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USW Activists Take to the Streets on May Day to Honor Global Labor Movement Members of the USW and the greater labor movement took to the streets May 1 to rally and march for global economic and social justice on International Workers’ Day. From Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, activists stood side-by-side with immigrant organizations to declare that all workers deserve respect and dignity on the job, and that in the union, everyone is in. Jessica Ríos Viner, member of USW Local 3657, serves as president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), a constituency group within the AFL-CIO. Each year, she organizes the Pittsburgh May Day rally and march through the busy downtown area with help from the Thomas Merton Center, Casa San José, and the Pittsburgh chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). “No matter the color of the hands covered in dirt of the people working next to you, you have way more in common with them than you have with your boss,” Viner told the crowd of nearly 400, which included a horn section, university and library workers, grad students, baristas, striking journalists, families, and children. For Viner, who proudly hails from Puerto Rico, the saying “We’re stronger together” is about the kind of solidarity that extends even beyond the labor movement. “We’re all one human family,” said Viner. “All across the world people have the same needs: job security, living wages, safe workplaces, healthcare, and respect. We have to have each other’s backs.” Sabrina Liu, who works in the USW Strategic Campaigns department, leads the Pittsburgh chapter of APALA and helps organize the annual march. She noted that May Day is also the first day of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. “Our struggle is interconnected, and it takes all of us standing together to make our communities better,” said Liu, who migrated to the United States from Taiwan. Xochitl Cobarruvias, chief of staff of Local 675 and active member of LCLAA in Los Angeles, also joined a diverse coalition in Hollywood to honor workers around the world on May 1. “This day is a day of pride,” said Cobarruvias. “A day that we, as workers, immigrants and the community, should be proud of.” The May Day holiday began to commemorate the fight for the eight-hour day in the 1880s as well as the lives of the campaign’s organizers who were executed in the wake of the 1886 Haymarket Affair. Click here to learn more about LCLAA and how you can get involved. — May 9
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USW Aims for Growth at Corning: Union Seeks to Follow Company Expansion in Fiber Optic, Solar Markets The following article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of USW@Work. --- Before Courtney Melvin was a member of Local 1025 in 2016, she worked in sales at a Best Buy store. The low pay and scant benefits at the non-union job made it difficult for the single mother to provide a good life for herself and her family. “It took three years just to obtain benefits,” said Melvin, who now works at the Corning optical fiber plant in Wilmington, N.C. “At Corning,” she said, “I got benefits on day one.” Those benefits improved the well-being of her family, while her USW contract delivered strong wages, health and safety protections, and other life-changing improvements that union membership provides. “In other industries, those were things that were non-negotiable,” said Melvin, who is part of the ongoing effort to encourage more workers to become USW members. “I definitely wanted to be a part of it so we could keep it going.” Cutting-Edge Future As Corning seeks to grow its business in the fiber optic and solar energy markets, the union hopes to follow suit, working to organize new members at those facilities, particularly in the notoriously non-union southern United States. In Corning’s most recent annual report, CEO Wendell Weeks detailed recent declines in traditional sectors such as automobiles, televisions, smart phones and computers, while celebrating growth in the optical fiber and solar markets. It’s that shift that drove the USW effort to organize at non-union Corning facilities focused on cutting-edge technology. “If we want to have success as a union now and into the future, we have to go where workers are and build power with them, from the ground up,” said International Secretary-Treasurer John Shinn, who oversees bargaining for the USW’s Corning locals, including three in New York state, one in Virginia, one in North Carolina, one in Kentucky, and one in New Jersey. Founded 173 years ago as a glass and ceramics company, Corning has consistently focused on research and development in an effort to diversify its product lines and grow its business. Over the years, the company spun off many consumer product lines into separate companies and, beginning in the 1970s, began focusing on specialty glass and materials used in industrial and scientific applications. In 2007, for example, Corning developed and began manufacturing Gorilla Glass, an ultra-strong, ultra-thin glass used on iPhones, iPads and other touch-screen devices. More recently, as smartphone and tablet sales declined and automotive production remained constrained, Corning shifted focus to the solar energy and fiber optic markets, particularly at non-union plants. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration’s 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $65 billion to deliver high-speed internet to the 24 million U.S. households that lack it, a major boost for exactly the kind of fiber optic cable Corning makes in Wilmington and elsewhere. In addition, industry statistics show that solar energy accounted for nearly half of all new electricity-generating capacity in the United States in the first three quarters of 2023. And U.S. solar capacity is expected to more than double over the next four years. “These transitions provide us with an opportunity to grow our union, to ensure that the jobs that are created in these emerging industries are good, community-sustaining jobs that provide a long-term future for working families,” Shinn said. Corning’s Shift Still, as its business continues to grow, Corning has in recent years begun a noticeable shift. Despite a long and productive relationship with the USW at locations across the eastern United States, the company has begun to move production of some of its most in-demand products to non-union shops, while stepping up its anti-union rhetoric. Corning has seven locations in North Carolina, with only one of those – Wilmington – represented by the USW. Local 1025 President Donneta Williams is approaching 30 years at the facility and knows first-hand what the USW could do for workers at Corning’s non-union sites. “I knew it made a difference,” Williams said. “When I came in, my income tripled.” Besides the obvious financial benefits, she said, the USW shines a spotlight on health and safety issues, one that does not exist at non-union facilities. “You have to hold the company accountable, and you have to hold your facility accountable to keep workers safe,” Williams said. “It’s very important to be at the table, to have a voice, and to make a change.” Organizing Drive It’s that desire to have a voice that is leading other Corning workers, in North Carolina and elsewhere, to challenge the status quo and push to join the USW. Union drives are under way at Corning facilities in Concord and Hickory which also produce optical fiber, as well as a site in Durham that opened in 2018, where workers manufacture glass for pharmaceutical packaging, as well as other locations. In addition to her role as local president, Williams serves as a vice president with the state AFL-CIO, and has seen an uptick in interest in unions from workers across the economy. “We are wide open with activity,” Williams said of organizing activity in her state. While North Carolina and most other southern U.S. states have so-called “right to work” laws designed to cripple unions, Williams, who comes from a family where both parents were union members, said the key to winning in an anti-union environment is educating workers. “In the South, a lot of people have a negative view of unions,” she said. “They don’t understand that it’s a privilege to have a union to guide you, to stand with you, to fight for you. We try to convey that to new people.” Organizing the South Williams credited her predecessor at Wilmington’s Local 1025, Wilhelmenia Hardy, with prioritizing the education of new members and inspiring her to take on a leadership role. After more than 20 years at Corning, Hardy took her leadership experience there and used it to launch a second career as a USW organizer. Now she helps workers throughout the South to understand the power of a union and to advocate for themselves through collective action. Among the campaigns Hardy helped to lead was the successful effort last spring by 1,500 workers at Blue Bird Bus Co. in Georgia to join the USW. The victory gained national attention for its overwhelming success in the anti-union South. The vote at Blue Bird was the largest union organizing win at a manufacturing plant in the region in 15 years, and provided inspiration for other workers throughout the South who are hungry for the benefits of union membership. Still, Hardy said, organizing in the South, or anywhere, can be a difficult task when companies and anti-union political leaders gang up to intimidate workers. “They have to want it. You can’t force it on any worker. They have to want change,” Hardy said. “So many workers are afraid, afraid they might lose their jobs if they even speak the word ‘union.’” As Williams and Hardy agreed, getting workers past that fear means making sure they know what their employers are allowed – or not allowed – to do. “Educating workers on their legal rights is a must,” Hardy said. Eyes on the Future As Corning moves more production work to non-union sites, the urgency of organizing those facilities grows. In addition, Williams said, members must continue to organize internally to ensure that workers in Wilmington and elsewhere buy into the importance of their membership in the USW. “It’s challenging, but it’s important,” Williams said. “We can do more together.” Melvin spearheads her local’s internal organizing work with entry-level employees. To help members learn about their rights and benefits, she created a Google Classroom page where members can read their contract and other documents and answer questions about what they learned. “There is power in numbers. In order to ensure that we keep what we have now, we want to make sure that our numbers remain high,” Melvin said. While working hard at the local level to build solidarity, Williams also collaborates with Shinn and leaders at other Corning facilities with USW contracts. Though there is not a master agreement for all Corning locations, council members coordinate bargaining and mobilization as much as they can, and members have volunteered in union organizing efforts. “The solidarity is there,” Williams said. “We are there for our brothers and sisters.” Building strength and unity among existing members, and recruiting those rank-and-file workers to organize others, will help potential members see the benefits of the union and inspire them to join the movement, Hardy said. “If we have all the facilities in North Carolina, and if we all came together, it would be a win-win for everybody,” she said. “For the company, and for the workers.” — May 8
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The 2024 Rapid Response, Legislative, and Policy Conference is Almost Here! Click here to download this Rapid Response Info Alert as a PDF.This year’s Conference is just under two weeks away and we are so excited to have our activists join us in Washington, D.C. With that being said, we want to get you primed with some education ahead of your arrival so you feel comfortable and ready to go when you arrive. Join Us for a Pre-Conference Webinar! We want all our delegates to feel confident about the work we’ll do in Washington, D.C. while we are there, so we are hosting four pre-conference Zoom webinars ahead of our arrival. Those will take place on May 9, 2024 and May 14, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on both days. We’ll cover conference logistics, how to download the app, layout the agenda, give a heads up on the lobby issues we plan to take to the Hill, and do our best to answer any questions you may have.Click a Date to Register: May 9, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. (usw.to/4zu) May 9, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. (usw.to/4zv) May 14, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. (usw.to/4zw) May 14, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. (usw.to/4zx )Our Lobby Issues:This year we will be taking our core issues to the Hill by telling Congress to reauthorize Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), defend the final rule on Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities, and to fully fund and staff the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). We’ll cover these issues more in depth during our webinars, so please feel free to bring your questions!Download the Conference AppThe free app can be downloaded for Apple users at the App Store, usw.to/apple, or for Android users at the Google Play Store, usw.to/android. The app will keep you updated on conference activities, changes, and more. You can even register for the workshop sessions you would prefer to attend.Show the Community USW CaresWe are anticipating donating hundreds more care kits to The Community for Creative Non-Violence again this year. Please click HERE to find out more information and thank you in advance for lending a helping hand!We can’t wait to see you! If you have questions in the meantime, please contact Charleeka Thompson at [email protected]. — May 7
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Unbreakable Bonds: USW Glass and Mold Makers at Ohio Factory Fuel Economy While Producing Top-Quality Bottles The following article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of USW@Work. --- Tom Forker has worked at the Owens-Illinois glass factory in Zanesville, Ohio, for 48 years. Over those nearly five decades, the 355 members of the four USW locals who work at the plant have become like family to him. And, in turn, six of his own family members, both children and grandchildren, have joined the work force at the plant. The reason for Forker’s long-term dedication to his job is simple and succinct: “I care,” he says. It’s a sentiment that members of the four USW locals share across all corners of the 750,000-square-foot O-I facility as they put in the hard work needed to turn out 365 million clear glass bottles each year. ‘Highest Quality’ “Customers pay for quality,” said Plant Manager Ben Valis. “Everybody knows that what we make here is the highest quality.” The bottles that O-I workers make ultimately are sent out the door to be filled with some of the world’s most popular wines and spirits. Those products can be found on the shelves of grocery stores, wine and spirit shops, bars and restaurants, and ultimately, in the homes of millions of consumers. The unique, high-quality products at O-I are part of the reason the Zanesville plant is looking forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary this August, and why the USW members there take such pride in the work they do. “For the customer to get a good bottle on the shelf, quality involves everybody in the plant,” said storeroom leader Teresa Ziemer, who pointed out during a recent USW@Work visit to the plant that she was considering retirement after 45 years at the plant. “I feel very lucky,” Ziemer said, noting the strong wages and benefits that USW leaders negotiate for the work force. “I’ve always been proud to work here.” Complex Process For 5,000 years, the process of making glass has involved two basic elements: Sand and heat. Over the past 100 years, workers in Zanesville have perfected that craft with some help from modern technology. Raw materials – silica sand, soda ash and limestone – arrive at the factory by rail and truck. Recycled glass is added to the mix, which is melted down in furnaces with temperatures topping 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. From computer screens in his control room perch, USW member Shawn Bonifield carefully monitors the process to ensure the correct temperature and consistency as molten glass is formed into bottles. “I make the glass right here,” Bonifield said. “I keep a close eye on everything.” Gobs of red-hot glass are fed into molds, where machines blow a precise amount of air into each piece to expand their interiors to specific sizes and shapes, some simple and others ornate. From there, the bottles undergo a complex cooling process that ensures their durability. Once the bottles are cooled, members inspect and test them for quality, shape, color and other potential imperfections. Trade Pressures Owens-Illinois has been an innovator in the glass industry since 1903 when company founder Michael Owens unveiled the first bottle-making machine, which led to mass production of glass bottles, said Claude Beaudin, chair of the USW’s GMP Council. Despite the continued shift toward automation, USW members are still involved in every aspect of the glassmaking process, from the start – known as the “hot end” – to the finish, called the “cold end.” About 15 members of Local 121T make the glass molds, while about 45 members of Local 172M work to produce the hot glass. On the cold end, 250 members of Local 178M inspect the bottles and pack them for shipping. About 45 members of Local 105M work in maintenance across the facility to ensure the entire process keeps running smoothly. Despite their dedication to making the best glass bottles in the world, USW glassmakers in Zanesville and elsewhere still face pressure from overseas trade. Late last year, the U.S. Glass Producers Coalition, a group of bottle manufacturers and workers, filed petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to curb unfairly traded imports from China, Mexico and Chile. “As a union, the USW is committed to combating unfair trade practices in glass and other industries,” Beaudin said. “These practices are designed to distort the market and destroy good jobs. American workers are the best in the world, as long as they are able to compete on a level playing field.” Economic Boost In addition to making world-class bottles as they face down unfairly traded competition from abroad, USW members in Zanesville are united in their fight for fair wages and benefits at home, an effort that pays dividends for them and their families, as well as for the surrounding community, said District 1 Director Donnie Blatt. “The success of Owens-Illinois and its dedicated union work force does more than just support a few hundred USW families in Zanesville,” Blatt said. “Thanks to the USW, this factory provides an economic ripple effect to the entire region of central Ohio. These workers should be proud of the products they make, and of their contribution to the economy of the Buckeye State.” Safety a Priority The intense heat and other potential hazards that exist at the factory make health and safety another top priority for USW members in Zanesville and across the industry. Crew leader Bill Hollingshead said that the ability to stop work to prevent incidents is an important part of keeping members safe. “We can shut things down if it doesn’t feel right,” he said. “It has to be an organized team effort.” Hollingshead, who has worked for more than 35 years at O-I and done “every job in the plant,” considers himself something of a mentor to the younger union workers, making sure they have the tools and knowledge they need to carry on a century-long tradition, and to do so safely. As a growing number of workers near retirement age and more younger workers join the work force, that becomes even more important, he said. “I’m able to help them to coordinate their future, so to speak,” Hollingshead said of younger members of the work force. “The biggest part of my job is keeping everything running.” ‘It’s a Mindset’ Keeping the plant running smoothly, safely and efficiently takes the support of every worker on the plant floor, said Kyle Makin, who said it’s important to have co-workers who look out not only for the quality of the product but also for the well-being of their colleagues. “An extra set of eyes is always best,” Makin said. “It takes a lot of patience. It’s not just a skill set. Some of it is a mindset.” At its core, the mindset of the USW members in Zanesville is rooted in union solidarity, and in the belief that each person’s job is an essential part of the whole. “We’re all part of a team,” Hollingshead said. “Everybody wants to work together and to do quality work.” Continuing to turn out those top-of-the-line products is the key to the future for USW glassmakers, Hollingshead said. “I want these guys to have the same things I had, and more,” he said. “We will if we continue to push quality out.” — May 6
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Full Steam Ahead: USW Leads Coalition Seeking Action to Revitalize Shipbuilding The following article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of USW@Work. --- The USW led a coalition of five unions this March in filing a petition calling on the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to initiate an investigation of Chinese shipbuilding. Over the past two decades, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has employed a number of predatory, non-market practices to massively expand its shipbuilding capacity and dominate global transportation and logistics networks. Those efforts decimated China’s competitors around the world, destroying thousands of good U.S. jobs in the process. “The United States once had nearly 30 major shipyards; now we’re down to just a handful,” said USW International President David McCall. “That correlates with more than 70,000 lost shipbuilding jobs, not to mention all the secondary jobs the industry supports.” Good USW Jobs Many of those jobs are in industries where USW members work. One commercial ship can require approximately 13,000 tons of structural steel, 60,000 gallons of paint, 130 miles of electrical cable, as well as aluminum, glass and numerous other union-made products. “If we do not act quickly, we will soon be dependent on China not only for the products their vessels bring into our ports but also for the ships themselves,” McCall said. That dependence would have implications that go beyond the economic effects of lost jobs and shuttered facilities. Critical supply chains, as well as U.S. national security are at stake, McCall said. “China has surpassed the United States and now operates the world’s largest navy,” he said. “Rebuilding our Merchant Marine is not only essential to increasing our nation’s sealift capability, it will help shore up the critical supply chains our military and commercial shipbuilding industries share, making us safer and more resilient.” Potential Ripple Effects Charles Spivey, president of Local 8888, observed the demise of the commercial shipbuilding industry firsthand. Spivey joined the Newport News, Va., shipyard in the late 1970s when it was still producing tankers for companies like El Paso Natural Gas Co. and U.S. Trust Co. But that work ended when the U.S.T. Pacific, an ultra large crude carrier built for U.S. Trust, sailed out of the shipyard in 1979. Since then, except for a brief period in the 1990s when it produced commercial ships for overseas customers, the shipyard has focused exclusively on work for the U.S. military. Today, about 12,000 Local 8888 members make aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines for the Navy. But Spivey said they would like to resume the commercial shipbuilding work and that they have the capacity for it. James Crawford and his co-workers at Hunt Valve in Salem, Ohio, still make valves and actuators for commercial ships along with parts for military vessels, but they’ve seen demand for commercial ship components fall over the years. Crawford, unit president for Local 3372-07, said the trade has the potential to create new, good-paying jobs while helping to boost the nation’s security. “You can’t go somewhere to fight if you’re weak at home,” said Crawford part of the delegation of USW members who gathered at the U.S. Capitol in March to announce the filing of the case. “Nobody wants China to be taking our jobs. We need to be able to rely on American-made products.” Revitalization of the shipbuilding industry would provide new opportunities for tens of thousands of USW members across numerous supply chains. “It would help us tremendously,” said Steve Townsend, unit chair of USW Local 3261-01 at Rochester Metal Products in Rochester, Ind. “We can make just about anything having to do with iron castings. We’re very versatile,” said Townsend, citing hooks, brackets, water pumps and engine components as just a handful of the items he and other members of Local 3261-01 have the capacity to provide. Chinese Dominance Katherine Tai, who has served in the cabinet-level position of USTR since 2021, will review the petition and determine whether her office will launch an investigation of Chinese shipbuilding. She said she looked forward to that process, but that it was clear China has already harmed U.S. workers with its non-market policies, which include currency manipulation, dumping of low-priced goods, and unfair subsidization of Chinese industry. “We have seen the PRC create dependencies and vulnerabilities in multiple sectors, like steel, aluminum, solar, batteries, and critical minerals,” Tai said. As recently as the mid-1970s, U.S. shipbuilders employed more than 180,000 and launched 75 ships each year, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM). Beginning with the Reagan administration, the government began to slash funding for shipbuilding, giving foreign competitors an edge and devastating the U.S. industry. In 2023, McCall pointed out, China built more than 1,000 ships in 2023, while U.S. shipbuilders produced less than 10. Today, China controls about half of the world’s shipbuilding capacity, a level 232 times greater than that of the United States. Union Coalition Joining the USW in filing the petition were the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Maritime Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. The unions filed the petition under Section 301of the Trade Act of 1974, which provides the USTR with the authority to respond to unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce. U.S. lawmakers also took up the cause, with U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Bob Casey sending a letter to President Joe Biden in support of the petition. Casey called China a “predatory regime.” “We have to crack down hard on this regime and hold this regime and particularly President Xi Jinping accountable for what his regime does,” he said. International Vice President Roxanne Brown said the Biden administration has already demonstrated its commitment to strengthening American manufacturing, creating good jobs and stopping unfair trade, and that rebuilding U.S. shipbuilding capacity is the next logical step. “Labor unions and the Biden administration have worked together to establish a worker-centered trade policy and ramp up domestic manufacturing capacity through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act,” said Brown. “Reviving our nation’s shipbuilding industry will enable us to expand those investments, ensure a steady supply of goods, and grow the middle class.” Strong Support The USW petition is asking the U.S. to force China to pay a fee each time a Chinese-built vessel enters a U.S. port. Those revenues would, in turn, be used to support American shipbuilders, creating jobs and revitalizing the industry. American voters agree with the USW that shipbuilding must be a priority. A recent poll found 82 percent said they were concerned that the United States builds so few ships, and 74 percent supported government investments to rebuild the industry. Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a non-profit partnership of unions and employers, said that allowing China to continue to dominate the shipbuilding industry would have “disastrous repercussions.” “Strong measures in response to this petition are an essential first step to rebuilding America’s maritime independence, and it’s an urgent one,” Paul said. “The Biden administration must act now to level the playing field for our shipbuilders.” — May 3
United Steelworkers Press Releases Feed
- USW Activists Take to the Streets on May Day to Honor Global Labor Movement
- USW Aims for Growth at Corning: Union Seeks to Follow Company Expansion in Fiber Optic, Solar Markets
- The 2024 Rapid Response, Legislative, and Policy Conference is Almost Here!
- Unbreakable Bonds: USW Glass and Mold Makers at Ohio Factory Fuel Economy While Producing Top-Quality Bottles
- Full Steam Ahead: USW Leads Coalition Seeking Action to Revitalize Shipbuilding