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April Update from SOAR President Bill Pienta One of SOAR’s Three-Fold Purposes SOAR has identified its purpose as threefold. Per the SOAR constitution, one of the three reasons for our existence is "to engage in political and legislative action." The USW has given us a number of ways to do this. One of the ways SOAR members can be involved is by participating in an online membership survey currently accessible on the uswvoices.org website. Information on how to access this survey is available in the beginning of this newsletter. This survey asks you to identify priorities regarding important issues facing working and retired Americans today. As you know, the USW endorses candidates, not parties. Therefore, candidates must commit to supporting the core issues deemed important by our members. In April, the USW will begin holding town hall meetings to hear from our members so they can weigh in on the matters we consider most important to us. I encourage SOAR members to participate in these meetings when scheduled in your area. In May, the SOAR Executive Board will meet in Washington, D.C., and then participate in the USW Rapid Response, Legislative and Policy Conference. One of the tools SOAR representatives will be armed with when meeting with our elected representatives to discuss the issues our union has identified as a priority is their voting record compiled by the Alliance for Retired Americans, whose mission is "to protect and expand retirement security for all Americans." The Alliance publishes all U.S. senators’ and representatives’ annual and lifetime voting records on key retirement security issues. Learn more about the 2023 Congressional Voting Record on page 11 of this newsletter. SOAR Chapters will soon be asked to get involved in helping to elect candidates whose values best align with ours as a union and who support our position on issues determined to be important by our members. SOAR members can volunteer by attending rallies, making phone calls, helping to write postcards to our members, and writing letters to the editor to ensure our members understand who stands with us on our issues and who does not. The link for signing up to volunteer to write postcards is already active on the uswvoices.org website. Whether taking the survey, participating in a town hall meeting, or writing postcards, SOAR members have plenty of opportunities to engage in political and legislative action. -Bill Pienta, SOAR President — Apr 2
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April Update from SOAR Director Julie Stein Your Union, Your Voice Based on the cover of this newsletter, you've likely concluded that our union is embarking upon another round of the Your Union, Your Voice campaign. Our union first launched Your Union, Your Voice in 2020 to ensure USW members' and retirees' opinions were reflected at every level of our union's work. We circulated a union-wide membership survey and held dozens of town hall meetings, providing valuable opportunities for our district directors, other elected union leaders and staff to hear what was on our members' and retirees' minds. Because this feedback proved so vital in shaping our union’s work, we repeated this effort in 2022 (see the results on page 9 of this newsletter), and it continues to inform our efforts as we head into 2024. Beginning in April, USW districts will again hold town hall meetings in locations across the United States. All USW members, retirees, and families are welcome to attend and participate in these important discussions. Additionally, our union has launched another membership survey to gauge our members' and retirees' views on some of the biggest issues facing working and retired Americans today. You can access the survey here. Town hall meetings will be posted on this website, publicized through our social media channels, and shared by USW districts. Our common values, such as fair pay, safe workplaces, a secure retirement, and vibrant communities, connect us as union members. Please take the time to attend a town hall meeting, participate in this survey, and share this information widely throughout your SOAR chapters and fellow USW retirees and families. — Apr 2
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Chemical operators in Ohio vote unanimously to join the USW Sam Howard has been a chemical operator at Detrex Corporation in Ashtabula, Ohio, for nine years. He and his fellow 20 workers produce high-purity hydrochloric acid for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, semiconductor, and other industries. As of late February, they are also now all members of the USW after a years-long campaign that reveals the power of persistence. Howard and several other workers first began exploring joining the USW in 2020. The group was forced to run a mail-in vote due to COVID restrictions and endured a heavy anti-union campaign by the employer. As a result, they lost their election by one vote. While the months passed, working conditions worsened. “Everyone quickly realized we had to try again,” Howard said. The workers had stayed in touch with their USW-appointed staff representative and organizer, and decided to hold another union election in February 2024. This time, the victory was unanimous. “We’re going to teach management how to treat us,” Howard said, noting that accountability is what he’s looking forward to the most with a collective bargaining agreement. “No more chaotic schedules and extreme vacation policies.” The new members are in the midst of bargaining committee elections and are enthusiastic about the opportunity to get involved with the union. — Mar 13
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Rapid Response Info Alert: We Want to Hear from You Click here to download a PDF of this Info Alert We Want to Hear from You Please Take our Survey The work we do in Rapid Response always has been and always will be centered around the issues that impact us at the bargaining table and in our workplaces. The legisation and policies we work to push back on or advocate for, center around our union's core issues; collective bargaining, safety and health, job security and trade, domestic economic issues, health care, and retirement security. We know these are our core issues because we know that one hundred percent of our members can agree on them. In 2020, we launched Your Union Your Voice to hear about the issues that matter most to you and share some of our union’s work to impact government decisions. The feedback we have received from these efforts have helped make sure your priorities are reflected in our union’s work. This year, we’re doing it again, and it starts with hearing directly from you. Please take a moment to take our online survey to tell us what issues matter the most to you HERE. We do our best advocating when we arm ourselves with your priorities. This helps us in our work to be better advocates for the issues that all our members agree can make an impact on their working lives. Please take a quick moment to fill out our survey. Thank you for all the work you do each day to make Rapid Response the best grassroots legislative program in the labor movement. — Feb 28
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Rapid Response Feedback Report: We Couldn't be Prouder of Our Virginia Veterans Click here to download a PDF of this Feedback Report We Couldn’t be Prouder of Our Virginia Veterans Virginia becomes the fifth state to pass our Veterans Bill. Our nation is home to nearly 16 million veterans of the Armed Forces. Many have come home and entered the civilian workforce in a variety of occupations and industries. We’re extra proud of those who are USW members and retirees. That’s why in early 2023, Rapid Response partnered with our union’s Vets of Steel program to continue the good work that began in New York, working with state legislators across the country to author and introduce legislation that would require a standardized workplace posting. This posting includes basic information about veterans’ benefits and a way for veterans to learn more about the resources they are entitled to. These resources help to ease the transition back into civilian life and ensure that families and communities are supported after giving selflessly for our country. We are so excited to pass along that Virginia has unanimously passed the bill in both chambers and it is onto the Governor to be signed into law. It is extremely rare for a bill to pass without any opposition, so we know we are working in the right direction to give our veterans the resources they need. Thank you to each and every person that lobbied their legislator to make this happen. We did this together and will continue to work until this law has been passed in every state in the Nation. Well done, Virginia Steelworkers! Honoring these courageous individuals should happen not only while they are actively serving, but also when they return home. Within our union, the “Veterans of Steel” program honors military service and identifies ways to assist veterans and their families in Steelworker-represented workplaces. If you are a veteran, and would like to join Veterans of Steel, click HERE. Larry R. Ray, Director District 8 For additional questions about this issue or ways to get involved in Rapid Response, contact Chad Conley, USW District 8 Rapid Response Coordinator, at (606) 465-6862 or [email protected]. — Feb 28