INSIDEUSW@WORK We have been told for a long time that there was only one solution, austerity, and there was no alternative. It is our task to say “there is an alternative to attacking our communities. It is investing in our communities. Canadian National Director Ken Neumann 2013 Workers Uniting conference, ”Toronto INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD Leo W. Gerard International President Stan Johnson Int’l. Secretary-Treasurer 12 14 Thomas M. Conway PUBLIC EMPLOYEES EXXONMOBIL Int’l. Vice President When fighting privatization and job outsourcing, A strike or lockout was averted when USW (Administration) state and local government employees find support members ratified agreements covering 850 Fred Redmond from members of the communities that they serve. workers at the ExxonMobil refinery and Int’l. Vice President chemical plant in Baytown, Texas. (Human Affairs) Ken Neumann Nat’l. Dir. for Canada Jon Geenen Int’l. Vice President Gary Beevers 18 30 Int’l. Vice President LANDSLIDE PAPER CONTRACT Carol Landry USW members work to secure jobs jeopardized USW members ratify a four-year agreement Vice President at Large by a massive landslide at the Rio Tinto Kennecott with Packaging Corp. of America that covers Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah. more than 1,000 workers at 25 box plants. DIRECTORS FEATURES ON THE COVER David R. McCall, District 1 Speaking Out 03 USW members at the Martin/F. Weber factory in Philadelphia create paints News Bytes 32 Michael Bolton, District 2 that have been used by generations of American artists. See page 4. USW Photo by Steve Dietz Stephen Hunt, District 3 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.3 Summer 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 • Summer 2013 Save a Job, Buy American n international network of union mem- bers who work for Alcoa is supporting Five years ago, I started my career at Millennium the USW in its efforts to organize more Forge Inc., in Louisville, Ky., as a steelworker and workers in North America. Here is joined Local 1693. I have worked my way up the Awhat some of them have to say to potential new ladder to my current position of crew leader. members: I am at top pay and I owe it all to hard work and the confidence that being a USW member gives. Things have been rough over the years but my union Better Wages and Conditions brothers have always had my back and I will always I’ve been a union member for 25 years work- have theirs. I truly love forging steel. ing for Alcoa. For better wages, conditions, safe- I thank God for every breath and every day. I ty and a good pension, you need to be a member thank the USW for a successful career! I am made in of the union. Union employees make a better the USA, and so are the forgings I produce and that’s income and have better benefits than nonunion the way it should be. I tell everyone to save a job and employees. In a company, you also have more buy American! support and get more done as a group than as an Ronald Pollard Jr., Local 1693 individual trying to fight for your rights. Louisville, Ky. Brett Noonan, local union president Australian Workers Union Help Us, We’ll Help You Point Henry, Australia I am a proud member and current president of Join the Union! USW SOAR Chapter 9 UR-9. Before retirement, I I would encourage union membership. was an active member of Local 1055 serving as a Through bargaining and negotiation you will union steward, elected executive board member and get better working conditions, pay and benefits. recording secretary. Many nonunion workers think it’s a given that We worked hard to be recognized in 1979 and the company will take care of them, but they receive a United Rubber Workers (URW) union card. don’t realize that it’s the bargaining and negotia- When we merged with the USW, we became stronger tion that the union has done with the company with more members and more bargaining power. that has gotten them better working conditions We are in negotiations with BSFS (Bridgestone and pay and benefits that all employees, non- Firestone) right now and they are attacking retirees union as well as union members, enjoy. again. We can’t take any more cuts. The produc- Remember, these things are NOT given to tion people have taken concessions to keep the plant you by your company – they are NOT a right – open. these things were bargained and negotiated for by I ask all locals to help us when we have rallies to your union members. I encourage you to join the fight this company and regain what we have lost. We union! will be there for you when you need help. We have Andy Murray, Unite the Union member and showed that in the past. Chairman of the Alcoa European Works Council Tommy Reeder, president Soar Chapter 9 UR-9 Social Justice Lebanon, Tenn. I would recommend union participation; with- out the union, it becomes worse for the employee Voting Rights Act in the long run. The union defends the social The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to remove justice of the individual. The company is going to defend its profits and production efforts. So key protections against state-sponsored voter sup- USW active and retired pression from the Voting Rights Act impacts work- by joining the union, we have the opportunity to members and their ing families, but too many news reports fail to cover solve the problems created by management. families are invited to working class issues as such. America’s richest 20 Jose Maria Araújo, president “speak out” on these percent already control 85 percent of the money and Metalworker’s Union pages. Letters should be most of Congress, so wealthy people aren’t worried São Luis, Maranhão, Brazil short and to the point. about voter I.D. laws. We reserve the right to With too few eligible voters exercising that right, Voice at Work edit for length. the problem isn’t that too many people are voting, I’ve been a Steelworkers union member for 33 years working for Alcoa. The union has given legally or illegally. The problem is that we workers Mail to: and our families are being cut out of the democratic us a voice in our plant, and through the union, safety and respect for the employees have been USW@Work process and stand to lose even more. Five Gateway Center, Keep fighting! the outcome. Jason Roach, president Local 3-10A Pittsburgh PA 15222 Mike Mignogna, Local 2155 East Wenatchee, Wash. or e-mail: Niles, Ohio [email protected] USW@Work • Summer 2013 3 hey may be little- known Toutside the art commu- nity, but the colorful paints that Steelworkers create at the Martin/F. Weber factory in Philadelphia have earned a place in American history. Over the years, iconic artists such as Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth and Andy Warhol have used Weber paints, helping to make them the top choice in the United States for high-end artists. Weber is “the paint most artists prefer” be- cause it is a high-quality product that professional artists know will stand the test of time, said Ted Walton, a master paint miller and member of Local 286 who has worked at Weber for 15 years. For Walton, that status makes quality control one of the most important jobs for him and his fellow union members. “We have to make sure we always do quality work,” he said. History in the making That high quality has given USW members’ handiwork a perma- nent home in the White House. Last May, Weber celebrated when renowned portrait artist John Howard Sanden unveiled his official paintings of President George W. Bush and his wife Laura. Sanden, a longtime Weber customer, used the company’s USW-made paints to create the portraits. Diane Oliver and her union sisters and brothers were delighted when they learned that their products would have a permanent home in one of the most famous buildings in the world. “It’s wonderful,” Oliver said. The presidential portrait is just one of several links to fame for the company and its USW work force. In 1983, three years after it was purchased by the Kapp family, Weber began a business partnership with a soft-spoken art teacher, Bob Ross, who had just launched his own how-to TV program.