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 WEast 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.