establish the company. around a large natural spring, still a

Nick Ritchey

Gunnar Buchart

Local 488 President Chris Bowers

USW Photos/ Steve Dietz

USW@Work • Winter 2013 7 and now is owned by Appleton Papers, Nathan Hazenstab was overseeing a Countering imports a specialty coated paper maker based in Renz machine, one of the oldest in the Roaring Spring and other U.S. Wisconsin. plant. It converts large rolls of yellow producers of lined school paper struggle The school and office products op- paper into lined sheets destined to be to compete against lower-cost foreign eration, renamed Roaring Spring Paper bound into legal pads. products and now are operating with Products in 1990, moved to Martinsburg Ron Calhoun was using another the help of import tariffs supported by in 1992, taking over a former Green Gi- model of a Renz machine that produces the USW and designed to counteract ant canning building that was also used story board books with space on each dumped and subsidized products from for apple packing. page for children to both write a story China and India. Folding and stitching and draw a picture. Tariffs were dropped in 2012 against “It’s an interesting process,” Cal- products made in Indonesia after a During a tour, Butch Mobley was houn said as he ran from one end of his operating a complicated machine that mandatory five-year review of the trade clattering machine to another, making sanctions by the U.S. International assembles composition books from the sure there were no problems. “A lot of paper prepared earlier. The machine Trade Commission and the U.S. Com- people don’t know what goes into mak- merce Department, which continued the folds and stitches the pages of the books ing a notebook.” and glues on a hard cardboard cover. restrictions against China and India for Stacks of drawing books were another five years. trimmed to size by an automated Dave Shriver, the plant’s operations machine with a large cutting blade that manager, said Roaring Spring competes is changed at least once a day, said its with imports in part by offering a varied operator, Rick Croft, financial secretary product line, including green books and past president of the local. made from the fibers of crushed sug- Pat Dick, the company’s most senior arcane stalks, and by providing small employee with 48 years of service, was personalized product runs to school working on a Bielomatik machine that bookstores. rounds the corners of notebook paper, School products can be decorated punches holes and binds the pages with with college and university names and spiral wire into a notebook. She said logos and produced in runs too small the process has become increasingly au- to be attractive to importers, Shriver tomated over the years she has worked said. Employee Gunnar Buchart showed there. off how this is done with a hot foil stamping printer that decorates brightly colored school folders. “We can be nimble,” Shriver said.

Jon Carmadre

Julia Griffith

Nathan Hazenstab

USW Photos/ Steve Dietz

Butch Mobley

8 USW@Work • Winter 2013 aper workers from 20 countries gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, in November to build ties of solidarity with union brothers Pand sisters from across the globe. The gathering included 10 rank-and- file leaders from the USW and Unite, the largest union in Great Britain and Ireland and a partner with the USW in the global union, Workers Uniting. The IndustriALL Global Conference on the Pulp and Paper Industries, held from Nov. 12 to 14, brought together 135 union leaders from 35 unions in 23 countries. The aim was to build net- works of union members at common President Jon Geenen, who led the USW paper industry director. employers. delegation. “These networks are the key Those discussions helped the delega- Even before the official conference to global solidarity at a rank-and-file tion craft a work plan that will guide the began, members had already begun level and provide a vehicle for exchang- international work in the paper sector in building ties. Members who work for ing knowledge and information.” the coming years. The conference par- global paper companies including Inter- Ten rank-and-file leaders from Unite ticipants also elected leadership for the national Paper, SCA, Kimberly Clark, and the USW participated in the confer- pulp and paper section of IndustriALL Sappi, Norske Skog and Empresas ence, accompanied by staff and officers. for the next four years. CMPC met to exchange information and Discussions focused on topics includ- Jan-Henrik Sandberg, president of establish contacts. ing sustainable development, health and the Swedish Paper Workers’ Union, will “Workers Uniting is driving an safety, pension reform, creation of trade serve as chairman, and USW Assistant to agenda of building union networks at union networks, training, and strength- the President Leeann Foster was elected some of the world’s largest paper indus- ening of unity among trade unions, said vice chair. try employers,” said International Vice Anatoly Surin, IndustriALL pulp and

early 2,000 workers at former box plants in the United States. “Confronting this standardization and Temple-Inland Inc. paper The purchase made IP the largest building opportunity out of it was the mills and box plants have North American producer of corrugated main challenge of these negotiations.” successfully merged into the packaging commonly used to make ship- International Vice President Jon NUSW’s master agreements with Interna- ping boxes. Geenen, co-chair of the IP council, said tional Paper (IP). International President Leo W. that the discussions marked a significant The integration came in two stages Gerard credited solidarity among the departure from – and improvement to late last year after IP purchased its union’s members and shop floor activism – the traditional location-by-location ap- one-time competitor for approximately for the successful integration. proach to integration into the IP system, $4.5 billion, including the assumption of “Especially when bargaining with and more importantly, secured the future some $700 million in debt. huge corporations like IP, our members of these important facilities within the Some 1,100 workers at 18 former understand that standing together to fight system. Temple-Inland box plants voted last for a fair contract gives us power at the “We’ve achieved a fair contract that October by a 90 percent margin to ac- bargaining table,” Gerard said. improves and protects our wages and cept inclusion into the union’s master Integrating workers from Temple- benefits while at the same time enhanc- economic agreement with IP. Inland, where pay, benefits and other ing the long-term viability and security A month earlier, steelworkers from conditions varied widely by location, of our plants, our jobs and our union,” Temple Inland mills in Bogalusa, La.; into IP’s more uniform structure present- Geenen said. Rome, Ga.; Newport, Ind.; and Orange, ed a unique challenge, said International “Our negotiating committee showed Texas, ratified a similar agreement that Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson, who tremendous leadership and solidarity merged their 843 members into the chairs the union’s IP council. in working through a complicated and USW’s IP Mill Master Agreement. “Labor agreements with IP are very sometimes frustrating process, and our Overall, with the Temple-Inland standardized across the system and union is stronger as a result.” integrations, the USW represents about standardization has occurred in every 10,000 workers at IP’s paper mills and previous acquisition,” Johnson said.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 9 ocal 10-1 President Jim Sav- not be sold. Shortly afterwards, Cono- expensive light sweet crude oil that Su- age, with a lot of help from the coPhillips announced it, too, would shut noco had previously relied upon. International Union, was busy down the nearby Trainer, Pa., refinery if With state financial assistance, last year trying to save Sunoco’s a buyer could not be found. Philadelphia Energy Solutions plans to LSouth Philadelphia refinery and the good At stake were refinery jobs and the upgrade the cat cracker, a refinery unit jobs and way of life his members had survival of entire communities. where heavy oil is broken down into long known working there. lighter fuels, and build a high-speed Today, a year later, he and hundreds Delta subsidiary buys Trainer railroad terminal to unload shale oil, as of his USW brothers and sisters are cel- The hard work paid off April 30 when well as a power plant that would operate ebrating a successful union-led effort to Delta Air Lines and its subsidiary, Mon- on shale gas. preserve and rejuvenate a regional indus- roe Energy LLC, reached an agreement About 15 to 20 companies have ex- try that supplies gasoline, heating oil and with Phillips 66, ConocoPhillips’s refin- pressed interest in being at the site. “This jet fuel to East Coast consumers. ing and chemical company, to purchase is property we consider to be sacred Saving the refinery was a bottom- the Trainer complex and use it to produce ground, and we will make sure the activi- to-top effort for the USW that involved jet fuel. ties that take place there provide family- members and leaders of locals 10-1, The project is expected to cost sustaining jobs,” Savage said. “We look 10-901 and 10-23, International Presi- Monroe about $100 million to convert forward to Carlyle making these invest- dent Leo W. Gerard, International Vice the refinery to jet fuel production. It is ments and having them pay off.” President Tom Conway, the union’s leg- projected to employ about 400 people While Marcus Hook will not operate islative staff in Washington, D.C., and its and reduce Delta’s annual fuel costs. as a refinery, Sunoco Logistics Partners strategic campaigns, research and public Several months later, the Carlyle has announced it will reopen as a ter- affairs departments, among others. The Group, a private equity firm, and Sunoco minal to process, store and distribute pro- USW lobbied every level of government formed a joint venture, Philadelphia pane and ethane – lucrative liquids that from local to the White House. Energy Solutions, to run the 146-year-old are extracted alongside natural gas from “I’ve had salaried people come up facility and save about 850 jobs. Phila- the Marcellus Shale formation. Some to me and shake my hand and say thank delphia Energy Solutions took over the laid-off Marcus Hook workers have you,” Savage said. “Everybody is proud refinery in September. been able to find work at the Trainer and to have been part of the campaign and The investors saw opportunity in the South Philadelphia refineries. to see the resources the International Philadelphia refinery and the land adjoin- In addition to rescuing the refineries, brought to bear.” ing it. They plan on tapping newly avail- the USW’s effort generated more mem- In September 2011, Sunoco an- able energy resources – cheap Pennsyl- bership involvement on the local level. nounced it would close its South Phila- vania Marcellus Shale gas and growing “I think everybody realized the delphia and Marcus Hook refineries in supplies of North Dakota shale oil – to important role the union played in saving southeastern Pennsylvania if they could feed the refinery in place of relatively our refinery,” Savage said.

10 USW@Work • Winter 2013 On Dec. 8, the USW honored U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, a local congressman who helped in the effort. Other union members and leaders have learned from Savage about the union’s work to save the refineries. In August, he and International Vice President Gary Beevers traveled to Great Britain to discuss the cam- paign with officials and refinery workers from Unite, the USW’s partner in the global union Workers Uniting. They shared what worked and did not work and talked about strategies used to gain the government’s help and support of affected communities. Separately, the local union at Tesoro’s Hawaii refinery said in January it was considering conducting a similar campaign to save that facility from closing, including asking the state for financial assistance that would make the refinery more attractive to buyers. As a member of the Philadelphia AFL- CIO executive board, Savage talks about how important it was to bring everyone together for the successful campaign to save the refineries. “More than anything, we learned our lessons too,” he said. “We’ll take fewer things for granted, and I doubt we’ll let someone take our jobs away.” Local 10-1 President Jim Savage, left, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett With the drama of keeping the South Photo by Akira Suwa. Used with permission of Philadelphia Inquirer Copyright© 2013. All rights reserved. Philadelphia refinery operating behind him, Savage said, “We’re looking to have a nice, boring year.”

USW@Work • Winter 2013 11 ast summer, with the 2012 presidential election campaign in full swing, steelworker George Piasecki began his days at 3:30 La.m. with plant gate visits and ended them with late evening phone calls. The conversations Piasecki and other USW volunteers had with union mem- bers and voters helped re-elect Presi- dent Obama last November and reject a Republican economic agenda favoring the wealthy over ordinary working families. USW activists delivered a message to fellow members that focused on the economy, the need for good jobs, fair taxes and preserving Medicare and Social Security. “We were one of the first unions on the ground, and we led the charge in this election,” said Piasecki, who worked in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts during the campaign and is president of Local 12698 in suburban Philadelphia. “It was the Steelworkers from day one.” Overall, union members voted for President Obama 65 percent to 35 percent, concluding he would help working people more than Republican candidate Mitt Romney, whose platform favored the rich. Standing up for the middle class As Obama’s second term got under way in January, the USW vowed to continue grassroots political pressure to support the middle class in these tough economic times. “We need to keep the pressure on, remind them all who got them elected and make sure that they stand up for the working class,” added Daniel Nunzir, a political coordinator for District 10 in Pennsylvania. Leading to the election, an estimated 15,000 three-hour shifts were filled by volunteers who knocked on doors, made telephone calls, leafleted at plant gates and talked to co-workers after hours. Leo W. Gerard USW volunteers made 950,000 tele- phone calls with the help of new digital tools including predictive phone dialers, Political Director Tim Waters estimated. They visited 2,800 USW work sites and distributed nearly one million handbills in the general election and close to another million in the congressional primaries. The effort helped to overcome the in- fluence of rich donors, corporations and anonymous SuperPACs that lavished cash on advertising to push ultra- conservative economic ideas.

12 USW@Work • Winter 2013 “Coast to coast we were on the right for American Progress found that a l0- side of the issues and, in nearly every percent increase in a state’s unionization case, we won,’’ International President rate would boost the average income of Leo W. Gerard said afterwards. middle-class households, union or not, by $1,501 per year. New phase of combat Twenty-two state legislatures The battle for the future of the considered right-to-work legislation American middle class and its public last year, with Indiana and Michigan be- and private sector unions has entered coming the 23rd and 24th states to enact a new phase of combat – this time on versions of the anti-union law. the state level, where conservatives are In Michigan, the Republican- rapidly advancing anti-union initiatives controlled legislature rammed through and promising more to come. a bill over the angry voices of 15,000 A glimpse of the fight that’s brewing protestors. Gov. Rick Snyder, elected came in January when FreedomWorks, in the Tea Party-inspired wave of 2010, a conservative non-profit affiliated with initially claimed to oppose the legisla- the Tea Party, announced it will direct tion but abruptly changed course and its sizeable post-election war chest signed it into law in December, just as towards advancing anti-union initiatives the state’s lame-duck legislature was in the states. ending its session. On top of the conservative agenda The threat of the same anti-union is expanding misnamed right-to-work laws coming to other traditional labor laws, which prohibit unions from nego- strongholds looms as the focus turns tiating contract provisions that require Gerard likens right-to-work laws toward the 2014 election. Proposals represented workers to pay their fair to allowing voters to opt out of paying are circulating in Pennsylvania, one of share of the cost of representation. taxes while receiving all taxpayer ben- only four states having a Republican Right-to-work laws should be called efits. Such laws are designed to weaken governor and a Republican legislature “right-to-work-for-less laws” since the unions’ political and bargaining power without right-to-work laws on books. states where they are enacted, wages are and drain their financial resources, he lower, by as much as $5,000 per year, Defending voting rights said. and workers are 20 percent less likely Defending the right to vote is anoth- “It’s not only a right to work for less, to have health care or pensions through er political issue that remains on labor’s it’s a right to freeload,” Gerard said. their employers. The laws also silence agenda even though voter suppression workers’ voices, resulting in lower life All workers get hurt efforts failed in November largely expectancy, higher rates of workplace By weakening unions, right-to-work because the USW and its allies worked fatalities, and lower workers compensa- laws end up hurting all workers, union to educate voters and their communities. tion benefits. and non-union. A study by the Center Adopting the slogan, “Money Out,

USW shows its colors in Wisconsin. USW photos/Scott Weaver

Winter 2013 13 Voters In,” the USW has joined more than 50 other groups in pledging to continue the fight against the corporate influence on elections and against official actions designed to suppress the vote. Right now, the United States has an unequal system in which the rich can use their millions to flood the airwaves with inaccurate attack ads or to bully voters into staying home. “These efforts are a direct assault on our democracy,” said International Vice President Fred Redmond, noting the union’s history of fighting injustice and promoting civil rights. “We deserve a democracy that works for every single citizen, no matter where they live, how much money they have, or what their background might be,” Redmond said. Voter suppression efforts took on many forms, including limiting or elimi- nating early voting, purging legitimate voters from the rolls, instituting photo identification requirements, offering fewer polling places and fewer voting machines and deliberately making bal- lots more complicated, as well as scare tactics like menacing anti-fraud adver- tisements. Changing the rules Supporters claimed the moves were necessary to combat fraud, which is in truth extremely rare. The true aim of the campaign was clear: to keep voters away from the polls and, in doing so, help right-wing candidates win. Going forward, Republicans are try- ing to change the rules of the Electoral College in certain critical states to make it easier for their candidate to win in 2016. A Republican bill under consider- ation in Virginia as USW@Work went to press would end the current winner-take- all approach and split electoral votes between candidates based on congressio- nal district results. If every state distributed votes by congressional district, Emory Univer- sity political scientist Alan Abramowitz estimates that Romney would have won the presidency with 276 electoral votes despite losing the popular vote. While schemes to suppress turnout have been around forever, 2012 was the Protesting the passage of a first time they were part of a national, right-to-work law in Michigan in December coordinated effort by a major political USW photo/Chelsey Engel

14 USW@Work • Winter 2013 party, said the USW’s Mike Scarver, to explain the new legislation and iron who coordinated voter protection out issues related to it. activities. As part of that effort, the USW The USW and its allies fought back helped its coalition partners track down by focusing on battleground states cases of disenfranchised voters who including Ohio, Florida, Pennsylva- could become plaintiffs in lawsuits chal- nia and Virginia, as well as a few red lenging the new rules. states, such as South Carolina and Ten- The coalition won a series of favor- nessee, where the USW has members. able court rulings that helped turn back some of the most onerous suppression Fighting back together tactics. In states where court challenges “We recognized that in order to win were not successful, the groups man- this fight, we had to make it a com- aged to pressure state officials to reduce munity fight,” Scarver said, noting the effects of the suppression efforts. that the NAACP, ACLU, League of Still, the victories could be tempo- Women Voters, the Lawyers Commit- rary. Most state houses and legislatures tee for Civil Rights Under Law, local are still in Republican hands, so the ministers and youth organizations all issue is unlikely to go away any time played significant roles. soon. The USW-led coalition sponsored “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” town hall meetings across the country, Scarver said. “If we don’t keep fighting inviting both Democratic and Republi- this, they’re not going to quit.” can politicians to participate in forums

USW shows support for new U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka campaigns for Elizabeth Warren in Boston

USW photos/Scott Weaver

Tammy Baldwin campaigns for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin USW members campaign with new U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts

USW@Work • Winter 2013 15 he USW is fighting to save jobs health care, as well as a loss of vacation Outsourcing of work done by USW and benefits at nuclear sites and seniority. members at DOE sites is one of the big- across the United States that are “DOE alleges they don’t have any- gest problems atomic workers face. operated by contractors for the thing to do with our bargaining,” Phillips DOE and FBP, the Portsmouth TU.S. Department of Energy (DOE). said. “This isn’t true. The department is contractor, have told Landry and Local The USW’s Atomic Energy Work- going after legacy costs, like defined- 689 of plans to contract out service work ers Council (AEWC) confronted a top benefit pensions.” done by USW members there. DOE official at its fall 2012 meeting in Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel “DOE contracting officers are setting Washington, D.C., and demanded action Poneman acknowledged there are prob- bargaining parameters without looking at at USW-represented DOE operations in lems but appeared to skirt responsibility our contract,” said Local 689 President Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio and in his remarks to the AEWC meeting. Herman Potter. “They’re carving out our Washington. “I commit to you that we are strongly scope of work to eliminate us from doing “We’re struggling with the contrac- committed to our people, the workers, that work.” tors and the DOE is very difficult to work and we can’t get in the middle of your There is fallout. With the DOE with right now,” said James “Kip” Phil- bargaining arrangements,” he said. “We encouraging subcontractors, Potter said lips, a USW vice president at large. want to work closely with you on main- members are reluctant to bring up safety Phillips, a former vice president of taining good jobs and good training.” problems for fear they will lose their jobs the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Vice President at Large to subcontractors. Union, now part of the USW, said legacy Carol Landry, who oversees the sector, Subcontracting also is a problem at costs such as pensions and retiree health said USW members see the issues differ- the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Lo- care are under attack. ently. cal 652 leaders discussed the issue with In the past, when the DOE installed “Why is there an attack on union DOE officials last spring at an AEWC a new contractor at a site the provisions workers?” she asked. “DOE should be meeting and were able to settle many of of the union contract would carry over to supporting our members, and that doesn’t the problems they identified. the new operator. seem to be happening right now.” Since then, however, the Battelle En- The carryover didn’t happen in 2011 Landry said there seems to be no ac- ergy Alliance (BEA), an INL contractor, at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Dif- countability for contractors. has violated the settlement by reassigning fusion plant near Piketon, Ohio, which “The pot of money for them goes on work done by steelworkers to building is being decontaminated and decommis- forever, but when we raise issues, the trades union members, alleges Local 652 sioned by the DOE. money dries up,” she told Poneman. “We President Matt Chavez. The new contractor, Fluor-Babcock shouldn’t have to go to the level of the In addition, the DOE recently issued a Portsmouth (FBP), is doing the same (USW) international president or your ruling at the Idaho site that could result in work as the previous contractor, but the level to resolve day-to-day issues.” USW maintenance work being shifted to DOE decided that the new contractor did Poneman responded by saying that subcontractors. The USW is appealing. not have to abide by the labor agreement. the DOE needs to improve transparency. Outsourcing even affects the quality As a result, workers saw benefit cuts “It’s going to take a lot more to see it’s of respirators used by USW members at including the end of pensions and retiree right on a system-wide basis,” he said. the DOE’s gaseous diffusion site at

Workers on the job at the DOE’s gaseous diffusion site at Paducah, Ky.

USW photos/Earl Dotter

16 USW@Work • Winter 2013 Paducah, Ky., said Local 550 Vice Presi- dent Jim Key. A DOE contract supplier at Paducah was returning inoperable and dirty respi- rators to USW-represented workers who handle residual plutonium and neptunium. Key said some of the respirators were con- taminated above acceptable limits. Since the AWEC meeting, the DOE’s Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) discussed the problem with Key and scheduled a visit to investigate the supplier’s site at Buford, S.C. ore former atomic work- have been involved since the early days Washington Tru Solutions, the previ- ers now have access to a of the screening program, which was ous contractor at the Waste Isolation Pilot potential life-saving can- conceived as part of a “needs assess- Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M., refused to cer test since the USW’s ment” conducted in 1998. Colvin said honor seniority when it laid off 40 work- EarlyM Lung Cancer Detection Program the screening program is vital not only ers and terminated the local president. The expanded last November to offer low- in detecting lung cancer in its early contractor tried to use the situation to force dose CT scans to former workers at the stages, but also in correctly identifying the union to drop 40 grievances. Idaho National Laboratory (INL). diseases that often are misdiagnosed. The local filed unfair labor practice The cancer screening program, the Colvin shared the story of a nurse charges, and the National Labor Relations largest of its kind in the United States, who developed chronic beryllium Board (NLRB) found the firing was a is part of the Worker Health Protec- disease after treating workers at the labor violation. tion Program (WHPP), funded by the laboratory. “We’ve found a number of In Hanford, Wash., Local 369 and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and people here who were being treated for unions are facing demands for massive co-sponsored with Queens College of the wrong diseases,” he said. concessions from the DOE’s contractor, the City University of New York. The Colvin’s wife, who also worked at CH2M HILL, including wage, health care program already has provided more INL, underwent a low-dose CT scan and pension cuts. than 11,000 low-dose CT screenings after a chest X-ray revealed an abnor- Phillips believes the DOE is playing a for workers at eight DOE sites in addi- mality in her lung. role behind the scenes. “There’s no way tion to Idaho. Work-related lung cancer is the CH2M HILL would be asking for these The program has been expanded leading occupational cancer in the kinds of concessions unless it had DOE’s several times, most recently after a United States. Lung cancer also is the blessing,” he said. 2011 study revealed that low-dose CT leading cause of death from cancer Landry called the situation at Hanford scans can prevent 20 percent of lung- in the United States, accounting for “one more way the DOE is failing to honor cancer deaths in high-risk individuals, 160,000 deaths per year. its commitment to these brave workers.” when compared with patients who get By the time symptoms show up, only chest X-rays. lung cancer often has progressed too far for treatment to be effective, mak- Long time coming ing early detection the key to survival, Gaylon Hanson, of Rigby, Idaho, according to Dr. Steven Markowitz, retired in 2006 after 34 years at the lab. who directs the screening program. He said the addition of CT scans to the “Early detection equals peace of screening program was “a long time mind,” said Hanson, who called the coming” but that it can make a huge USW a “front-runner in the industry difference to any former worker who in terms of screening and following up had been exposed to hazards such as with employees.” asbestos or beryllium dust. “Most places, you go to work there Through initial exams, the WHPP for 40 years, they give you the gold helps identify workers who are more watch, and that’s the last you hear from likely to have been exposed to toxic them,” Hanson said. “The Steelworkers elements, taking into account the per- … saw the need for ongoing medical son’s job title, the amount of time they testing.” worked at the facility and other related health risks such as smoking. For more information “Some people are more at risk than If you are a USW member who has others,” Hanson said. worked at a U.S. Department of Energy J.C. Colvin, a retired welder who facility and have questions about the worked for 35 years at INL, lives Early Lung Cancer Detection program, outside of Idaho Falls. He and Hanson call 1-866-228-7226.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 17 t a factory in the small town Administration (FDA) for failing to union members in decision-making and of Lititz, Pa., 400 members of comply with federal quality and safety in many projects from the beginning, Local 670 spend their work- standards. Those issues led to recalls of Dunigan said. That approach has created ing days making products over-the-counter medications including an efficient plant where work can be Aranging from Bengay to Neosporin to Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl. done less expensively than by third- Listerine. party contractors. “That is unheard of,” Their employer, Johnson & Johnson, Our voice is heard Dunigan said. has other plants in nearby Lancaster, J&J, a huge consumer health con- Curtis Krall, the chief shop steward Pa., and as far as Puerto Rico that have glomerate operating in 57 countries, has at Lititz, said the local has been active in struggled with quality and safety issues, owned the 50-year-old Lititz plant since the factory and the community. Members but the presence of the USW at Lititz has purchasing Pfizer Consumer Healthcare pushed a Central Labor Council initiative helped to make it a model for the rest of in 2006. to provide aid to needy families and have the J&J family. Local 670 Vice President Jerry led the way on programs for those with “We feel that we work very well with Fraleigh said that while other factory disabilities. the company” on issues such as training, managers might be focused on “getting “For the first time after many years safety and quality control, said Local products out the door,” as quickly as pos- of uncertainty, with new product being 670 President Tim Dunigan. But when sible, the union allows the Lititz workers brought into the facility, we feel we are disagreements do arise, “being a union to “push back if they try to push us in the headed in the facility, we can challenge them.” wrong direction.” right direction,” That give-and-take relationship The local holds monthly labor-man- Krall said. between the local and the company has agement meetings where members can established the Lititz plant as one of ef- discuss problems at work and raise is- ficient production, high quality-control sues of training, safety or quality control. standards and low turnover among the The meetings have led to a collaborative work force. Some non-union facilities environment between management and under the J&J umbrella have failed to employees. meet those goals. “Our voice is heard,” Fra- The Lancaster and Puerto Rico leigh said. “We can say ‘wait plants, as well as one near Philadelphia a minute’ if something doesn’t in Fort Washington, Pa., are run by seem right. Other plants might McNeil, a J&J division, and have faced not have that voice.” scrutiny from the Food and Drug Management includes

During a strike in 1999, the com- Almost every fired employee was re- pany brought in agency workers in hired, and the company eventually paid armored buses. Over the years, they back wages of nearly $750,000. fired and suspended workers for union activity, refused to bargain in good Labor law reforms needed faith, unilaterally changed employment International President Leo W. conditions and committed numerous Gerard said the length of the KRMC other labor violations. struggle proves that reforms are neces- Even when they lost in court, sary to U.S. labor law. fter 15 years and countless KRMC often refused to abide by the “It’s outrageous that these workers battles in and out of the orders and appealed the decisions. In had to wait 15 years for a contract be- courtroom, about 200 USW 2011, the hospital was found to be in cause of one greedy company,” Gerard members at the Kentucky contempt and was directed back to the said. “We’re happy to see that this day ARiver Medical Center (KRMC) in Jack- table by the NLRB. has come, but we must work to make son, Ky., have settled their first con- At one time or another, KRMC tried sure this never happens again.” tract with Community Health Systems to fire all but one member of the USW District 8 Director Billy Thompson (CHS). bargaining committee. One member said the KRMC steelworkers deserve Employees at KRMC voted to join appealed her dismissal, won her job credit for standing together. “These the USW in 1998. The hospital’s own- back and was fired again. Again, she brave workers proved that solidarity, ers, a massive health care conglomer- was reinstated and continued to serve on brotherhood and sisterhood still mean ate based in Tennessee, responded by the committee, eventually winning back something,” Thompson said. declaring an all-out war. pay and benefits.

18 USW@Work • Winter 2013 or more than a century, baseball class to learn from members of the work- to the team holding their contracts since franchise owners ran the game ing class,” journalist Malcolm Gladwell 1878. like robber barons, rigging it for wrote in The New Yorker magazine. By the time Miller retired in 1982, their exclusive benefit and treat- At the time, club owners ruled the the average player’s salary was almost Fing the players like indentured servants. game much as they had in the 19th $250,000. Stars were earning $2 million That began to change in 1966 when century after semipro and professional to $5 million a year, and the players’ Marvin Miller, chief economist and baseball clubs became popular around pension fund was financially healthy. To- assistant to the United Steelworkers pres- the 1860s. day, Yankee Alex Rodriguez, the highest ident, became the first executive director Players had little bargaining power paid player, has a 10-year, $275 million of the Major League Baseball Players because of a reserve clause that bound contract. Association (MLBPA). them to teams for as long as the owners Miller led the game’s first strike in Miller, who died on Nov. 26, 2012, wanted. At contract time, a player could 1972, a dispute over pension contri- at age 95, built the MLBPA into a force expect an ultimatum from the boss and butions. It began on April 1 in spring that revolutionized the game of baseball not much more. training and lasted 13 days. There was and ultimately transformed all of profes- “I loved baseball, and I loved a good another spring walkout in 1976 and a sional sports. fight, and, in my mind, ballplayers were midseason job action that lasted seven “I don’t know of anyone who among the most exploited workers in weeks in l981. changed the game more than Marvin America,” Miller wrote in his memoir, A Miller, born in 1917, grew up rooting Miller,” said Robin Roberts, the Phila- Whole Different Ball Game. for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His father, Al- delphia Phillies’ Hall of Fame pitcher. The average salary was about exander, worked for a clothing company, “His legacy is that through his work, $19,000 and the minimum salary of and, as a youngster, Marvin walked a ballplayers for the first time attained $6,000 had barely budged for two de- picket line in a union organizing drive. dignity from owners.” cades. Pensions were paltry and player His mother, Gertrude, was a member of grievances could only be heard by the the New York City teachers’ union. Think like steelworkers baseball commissioner, who worked for Miller graduated from New York Using experience gained from bar- management. University in 1938 with an economics gaining for industrial workers against In 1968, the union negotiated the first degree. He settled labor-management robber barons of their own, Miller built collective bargaining agreement in pro disputes for the National War Labor the players’ association from what was sports. In 1970, players gained the right Board in World War II and worked with in effect a company union into one of the to have grievances heard by an impar- the IAM and UAW before joining the strongest unions in America. tial arbitrator. In 1973, they achieved USW in 1950 as associate director of re- “Miller’s goal was to get his ball- a limited right to have salary demands search. He later became chief economic players to think like steelworkers — to subjected to arbitration. adviser and assistant to President David persuade members of the professional McDonald. His biggest legacy Hall of Fame broadcaster Red Barber Miller’s biggest legacy – free agency called Miller one of the two or three – came in 1975. One of the most sig- most important men in baseball history, nificant changes in the game’s history, along with Babe Ruth and Jackie Rob- it gave players the right to sell their ser- inson. Yet, he was never inducted into vices to the highest bidder, eliminating Baseball’s Hall of Fame. the reserve clause that had bound players

Marvin Miller (AP file photo March 16, 1976)

USW@Work • Winter 2013 19 abor leaders have great stories United Steelworkers from 1983-1993, winning small- or even medium-sized to tell, but few of them write for a careful account of his life and times adjustments in company-initiated ideas. their memoirs. For a decent list in One Day Longer: A Memoir, pub- Instead, he led the union to develop its of unionist/autobiographers, lished by Cornell University Press. own strategy and then to bargain for its Lone has to go back in history: Terence When Williams reached the top adoption at company after company. Powderly, Samuel Gompers, Victor Steelworker office, he faced a deeply But there’s more to this book than Reuther, and John Brophy. troubled industry. One Day Longer de- a record of steel labor relations in the The most recent union presidents tails how, at the peak of his presidency, 1980s and 1990s. I especially recom- surely have had fewer glories to look Williams worked to move the union be- mend One Day Longer to young people back on. In any event, we can thank yond a purely reactive approach to crisis. considering a career in labor. That’s Lynn R. Williams, president of the He refused to set his bargaining goals at because Williams’ path to the top of America’s largest industrial union was so unusual, at least for his time. In what might be subtitled “The Un- conventional Beginnings of an Industrial Union President,” Williams outlines the influences in his early life. In the interest of brevity, I’ll condense them to tele- gram format: born and raised in Ontario; son of a minister with working class parishioners; son of a loving and talented mother afflicted by tragedy and mental illness; “boy preacher” at the age of 17; disciple of the social gospel; college degree from McMaster University; mas- ter’s degree student with all but a thesis in industrial relations; social democrat, and less than a year of factory work in his entire life. A meaningful path I hope when younger readers get the full account of Williams’ early develop- ment, they will see it’s certainly possible today — whatever their interests and background — to find a meaningful path to advancing worker interests. For Williams, that avenue, and his International President Emeritus Lynn R. Williams entry into the labor movement, came in USW photo the field of organizing, an activity that (reading between the lines) was the most exciting and satisfying work of his life. He hired on with the Retail, Whole- sale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) to work on an ambi- tious plan to organize 13,000 Toronto-based employees of Canada’s largest de- partment store chain, Eaton’s.

20 USW@Work • Winter 2013 Though the campaign failed, Williams heavy bargaining with the steel industry recounts five years devoted to talking to in the early 1980s, and he died in late salespersons (mostly female), window 1983. Williams details the politicking decorators, and merchandise clerks, that followed. In a special election in tracking their union or anti-union lean- 1984, and just six years after his move to ings, and learning to master the blocking the United States, hundreds of thousands and tackling of union recruiting. of U.S. and Canadian Steelworkers chose It was this organizing ability that Williams as the first Canadian to head brought him to the Steelworkers, where the Steelworkers. They chose him over he spent his first 15 years doing much the union’s treasurer, Frank McKee, a more organizing and succeeding much Californian whose campaign had por- more at it. As this book tells of repre- trayed Williams as a foreign pretender sentation campaigns all across Canada to the throne. The normally moderate from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s, Williams recalled the Canadian-baiting aul Whitehead is a professor of the reader has to ask: how might labor as having left him, an ardent believer in practice in the Penn State School of be different today if most of its leaders international unionism, feeling “furious.” PLabor and Employment Relations had spent 20 years organizing? And how In other parts of this memoir, Wil- and the Penn State Dickinson School of much larger might the American labor liams makes the case for the goals he Law. He earned his B.S. in labor studies movement be if its labor laws were as pursued for a lifetime: winning a greater and M.S. in industrial relations from the streamlined as Canada’s? voice for workers in management deci- University of Wisconsin. He is an honors Though he eventually moved beyond sions (“management is too important graduate of Harvard Law School. recruiting new members, Williams used to leave to managers alone”); urging For 28 years, Whitehead represented the skills and instincts he developed — nations to conduct managed trade like the United Steelworkers, the largest reaching out, bringing people together, that achieved through the U.S.-Canadian industrial union in North America, and communicating, educating, and mobiliz- 1965-2001 auto treaty; and building served as the union’s general counsel ing — for the rest of his union career. unions to work effectively across na- from 2001-2009. He has bargained with One Day Longer describes a unionist tional boundaries. If this book has a fault, steel, aluminum, tire, paper and can who drew upon “an organizing model” it is the airbrushed picture he paints of companies, and he has litigated a wide of unionism before the expression was his union colleagues. Ever the organizer, range of labor, benefits, trade and bank- invented. he urges labor’s ranks, when speaking in ruptcy law issues. Whitehead joined the public, to “say a good word about your faculty of Penn State in 2009 and teaches Important presidential election union.” courses in labor, employment and In 1977, with the retirement of Inter- Williams, who after retirement served benefits law. national President I.W. Abel, the Steel- as president of the Industrial Rela- workers held an important and divisive tions Research Association (IRRA), the presidential election between moderate precursor to the Labor and Employment Lloyd McBride and the younger and Relations Association (LERA), left his more militant Ed Sadlowski, the lat- mark on who would rise to the Steel- ter attracting support from both inside workers presidency after him. His suc- and outside the union. Williams ran for cessors have been his assistant, George international secretary on the McBride Becker (1993-2001) and his fellow ticket. He recounts that campaign’s many Canadian and protégé, Leo W. Gerard issues, notably the absence of member- (2001-present). ship ratification of steel contracts, and Gerard, who was elected and re- its aftermath of a union ban on outsider elected without any issue about his financial contributions. He credits the Canadian citizenship, credits Williams Steelworker referendum election system for mentoring his activist brand of lead- — where members, rather than conven- ership. Gerard has also formed strategic tion delegates, choose the top officers alliances with unions around the world, — for enforcing a healthy engagement building on Williams’s deep commitment between candidates and members. When to international unionism. McBride and his colleagues won in 1977, Reprinted with permission from Labor and Employee Williams moved from Toronto to the Relations Association, (LERA), Champaign, Ill., the or- United States for the first time at age 53. ganization where professionals interested in all aspects Although McBride won a second of labor and employment relations study, network, and learn about new developments, issues, and practices. term, his health would take him out of Go to www.LERAweb.org.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 21 dled by the 2012 bankruptcy and liq- to improve themselves and learn skills to ture upholstery, heating ventilation and uidation of RG Steel, the 115-year- find other jobs if necessary. air conditioning, welding and commercial old Sparrows Point mill is dark and International Vice President Tom drivers’ license training. depressing now for Chris MacLari- Conway, who has long been involved “Our computer lab – we have 11 com- on,I who worked there for 16 years before in steel industry bargaining, was instru- puters – has been very well-received,” the lights went out. mental in launching the ICD. He remains McAninch said, “and small engine repair Yet the former vice president of Lo- active on the governing board. classes have just been a home run.” cal 9477 in Baltimore has bright hopes Williams’ retirement from the ICD The ICD helped members of Local for his own future thanks to the educa- board was announced at the conference, 878L in Union City, Tenn., cope with the tion he received through the Institute for and delegates signed a poster-board sized 2011 closing of the Goodyear Tire and Career Development (ICD), a work force thank-you card for him. Rubber Co. plant there. training program for USW members at Funded through employer contribu- Some 421 eligible members took participating companies. tions based on hours worked, each site advantage of educational opportunities “President Truman said it’s a reces- is overseen by a local joint labor and available through ICD with federal Trade sion when your neighbor loses his job, management committee. Budgets, the Adjustment Assistance (TAA) funds, said but it’s a depression when you lose your ICD says, can vary in size from $10,000 Ricky Waggoner, the local’s president. job,” MacLarion, a 39-year-old father of annually at small locations to more than “Like most of the membership, I two teenage girls, told the ICD’s annual $1 million at a large facility. hired in when I was 18,” Waggoner said. conference, held in late November in San Course availability varies depend- “That’s all I really know how to do is Diego. ing on location and member interests, build tires, sad but true. I’m a pretty good “This is a depression for me, but be- but many programs offer classes ranging tire builder, but not prepared for the rest cause of the ICD I have a future,” he told from basic skills, such as GED prepara- of the world.” a packed session. Without ICD, “I would tion or financial investing, to graduate- Workers in the plant already knew not be here and literally would not know level college courses. the ICD coordinator, who gave advice where I would be going.” “The ICD is a great example of how on how to enroll in classes and start the Born in the USW’s 1989 contract people can walk into a steel mill, an process of finding a career outside of the negotiations with the steel industry, the aluminum mill or a tire factory with the tire plant, a major Union City employer. ICD has spread to the tire, rubber and goal of providing a good living for their Waggoner said some members needed glass industries. Now there are more than families, but they don’t have to give up basic math and English skills. Others 70 active programs nationwide. on their dreams,” said International Vice studied computers, first aid and CPR, Although some classes are for fun, the President Fred Redmond. welding, carpentry, home inspection, program generally emphasizes portable In addition to college-level courses, small engine repair and electrical, refrig- skills steelworkers can use to enhance steelworkers can learn technical skills eration and machine shop skills. their current careers or take with them be- such as plumbing, electrical wiring, small ICD was relatively new to Union yond the mills, mines, factories and other engine repair and computer operation City, having been established as part of locations where they work. and repair. Some members use ICD to the 2006 contract negotiations. Waggoner Recognizing then that the steel prepare for pre-apprenticeship tests. said it was beneficial to his members. industry was facing upheaval and Joe McAninch, a retired school “This is a no-brainer,” he said. “The contraction, former International Presi- teacher who is the ICD coordinator for ICD is something we as rubber workers dent Lynn Williams, now retired, sup- Allegheny Ludlum locals in Western should have come up with a long time ported the creation of ICD as a way of Pennsylvania, said popular course offer- ago.’’ making sure members had opportunities ings there include computer skills, furni- ICD courses are often customized,

22 USW@Work • Winter 2013 meaning that instructors are hired to de- number of high school students taking representative. sign classes specifically for steelworkers. vocational courses continues to diminish. He kept on going for the degree. These classes are most often taught in The idea is in its early stages. If ulti- Whenever he needed a particular course learning centers at or near the plants and mately negotiated, such a benefit could to meet graduation requirements, he offered before and after shift changes to conceivably include the children of cur- would persuade friends in the union to accommodate workers’ schedules. rent members or local residents. take it with him so college instructors Access to other courses is available MacLarion, who first went to work would have enough participating stu- through a tuition-assistance program, at the Sparrows Point plant in 1996 after dents to justify holding classes at a mill which provides each worker a set amount his discharge from the U.S. Army, said site training center. for tuition, books and lab fees at accred- he didn’t have the means to pay for the After 14 years of part-time study, ited schools of higher education. Courses education he received through ICD. MacLarion earned a two-year degree last can be either for credit or noncredit. Over the years, the ICD funded fall. He had a cumulative 3.9 grade point To make learning more accessible for $13,580 worth of tuition for MacLarion average, a big improvement over his those who want to earn college degrees, – enough for him to earn 109 credit high school performance. the ICD sponsors a distance learning hours and an associate’s degree in labor Because MacLarion has that two- program through Empire State College, studies from a community college in year degree under his belt, federal TAA part of the State University of New York. Baltimore. will help to subsidize the additional two The distance learning program gives “Not one penny of that money was years he needs in school for a bachelor’s steelworkers flexibility to study when it from me,” he said. “There is nothing degree. is convenient and lets them earn credit coming back to this organization from Some 60 members of his local earned for work experience and life skills. me. But they took those pennies an hour associate degrees, he said, and “all of Rafael Cruz, president of Local 2695 and invested in me … so I can support us are in the TAA program,” which is at U.S. Steel’s Gary Works, used ICD to my family.” designed to help American workers cope earn a bachelor’s degree in labor studies An admittedly poor student in high with job losses related to foreign trade. from Empire State and a master’s degree school, MacLarion started his college MacLarion encouraged USW mem- in health care administration from the career after he was asked to be a union bers to take advantage of ICD where it University of Phoenix. He’s also a certi- shop steward and then, later, took a is available. “It was really a successful fied paralegal assistant. preparatory class to become a grievance program,” he said. Cruz, who has 30 years of service at U.S. Steel, said he started on his educa- tional journey in 1993 to prepare himself for a career change if that ever became necessary. He started by learning to be a paralegal, enjoyed the learning experi- ence and kept going. “Some say a diploma is just a piece of paper. But take it from me, that piece of paper has opened doors for me,’’ Cruz told the conference. “Educating yourself can take you to your personal goals, above and beyond your dreams.” Conway said he plans to discuss with participating employers the possibility of expanding the program’s mission to include training young people on skills needed for manufacturing careers. Manufacturers complain that they face a shortage of qualified workers that International Vice President Tom Conway is expected to worsen in coming years as older skilled workers retire and the

Chris MacLarion

USW@Work • Winter 2013 23 up with immediate living expenses. Months later, some remain in apart- ments or hotel rooms as they wait for insurance checks, mulling over whether to rebuild or relocate and “trying to get over losing the house they raised their children in,” Gros said. District 4 Director John Shinn called Hurricane Sandy the worst disaster ever to occur in his large district, which in- cludes the damaged states of New York, New Jersey and Delaware. District 4 continues to process aid applications. The recovery from Hurricane Sandy will be a slow, lengthy process and people will need help for a long time, said Jerry Collins, president of Local torm-battered but intent on mov- important to keep donations coming 4-200 at Robert Wood Johnson Univer- ing forward, USW members in because there still are many members in sity Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. the Gulf region and along the need. Because the region is so densely eastern seaboard are still recov- Most of the 800 members of Local populated, Collins said it was difficult Sering after hurricanes Isaac and Sandy 13-447 in Westwego, La., for example, to find accommodations for everyone hit the United States last fall. suffered damage from Hurricane Isaac, who lost homes. Whole neighborhoods International Secretary-Treasurer but there were some 50 members who were condemned and piles of furniture, Stan Johnson in November issued a lost everything. appliances and other belongings still line call to USW locals to contribute to the “Some guys got home, and their some streets. union’s Disaster Relief Fund, which was homes weren’t where they left them,” Surrounded by hurricane damage, depleted by previous events. More than said Local 13-447 President John Gros. Local 4-200 members worked hard $200,000 had been donated as USW@ “They floated away down the street.” in the initial recovery effort as Robert Work went to press. Most received help from the USW Wood Johnson was one of the few hospi- Although District 13 members have relief fund before they received money tals in the region to retain electric power. so far received more than $100,000 in from their insurance companies. Gros Many of the local’s 1,265 nurses aid, Director Mickey Breaux said it is said the union aid helped them to keep worked 16-hour shifts, leaving their own

Members of USW locals 12012 and 12003 pose with members of the Brotherhood of Utility Workers of New England Local 318 in the New York City neighborhood of Breezy Point, which was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The team of National Grid employees came from Massachusetts to help repair damaged natural gas infrastructure. The photograph was taken at the base of a 9/11 memorial, 24 USW@Work • Winter 2013 the top of which is not shown. families at home without electricity, so that they could care for the influx of Despite extensive training in dealing patients from surrounding facilities. with disasters of all kinds, the men said In addition to a $20,000 donation the level of devastation they saw was to the USW’s Disaster Relief Fund, overwhelming. Local 4-200 also supported the Red “No matter how much training you Cross, their hospital’s relief fund and have, you can never be fully prepared the local food bank. “As a local, our for something like this,” Arends said. membership voted that we should try to The four USW trainers, in partner- do as much as we can to help,” Collins ship with the National Institute of En- said. vironmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Other locals also gave generously. taught several hundred people to deal Stacy Spexet, president of Local with the hazards of hurricane cleanup, 9460 in Duluth, Minn., said it was an fter Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast and distributed nearly 1,000 safety book- easy decision to donate $20,000. There lets. was a huge outpouring of support for in late October, safety activ- ists from the USW traveled to Their work included one-on-one the local after one of its members was training and group workshops on issues involved in a workplace shooting in Asome of the hardest-hit areas to provide such as electrical safety, mold, asbestos 2007. training to individuals, union members, faith-based groups and other volunteers and lead, as well as how to handle dan- Now, the local tries to pay it for- gerous chemicals. ward by helping other union members working on cleanup. In November, two Specialized The USW-TMC maintains a team of in need. “It’s about solidarity,” Spexet 20 SERTs trained to aid in response to said. “We all do better when we all do Emergency Response Trainers (SERTs) from the USW Tony Mazzocchi Center disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes better.” and tornadoes. The idea for the team was The USW is still taking donations, (TMC) spent several weeks working in New York. Frank Condell, of Local 9305 born in the aftermath of the devastation and the International Executive Board of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. encourages local unions to contribute. outside of Pittsburgh, and Bobby Espi- Individuals interested in donating can noza, of Local 9477 in Carlsbad, N.M., send checks payable to the Steelworkers helped to identify and eliminate safety Charitable and Educational Organiza- hazards associated with the hurricane tion to the USW Secretary- and its aftermath. Treasurer at Five Gateway Then, in December, Mike Swan, of Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Local 9436 near Buffalo, N.Y., and Rick Arends, of Local 264 in St. Paul, Minn., began a similar deployment along the coast of New Jersey.

fter his house was badly He was surprised when the check ar- damaged by Hurricane Sandy rived in the mail. “I really appreciate it. last October, Fletcher Rob- It helped us so much,” Robinson said. “I inson, a retired paper worker am a union believer, and I am thankful Afrom Local 300, was one of 474 people to have this kind of help.” who received a $500 grant from the Union Plus benefits are managed Union Plus Disaster Relief Program. by Union Privilege, an organization The grants, available to participating established by the AFL-CIO to provide union members with Union Plus credit consumer benefits to members and cards, insurance policies or mortgages, retirees of participating unions, includ- aid victims of severe weather and do not ing the USW. need to be repaid. Members of Union Plus who live in Robinson, concerned about mak- a FEMA-designated disaster area and ing his credit card payments on time, have suffered significant loss of income contacted Union Plus to let them know or property in the past six months can that the storm had severely damaged his qualify for relief grants. house in Bayonne, N.J. For more information on the disaster “I didn’t want to be late with my relief program, Union Plus credit card payments, and I wanted to let them holders should call 1-877-761-5028. know what was happening,” Robinson Union Plus mortgage and insurance said. holders should call 1-800-472-2005.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 25 ree trade with China has led to a startling drop in American manufacturing jobs since the SW-represented workers at negotiated tax-exempt trust fund that world’s largest exporter joined ArcelorMittal USA over- provides benefits to retired employees. Fthe World Trade Organization in 2001. whelmingly ratified a new In the end, management backed down The nonpartisan National Bureau three-year labor agreement and its unreasonable demands fell off the of Economic Research (NBER) con- Ucovering 14,000 American employees of table, including the two-tier pay scale, cludes in a new study that employment the world’s largest steelmaker. the attack on retiree benefits and reduced in U.S. manufacturing fell 30 percent A tellers’ committee of delegates from incentives. lower than it would have had Congress 15 local unions counted the ballots at Preserves retiree care not approved Permanent Normal Trade the USW’s international headquarters in Relations (PNTR) with China 12 years One of the most important issues the Pittsburgh on Oct. 18. They announced it ago. negotiating committee grappled with was passed with 94 percent of the vote. The study also found that Ameri- retiree health care. The eventual settle- International President Leo W. Gerard can employment in manufacturing ment includes a framework that should called the agreement a clear triumph for would have grown by 10 percent protect members and retirees. ArcelorMittal’s current and future work- instead of shrinking if not for the trade District 1 Director David McCall, ers and retirees. He attributed the over- liberalization with China. whelming vote to the hard work of the who chaired the negotiations with union’s negotiating committee. ArcelorMittal, said the company’s focus “The unity and solidarity of all steel- on short-term profits instead of long-term workers at ArcelorMittal all summer long sustainability created many challenges gave our negotiating committee the lever- at the table. He called on management to age it needed to reach a fair agreement,” recognize that its highly-skilled, produc- Gerard said, “despite the company’s de- tive and efficient hourly work force is its termined efforts to force major economic most valuable asset. and contract language concessions until “The hardworking men and women the very end.” whose selfless dedication and personal Over a long summer of negotiations, sacrifices over the years prevented these the USW bargaining committee beat back plants from being shut down or scrapped a long list of irresponsible demands for in the past have earned a more secure fu- major economic concessions from the ture and deserve an employer that shows company. its respect by bargaining in good faith and honoring its promises rather than Wages, health care, work rules demanding unnecessary concessions and The eventual agreement included threatening our jobs,” McCall said. fair wage increases that track a pattern Although the USW never took a set earlier with U.S. Steel and improved strike vote, ArcelorMittal provocatively health care coverage for active members shut down furnaces a week before the without premiums. It protects seniority, contract expiration date in an apparent he U.S. International Trade work rules and limits on outside contrac- attempt to bully members into accepting Commission (ITC) voted tors and preserves retiree benefits. its demands. to conduct a full five-year The company began negotiations last In turn, USW members staged rallies review of antidumping duties May 29 by proposing wage and benefit outside all of ArcelorMittal’s plants in the Ton welded large-diameter line pipe cuts of more than $28 an hour, including United States, while accusing the steel- from Japan. proposals to make deeper reductions later maker of dragging its feet in talks over The U.S. Department of Com- if management thought necessary. the new agreement. merce is required by law to revoke an Management’s outrageous demands District 7 Director Jim Robinson said antidumping or countervailing duty included, among other things, a two- workers will remember the combative order after five years unless the ITC tier wage scale, elimination of retiree approach to the 2012 negotiations and determines that doing so would injure health care coverage and the union’s will be prepared for talks in 2015. the domestic industry. right to bargain for it in the future, lower “The steelworkers whose jobs, pay This is the second five-year review incentive payments and benefits for ac- and benefits we defended from the on welded large diameter line pipe tive employees, and discontinuation of company’s vicious attacks know that our from Japan. The first five-year review contributions to the Voluntary Employee solidarity makes us a stronger union,” resulted in continuation of duties, ef- Beneficiary Association (VEBA), a Robinson said. fective Nov. 5, 2007.

26 USW@Work • Winter 2013 If Congress had rejected the PNTR that are destroying the economy, said agreement, the U.S. companies would International President Leo W. Gerard. have employed 4 million more manufac- “The NBER study illustrates the neces- turing workers in 2007 than it actually sity for the Obama administration to be- did, authors Justin R. Pierce and Peter K. come more aggressive in its enforcement Schott calculated. efforts and to take more complaints to Four million is almost half of the 8.8 the WTO to stop China’s continued trade million jobs lost throughout the Great violations that directly lead to job losses in Recession that began in 2007. That is the United States,” he added. 4 million more American workers who Gerard cautioned against “blind ad- would be in good-paying, family-support- herence to free trade ideology” and said ing manufacturing jobs now, at a time of future trade agreements must ensure that relatively high unemployment. American workers and manufacturers The study reinforces much of what the share in the benefits of free trade. USW has been saying for the past decade: “What America needs are government Free trade with China has reduced Ameri- policies to create jobs with infrastructure can manufacturing jobs by millions. investment and vigorous trade law en- It is the accumulating economic dam- forcement rather than reliance on spending age of the monthly trade deficits with cuts and austerity.” China, not just the overall budget deficit,

he USW has joined members of Domestic steelmakers “should not be for illegal trade practices, we will give the Congressional Steel Caucus forced to compete in a market distorted our manufacturers the ability to compete in calling on the U.S. Interna- by dumped and subsidized imports,” said in the global marketplace and protect tional Trade Commission (ITC) the letter, whose signers included Caucus good-paying jobs.” Tto extend duties on corrosion-resistant Chairman Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Vice The USW, along with U.S. Steel, steel from Germany and South Korea. Chairman Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.). ArcelorMittal, Steel Dynamics, AK Steel In a letter to the ITC, 21 caucus mem- The ITC held a five-year sunset and Nucor, supported continued duties bers argued that letting the duties expire review hearing in January on whether to in testimony before the ITC. Thyssen- would cause significant harm to the do- continue antidumping and countervailing Krupp, Dongbu Steel, Hyundai HYSCO, mestic steel economy because firms from duty orders placed on corrosion-resistant POSCO and Union Steel, a subsidiary of those countries would dump steel into the steel from Germany and South Korea. Dongkuk Steel, spoke against extending U.S. market at a time when the European “We must fight for every single the duties. economy is weak and Asia faces stiff American job in this economy,” Vis- competition from mills in China. closky said. “By showing zero tolerance

he U.S. government’s deci- Local 1165 President Sheldon Gregg. sion to continue tariffs on clad Clad steel plate is created by bond- steel plate imports from Japan ing stainless steel to a carbon steel or saved jobs at the only remain- base metal plate. It is used in industrial ingT USW-represented mill that makes the chemical and petroleum refining vessels same product. where corrosive resistance and strength at Coatesville have been downsizing The U.S. International Trade Com- are valued. through attrition. mission (ITC) decided in January by a “We shouldn’t become dependent Had the import restraints been re- 4-2 vote that revoking the current anti- on foreign steel imports and risk los- voked, Gregg said plate made in Japan dumping duty order likely would lead to ing family-supportive jobs for a critical would have flooded the U.S. market, a loss of domestic jobs. production component used in domestic putting his members’ jobs at risk. The decision protected the jobs of refining,” Gregg said. “No USW members should lose their nearly 700 production workers at the Ar- While layoffs have been avoided so jobs to keep steel mills in Japan full,” he celorMittal mill in Coatesville, Pa., said far, Gregg said the clad plate operations said.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 27 “Your members must speak up.” of labor’s power is its membership,” he “Take the first step.” said. “Activating your members to speak “We stepped up and we won.” to their elected representatives, to build Fred Redmond Photos by Steve Dietz hose were among the calls to relationships with them – is your greatest action delivered to delegates at source of power. the 2nd annual USW meeting “To keep their offices, elected lead- of public employees held in ers must be sensitive to constituents. TNovember in San Diego. More than 100 Especially in the districts of key leaders, public employees and staff members met members must articulate their needs. to talk about common issues, learn new They need to tell their story. Activating skills, and chart a course for the future. them must be a priority. You must make “Our campaign engaged real work- Tom Birmingham, a former leader of that happen,” Birmingham said. ers to tell positive stories on TV and at the Massachusetts State Senate, spoke Michigan Proposition 2 Campaign the door about the benefits of collec- to the delegates about building political Manager Ken Brock reinforced that mes- tive bargaining for all. It was the first power. The son of a union longshoreman, sage. On the ballot last November, Prop time many non-union voters ever heard he attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar 2 attempted to amend Michigan’s consti- that message. Our effort lost, but please then Harvard Law School, eventually tution to protect collective bargaining. understand that this was just the first winning a seat in the rough-and-tumble The effort failed in the face of opposi- engagement.” Bay State Senate in the 1990s. tion from the billionaire Koch brothers Brock said that a poll taken after Earning the trust of his colleagues, and the Chamber of Commerce. the election asked those who voted no Birmingham was elected Senate Presi- “Collective bargaining built the whether they thought collective bargain- dent, a post he held for seven years. middle class and saved hundreds of ing was good for Michigan’s middle While there, he saw labor and business thousands of good auto industry jobs.” class, and 55 percent answered yes. De- work to pass laws in their interests. Brock said. “Anti-worker leaders in the spite that support, Michigan’s governor “Business often relies on large legislature had vowed to turn Michigan signed a hastily passed right-to-work bill resources to gain influence with elected into a right-to-work-for-less state, so we into law just weeks after the decision-makers. In contrast, the source decided to move first to protect it. November election.

same nearly everywhere.” Arguably, the most pervasive issue that plagues health care workers, and their patients, is chronic understaffing. Understaffing in hospitals and long-term care facilities can lead to what Canadian politician Rachel Notley described in her keynote speech as “de- grading circumstances.” Patients are not fed on time or bathed regularly. Dressing changes and medica- tions are delayed, said Notley, a former health and safety officer for the Health Photo by Steve Dietz Sciences Association of British Colum- n America’s free-market health care Council meeting last fall in San Diego, bia and a fiery advocate for caregivers system, management’s relentless the problems are many and permeate and seniors in long-term care. drive to cut costs and improve finan- nearly every type of workplace in the “This is happening because facilities cial performance often gets priority diverse sector. are not putting enough workers on shift overI the needs of patients and the work- “The most important part of the to treat patients with the care, respect and ers who care for them. conference was meeting our health care dignity they deserve,” said Notley, a New As a result, health care workers face a brothers and sisters from all across our Democratic Party representative to the disconnected reality between the goal of union and listening to their issues in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. providing quality care and the system for workplace,” said Darryl Ford, president Those same issues also affect care- delivering that care. of Local 254, which represents American givers and patients in Europe, accord- For the nearly 200 members who at- Red Cross employees in Atlanta. “We ing to Frank Keogh of Unite the Union, tended the USW’s Health Care Workers learned that the issues we face are the the USW’s partner in Great Britain and 28 USW@Work • Winter 2013 Despite the setback, the USW will continue the fight for workers’ rights. “We must keep talking about the benefits of collective bargaining,” Brock said. Donnie Blatt did just that in coordinat- espite having different em- coalition of unions working together for Fred Redmond ing the 2011 USW effort to repeal an Ohio Photos by Steve Dietz ployers, USW-represented bargaining or other purposes. law that undermined collective bargaining public employees across the Redmond and Guillermo Perez of for public employees. Senate Bill 5 would country have common issues the Education and Membership Devel- have prevented unions from charging “fair Dand are beginning to take steps to work opment Department asked delegates share” dues to employees who want the together to address them. how a public employees’ council could union negotiated wages, benefits and pen- Responding to suggestions from serve their members and how the coun- sions but don’t want to pay for them. public sector members, International cil should be structured. S.B.5 also would have prevented pub- Vice President Fred Redmond is en- Delegates from each district an lic employees from bargaining collectively couraging public employees to form a swered those questions during a work- for health insurance and pension benefits. council within the USW to cooperative- shop, forming working groups on coun- The successful repeal effort energized the ly develop solutions to those common cil structure and representation as well labor movement in Ohio. problems. as on coalition building, engaging the “We activated a huge share of our “Councils are about working togeth- USW hierarchy, information sharing/ membership. We networked. We phone- er toward established common goals networking, and the most popular work- banked. We knocked and dropped in key and objectives,” Redmond told public ing committee, public relations, image areas. We coordinated with other Ohio sector employees on the last day of their campaigns and lobbying. The groups unions – a coalition effort. And our leader- annual meeting. “There is a record of plan to meet again via conference call ship led the charge,” Blatt said. success when people come together.” in 2013. It’s an effort USW leaders may need to The USW has a history of mem- The USW’s goal is to take “what- repeat. “Billionaire anti-union forces are bers working together in councils for ever ideas you have and to move them ready to take away your health care, your the overall good. Some are structured forward,” Redmond said. “It’s all about pension, and your rights in the work- around single employers with multiple how we can collectively serve our mem- place,” said International Vice President locations while others represent an bers collaboratively.” Fred Redmond, who oversees the council. industry with multiple employers, or a “The power is in our hands.”

Ireland. Keogh and colleague Sarah The training, specifically designed to nothing about the USW except that it Carpenter joined the USW for both the build skills for health care profession- included factory and oil refinery work- health care and public worker als and union leaders, covered issues ers as well as copper miners. Today she conferences. such as collective bargaining, building is treasurer of Local 2801 at the Long power for contract campaigns, strategies Beach Memorial Hospital in Long Collective power for challenging understaffing and safety Beach, Calif. The USW council provides the concerns such as blood borne pathogens “I have to admit that although we 45,000 members in health care occupa- and patient lifting. have a strong local union, the connec- tions an avenue to address important The conference allowed members to tion between health care workers and the patient-care issues that non-union work- learn together and lead together, giv- USW was not always obvious to me,” ers do not have: the collective power ing them strength to advocate for better she said. of their union, said International Vice patient care. That void, she said, was filled at the President Fred Redmond. The ability to talk about how health conference. “Health care is a growing sector for care workers care for their communities “I now understand how we, as health the United Steelworkers and we are all was a common theme of the conference. care workers, fit into the United Steel- committed to providing our health care “Not only did the facilitators truly workers. Meeting with other USW broth- members with the tools you need to build understand health care workers and ers and sisters from other states who strong local unions and revitalize our what we face in the workplace, but they have many other types of health care council,” Redmond said. empowered us to more effectively utilize employers, I found that we share many Colleen Wooten, unit president at our collective power to improve those of the same issues. By connecting with Local 10-993 and a customer service issues through building better health other members of the council, we were representative at Express Scripts Phar- and safety committees, engaging our able to come up with possible solutions macy in North Versailles, Pa., cautioned membership more fully during contract to resolve important issues like short that simply being a union member is not negotiations and how to influence the staffing,” Adaya said. enough. political process,” Wooten said. “We “Now, there is a true and strong state- “You have to be smart about how you learned how to tell our stories and share ment that I hold close to me, not only engage that potential power,” she said, our experiences as health care workers as a health care worker, but as a United adding that is why she found the train- with the public.” Steelworker: “Stand up! Fight back!” ing available at the conference to be very Four years ago, Flo Adaya knew important.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 29 orkers pumped helium tional stuff,” said Ryan Emerson, report- continents and connects workers from into blimps as a crowd ing to a meeting of the North American countries where the company operates. gathered in front of the Unity Council of Gerdau workers. “But Emerson made the 5,000-mile trip to Spanish Consulate in São now I get why it’s so important.” Brazil with Pete Mandryk, from Local Paulo,W Brazil, waving flags and holding Emerson, from Local 9447-05 in 5442 in Selkirk, Manitoba, to represent up handwritten signs. On top of a truck Calvert City, Ky., had barely made it their council and their countries at the mounted with speakers, union members home from Brazil before he had to pack global meeting of Gerdau workers. led a chant in Portuguese, working the again, this time for a Gerdau unity coun- Along with the world council meet- crowd into a roar. cil meeting in Pittsburgh. ing, Emerson and Mandryk took part in Two USW members were in the an international delegation that visited crowd that November day in São Paulo, Unity council meets annually workers at a Gerdau sister plant in the representing the United States and The unity council meets annually, Brazilian city of Sorocaba. Canada in a major protest against the bringing together Gerdau workers from The company wouldn’t allow visi- austerity measures sweeping through local unions in the United States and tors to enter, but workers gathered at the Europe. Canada. The yearly meetings follow gate to applaud and chant for solidar- Due to the financial crisis, union monthly conference calls and newslet- ity. Later, they joined union activists members in Spain and other countries ters, and open communication – some- from across Brazil in the protest at the are facing cuts and layoffs, not unlike times daily – on bargaining and health Spanish Consulate, showing solidarity U.S. workers in the aftermath of the and safety inside the plants. against anti-worker austerity. Wall Street meltdown in 2008. The unity council is also part of Gerdau, their employer, is based in “I’ll admit that my eyes used to glaze a larger, global network: The Gerdau Brazil and is one of the world’s largest over when we would get to this interna- Workers World Council spans three steelmakers with more than 45,000

Today, he works as a battery attendant, making sure the large batteries that power Alcoa’s flat-bed trucks are constant- ly charged and ready to go. Unlike his previous work as a plate mill servicer, which required long hours on his feet and plenty of climbing, his new job is relatively low-impact, perfect for a worker in Argenta’s situation. He not only keeps the operation running smoothly and on schedule, but also frees up another full-time efore dawn on Aug. 27, 2009, Jon Argenta was mechanic to handle other tasks. helping to move a stack of metal plates at the Alcoa The new position allows Argenta to use a hydraulic trans- Davenport Works in Davenport, Iowa, when four of porter to move the 4,000-pound batteries to and from the area the plates, weighing more than two tons, fell from a where they are washed and charged. Depending on the status Bcrane and crushed his legs below the knees. of the battery supply, he also is able to take breaks from the In an instant, Argenta’s life changed. A Davenport resi- physical demands of his job. dent, a member of Local 105, and an employee of Alcoa since “It’s been a good fit for him, and for us,” Hartford said. 1994, he was married with two young children, worked out regularly and was in what his co-workers described as “great” Safety a USW priority physical condition. Next to the flagpole outside the Local 105 union hall in After the accident, his left leg was amputated below the Bettendorf, Iowa, is a granite marker etched with the names knee and replaced with a prosthetic, making it difficult to re- of members who have died on the job over the past 64 years. turn to his old job. Yet after more than a year of rehabilitation, With that memorial serving as a daily reminder to everyone he eventually returned in a different position. at the Davenport Works that their jobs can be dangerous, the Argenta credits his USW brothers and sisters with help- local remains committed to making sure no more names are ing to make his return to work successful. With the support of added to that stone. the local, colleague Jeff Hartford approached Alcoa manage- “We take safety very seriously here,” Hartford said. It is a ment and worked with them to make sure that Argenta could priority that the workers at Davenport share with USW mem- continue to do meaningful work. bers and leaders across the country. “It has been a battle for him,” said Hartford, now Local When Argenta’s accident happened, one of the first phone 105 president. “I think emotionally it’s been a battle even calls went to Mike Nicholas, Local 105 financial secretary more than physically.” and a member of the USW’s Emergency Response Team Argenta said memories of the accident initially made his (ERT). return to work difficult, but he eased his way back in, at first The USW, through its Health, Safety and Environment working part-time before settling in to his current Monday- Department, maintains an ERT of 34 coordinators who are through-Friday routine. trained to respond immediately to catastrophic workplace “When you have a lot of support from your family and accidents. friends, that makes it easier,” Argenta said. Team members help provide aid to victims and their

30 USW@Work • Winter 2013 employees. The company operates that these workers in the company’s in 14 countries including Argentina, other plants are no different than the Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, brothers and sisters at our own lo- Dominican Republic, Guatemala, In- cals,” Mandryk told the council, with dia, Mexico, Peru, Spain, the United a graph of country-by-country wage States, Uruguay and Venezuela. disparities projected onto the wall behind him. “We all want the same Retaliation in Colombia basic things, no matter where we’re The world council has taken up from or what language we speak.” the cause of Gerdau’s workers in The unity council resolved that it Colombia, where union members would stand with the Gerdau Workers face severe retaliation for engaging World Council in taking any possible in union activity: The company has opportunity to show support and soli- reportedly used intimidation, firings darity for workers in Colombia. and even plant closures to stop work- “It’s the same struggle,” Emerson ers from organizing. added. “For safety, for fair wages that In Pittsburgh, during the second can support a family, and for a retire- day of round table discussions, the ment that keeps us out of poverty. topic shifted from retirement benefits These companies will drag us all to these ongoing abuses against down to the lowest possible level if workers. we don’t fight – together – to lift each USW photo/Chelsey Engel “One thing we saw in Brazil is other up.”

families in the form of counseling, financial assistance, lodg- In addition, the Great Recession hit disabled workers ing, help with workers compensation claims, child care and almost twice as hard as it did others. Today, only 32 percent other needs. of disabled Americans are in the labor force, despite surveys Nicholas immediately traveled to Argenta’s hospital showing that 80 percent would like to work. bedside in Iowa City and began to help the family deal with The USW has actively tried to change that, through local- a crush of visitors and covering everyday expenses such as by-local work and on an international level. Ken Neumann, the cost of hotel rooms near the hospital. Meanwhile, experts USW National Director for Canada, recently signed an from the Health, Safety and Environment Department began agreement to help achieve better return-to-work outcomes for to investigate the root causes of Argenta’s accident. injured workers around the world. “My goal was to make sure that Jon and his wife were “We must not forget that for every worker killed through comfortable,” Nicholas said. “Anything I could do to take the an industrial accident or disease, not counting non-industrial burden off the family, I would do.” injuries and illnesses, 20 workers suffer permanent physical Nicholas said that in four years as an ERT coordinator, he or mental impairments, often forever affecting every aspect has responded to 15 tragic accidents, but Argenta’s was the of their lives,” Neumann said. “We have an absolute obliga- hardest to take because he was a co-worker. “It hit me harder tion to ensure that injured or disabled workers can maintain because he was one of my brothers,” Nicholas said. employment, continue to support their families and rebuild Argenta said that once the initial shock and sadness of his all-too-often shattered lives.” situation wore off, he realized how lucky he was to be alive. Greater understanding is needed in the United States to “I couldn’t see it right away, but I slowly realized that things make sure injured and disabled workers are gainfully em- could have been a lot worse. I’m still here – that’s the main ployed, Argenta said. “Just because somebody’s been injured thing.” or disabled, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a lot of value Returning to the work force in the work force,” he said. While Argenta’s accident led to an overhaul of the pro- cedures Alcoa uses in handling heavy loads, it also provided an example of how USW locals can work with employers to help injured and disabled members who want to go back to In the event of a fatal or life-threatening accident at your work. workplace, contact the USW’s Emergency Response Team im- It has been 22 years since the passage of the Americans mediately through the toll-free, 24-hour ERT hotline: with Disabilities Act (ADA), but unemployment and 1-866-526-3480. underemployment for disabled workers remains a major problem.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 31 Back Row: Ken Duke, Keith Cashio, Rene Petkovsek, Sheryl Webster, Robert Hill, Bucky Dent, Mark Schubert Front Row: George Galvan, Darrell Kyle, Mark Morgan. ExxonMobil Council Meets SW delegates to the ExxonMobil Council met in October in Carson, UCalif., at Local 675, one of the larg- est locals with more than 5,000 members. The council discussed health and safety issues across ExxonMobil sites, including a recent fire and explosion at Baytown, Texas. They also addressed job loss to contractors and distributed leaflets at a refinery near Torrance, Calif., to raise awareness of the issue. International Women’s USW Taxi Drivers Reject Offer Conference Set early 1,800 Local 711-A cab drivers he USW International Women’s Conference, employed by the Frias Co. in Las “Women of Steel: Honoring Our Past - Pro- NVegas rejected a company contract tecting Our Future,” will be held in Pitts- proposal in late January, authorizing a poten- T tial strike. burgh from March 10 to 13. There is no limit to the number of delegates a The drivers operate cabs for ANLV, Vir- local may send. For more information, visit usw. gin Valley, ABC Union, Vegas Western, and org/womenofsteel. ACE Cab under Frias ownership. The biggest Local 3657 Women of Steel are asking delegates bargaining issue has been a management pro- to bring one or more gently-used purses stuffed posal that would erode the drivers’ seniority with hygiene products like shampoo and tooth- rights in bidding for shifts and cabs. paste. They will be collected at the conference and The most recent contract expired last distributed to victims of Hurricane Sandy and other Sept. 11 and drivers were working under an tragedies. extension agreement. Young Danish Activists Visit U.S. A group of young people from Den- mark, including labor union activists Aand members of the Danish Social Democratic Youth, visited with USW lead- ers, including International Vice President at Large Carol Landry, last fall during a three- week study tour of the United States. The group stopped in Jacksonville, Fla., Greens-

Front, from left: Mette Pabst Andersen, Carol Landry, Katja Sorensen. boro, N.C., Columbus, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Rear, from left: Mathias Pedersen, Bjarke Dahl Mogensen, Morten Christiansen Forest, Jesper Thomas Mikkelsen, Alexander Rau Washington, D.C., and New York. Wise Alloys Members Ratify Agreement ocal 200 members at Wise Alloys in Muscle Shoals, Ala., approved a new five-year agree- ment in November. The 419 members had rejected two earlier company settlement propos- Lals. Local 200 President Ken Hunt said negotiations focused on issues of forced overtime, a proposed three-tier pay system and rising health insurance costs. Mazzocchi Center Wins Safety App Award digital application developed for iPhones by the USW’s Tony Maz- zocchi Center for Health Safety and Environmental Education was Aone of four winning entries in a U.S. Department of Labor competition. The DOL sought entries from companies, educators, labor unions and individuals for software apps to educate the public about improving health and safety in the workplace. The USW’s app allows users to search for chemicals in a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) database and the NIOSH Pocket Guide for information on workplace exposure limits, health hazards, workplace controls, handling and storage and emergency procedures related to hazardous substances. The app, called USW Safety, is free and available from iTunes.

32 USW@Work • Winter 2013 Coalition Honors PAC Members Gerard as ‘Visionary’ of the Quarter nternational President Leo W. o Mark Sakon and Frank Gerard received a “Visionary Leader Pokrywczynski, training coordina- IAward” from Arise Chicago, a Ttors for Locals 1014 and 1066 at coalition that seeks to build partnerships U.S. Steel’s Gary Works, participating in between faith communities and workers American politics is as basic as the phrase to fight workplace injustice. “we the people” – and every bit as essential In his acceptance speech, Gerard for democracy. celebrated the results of the November Their passion for political activism and election as a call to action. He discussed success in signing up new members for the USW’s response to globalization, its PAC at the massive plant in Gary, Ind., have efforts to organize non-traditional work- earned them the title co-PAC members of Frank Pokrywczynski ers, and called for building coalitions the quarter from District 7 Director Jim of progressive organizations to resist Robinson and International PAC Coordina- balancing the federal budget on the tor Mike Scarver. backs of workers. Sakon and Pokrywczynski discuss ways in which corporations manipulate the politi- cal process at new member orientations, Locked-out Workers impressing on participants how important it Victorious is to contribute to PAC. They usually sign ome 194 Local 13-07 members at up 90 percent of their trainees, and often, Milbank Manufacturing in Kansas the whole group. SCity, Mo., ratified a new three- Federal Election Commission rules year contract in November following an prohibit using union dues for political illegal lockout over health care contri- purposes, so the USW relies on voluntary butions. contributions to the PAC fund for political Milbank tried to force employees action. Mark Sakon to accept a large increase in employee contributions to the health care plan, but the final agreement held the line on Silver for Good Fortune costs and included wage increases. nternational President Leo W. Gerard joined U.S. Steel (USS) executives and local “We were not going to accept an- politicians in tossing silver dollars into a carload of flaming coke from the newly other increase of our contributions for Icommissioned $500 million-plus Battery C at the USS Clairton coke works near a family health care plan,” said local Pittsburgh on Jan. 31. president Janet Kirk. “We won our posi- Gerard and CEO John P. Surma praised the partnership between the USW and the tion and we even got paid for most of company to make the project a success. Throwing silver into hot coke is a long-held our wages lost due to the lockout.” industry tradition when a battery is put into service.

USW Activist Named to Whistleblower Committee ancy Lessin, a longtime activist on behalf of worker health and Nsafety, has been named to a seat on the 12-member federal Whistleblow- er Protection Advisory Committee. The panel, part of the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), will make recommendations to La- bor Department officials on ways to improve OSHA’s administration of whistleblower protections. A former health care worker, Lessin has worked with the USW-Mazzocchi Center, a joint effort of the USW, the Labor Institute and the Communications Workers of America, for six years.

USW@Work • Winter 2013 33 Esmark Takes Over Ohio Mill embers of USW Local 1223 in Yorkville, Ohio, voted Local 1196 Celebrates 75 Years overwhelmingly in October to accept a new four-year ocal 1196 in Brackenridge, Pa., which joined the Steel contract with Esmark, which purchased the former Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) in 1937, M RG Steel Yorkville Cold-Rolled Finishing Mill. The mill’s new Lcelebrated 75 years of fighting for workers’ rights with name is the Ohio Cold Rolling Co. a banquet last November. Workers at the Al- Yorkville, Ohio plant legheny Ludlum Steel Corp. in Brackenridge opened communications with SWOC in 1936 after a failed attempt to affiliate with the Amal- gamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Work- ers. A strike on March 25, 1937, led to the establishment of Local 1196, which participated in the 1942 founding convention of the United Steelworkers of America. At the banquet, the local honored its oldest member, Carl Josephs, 97, who started working at Allegheny Ludlum in 1937. Local 8888 Begins Bargaining Honeywell to Restart ocal 8888 members began bargaining a new contract in January with Hun- he Nuclear Regulatory Commis- tington Ingalls Industries at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia. sion has approved plans for safety L The current contract, which expires on March 10, covers nearly 11,000 Tupgrades at the Honeywell Metropo- welders, pipefitters, painters and other employees, about half of the shipyard’s lis plant in Illinois, which was shut down work force. Local 8888 is the largest local in the USW. after regulators found it unfit to withstand a Going into the negotiations, the USW’s priorities included pay raises, fair natural disaster. promotions, caps on rising health care costs and pension improvements, said The uranium processing plant in International Vice President Fred Redmond, who is leading the bargaining. Metropolis was among U.S. facilities in- spected after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami A 555-metric ton command center for flight caused a meltdown at a Japanese nuclear deck operations is lowered onto the nuclear- powered aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at plant. Metropolis was declared unprepared the Newport News Shipbuilding division of and closed last May. Huntingdon Ingalls Industries on Jan. 26. The ship is about 90 percent structurally The plant is expected to restart this June, complete. Huntingdon Ingalls photo. which is good news for some 200 members of Local 669 who were idled by the shut- down. Meanwhile, members of Local 9292 at the Honeywell facility in Jacksonville, Fla., ratified a new six-year contract in January. Honeywell entered negotiations by taking a hard line, hiring hundreds of scabs and holding meetings with employees. But Local 9292 members stuck together, held a series of solidarity events, and showed management a united front with the help and support of the USW’s Honeywell council.

34 USW@Work • Winter 2013 Veteran’s Firing Dispute Settled he USW reached a settlement with North American Salt concerning the disputed termi- Workers Memorial Day is April 28 Tnation of a highly decorated veteran who was fired from the company’s mine in Cote Blanche, La. What is your local doing to mark the day? Derrick Forestier was an Army Sergeant First Class who served 24 years in active duty, was de- Go to usw.org/workers-md for ideas. ployed five times and served in combat three times. He received many service awards including the Bronze Star. The settlement included an agreed, confidential New Agreement at Lima Refinery payment to Forestier for transition assistance to ocal 624 members ratified a new three-year contract with Husky Lima civilian employment. The company also made two Refining in December, putting an end to nine months of uncertainty. donations totaling $15,000 to veterans’ charities. L The contract campaign included a 135-day unfair labor practice “We believe the settlement is fair and will help strike at the Lima, Ohio, facility. As part of the settlement, the USW asked Derrick be successful in his transition to civilian the NLRB to withdraw unfair labor practice charges against the company. life,” said District 13 Director Mickey Breaux. The agreement follows the National Oil Bargaining pattern agreement, “Helping workers like Derrick get justice is one of except for the off-date contract expiration date of April 15, 2015. A 2.5 the major reasons for having a union in the work- percent wage increase was retroactive to Oct. 8, and workers will receive 3 place.” percent wage increases in this year and in 2014.

NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES COVERED BY A UNION SECURITY CLAUSE All USW represented employees covered by a union security clause have the right, under NLRB v. General Motors, 373 U.S. 734 (1963), to be and remain a nonmember subject only to the duty to pay the equivalent of union initiation fees and periodic dues. Further, only such non-member employees have the right, under Communications Workers v. Beck, 487 U.S. 735 (1988), to limit payment of union security dues and initiation fees to certain moneys spent on activities germane to a union’s role as collective bargaining representa- tive. This latter statutory right is embodied in the USW’s Nonmember Objection Procedure.

The Procedure is available to any USW represented employee union elections or to be a candidate, no right to participate in union who is subject to a union security clause but who is a non-member meetings or activities, and no right to vote on contract ratification. and who objects to his or her union security fees being expended on Upon perfecting properly a notice of objection, the objector is nonrepresentational activities. Paragraph 1 of the Procedure states: entitled to an advance reduction of a portion of his or her union “1. Any individual, who is not a member of the United Steel- security obligation commensurate with expenditures unrelated to workers and who is required as a condition of employment to collective bargaining, as required by law. International Secretary- pay dues to the United Steelworkers pursuant to a union security Treasurer Stanley W. Johnson has determined, based upon expen- arrangement but objects to supporting ... political or ideological ex- ditures for the calendar year 2011, that the reduction percentage penditures by the United Steelworkers which are not necessarily or under the Procedure is 10.04% (19.81% if organizing expenditures reasonably incurred for the purpose of performing the duties of an were to be included). exclusive collective bargaining representative shall have the right There are court decisions holding that organizing activities are upon perfecting a notice of objection to obtain an advance reduc- non-representational activities. The USW does not agree with those tion of a portion of such individual’s dues obligation commensurate rulings. However, without intending to waive its position that its with expenditures unrelated to collective bargaining as required by organizing expenditures are not subject to objection and without law.” intending to waive its right to assert its position if there is a chal- An eligible employee who objects to the USW expending mon- lenge to the reduction percentage, the USW has deemed it expedi- ies for nonrepresentational activities such as charitable or political ent to apply the 19.81% figure to most current and future objectors. activities may choose to perfect a notice of objection under Para- Therefore, an objector will be charged 80.19% of the regular dues graph 2 of the Procedure, which states: amount. Each objector will be given a detailed breakdown between “2. To perfect a notice of objection, the individual must send representational and non-representational activities with a report by an individually signed notice to the International Secretary-Trea- an independent auditor. surer during the first thirty days following either the individual’s The Procedure contains an appeals system under which chal- initial date of hire into the USW represented unit or an anniversary lenges to the reduction percentage determination must be filed date of such hiring: provided, however, that if the individual lacked within 30 days of the Notice of Determination and are to be decid- knowledge of this Procedure, the individual shall have a 30 day ed by an impartial arbitrator appointed by the American Arbitration period commencing on the date the individual became aware of the Association. Disputed amounts are escrowed pending appeal. Procedure to perfect a notice of objection; and, provided, further, While a notice must be individually signed and timely mailed, that a member who resigns membership shall have the opportunity there is no form for a notice. Processing is faster, however, when to object within the 30 day period following resignation.1 the notice contains the objector’s name, address, local union num- Objectors are not USW members and have no right to vote in ber, and employer.

1 Any right of a resignee to pay a reduced amount under this Procedure may or may not be superceded by the resignee’s check-off authorization.

USW@Work •Winter 2013 35 Have You Moved? Notify your local union financial secretary, or clip out this form with your old address label and send your new address to: USW@Work USW Membership Department, 3340 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville, TN 37211 Name ______New Address ______City ______State ______Zip ______

Workers protesting right-to-work legislation in Lansing, Mich. Photos by Chelsey Engel

See page 12 to read more.