The 2022 USW International Convention was very exciting and rejuvenating. It was truly an honor to be surrounded by thousands of Union members and Union supporters from around the world. Thank you for allowing me to attend as a Delegate.

Since 1942, the International Convention has served as the highest decision-making body of the United Steelworkers and is an important part of our member driven Union. The theme of this year’s Convention was “Everybody’s Union”.  Our International President, Tom Conway opened the Convention with a great speech explaining why we truly are Everybody’s Union stating, every worker deserves a seat at the table.  He stressed the importance of developing our Union and how integral our current members will be in fights against greedy employers and anti-Union politicians. As we grow our Union, we preserve and grow the middle class.

We were joined by several guests from around the world who praised the Steelworkers as being the strongest and most progressive Union in the world. Many said, we are a role model for all other Unions everywhere.

While we heard from some dynamic speakers, we also had a substantial amount of work. There are seven committees  which are commissioned at the Convention. (Appeals, Constitution, Credentials, Officer’s Report, Resolutions, Rules and Order of Business, and Sgt-at-Arms Committees.) I was appointed to the Resolutions Committee by our District Director and our International President. This was a great responsibility and honor for our Local.

All resolutions submitted to the International for consideration are given to the Resolutions Committee. Once they are reviewed, resolutions which warrant a change to the language in our Constitution are referred by the Resolutions Committee to the Constitution Committee for consideration. The remaining resolutions are reviewed, researched and debated by the Resolutions Committee. Once this process is complete the Resolutions Committee reads all of the resolutions to the delegates at the convention asking them to concur or not to concur with the resolution.

As a result, several resolutions were adopted, among them, Local Unions will be asked to add a Veterans of Steel Committee at the local level once guidance is provided by the International and Union dues will remain the same with no increase.

As 6787’s Local Union Officers, Grievers, Assistant Grievers and Safety Representatives, we will continue to play key roles on a daily basis in carrying out our adopted convention resolutions and as we collectively enforce our BLA while representing our coworkers before management. We will also strive to be better educators and mentors as we build a better Union, this is what we all deserve.

We are currently back in Pittsburgh bargaining our next Contract.

In Solidarity, 
Pete Trinidad Sr. 
USW 6787
President