From December 1936 to February 1937 members of the United Auto Workers organized a sit-down strike inside the General Motors plants in Flint, Michigan. They ultimately won recognition of their union and improved wages and conditions. "With Babies and Banners" tells the story of the Women's Emergency Brigade, composed of female GM workers and the wives of men involved in the sit-down strike.  They not only provided support services (like running the union kitchens that provided food to the strikers occupying the plants) but did picket duty themselves. It intercuts footage from 1937 with interviews with the same women four decades later.

The entire film is available on youtube.

Attached is a USW Hazard Alert that involves a Rereeler Assistant with three years of service who was fatally injured when he was caught in-between the unguarded Primary Arm and the Reel Rail of a Paper Machine. This fatality occurred some time ago at a USW represented mill that has now been permanently idled. USW Hazard Alerts are sanitized to remove any identifiers, including dates, because we believe it’s important to focus on the context surrounding the events, the hazards involved, and the way work is organized. It is our expectation that, by sharing USW Hazard Alerts, we can eliminate and reduce the hazards our members face in USW-represented workplaces, the industry where the event occurred, and other workplaces where the same or similar hazards exist.

Please share this information broadly within your local union and with your management counterparts to eliminate and control hazards in the workplace.

A total of $10.5 million is available for nonprofit organizations including community and faith-based organizations, employer associations, labor unions, joint labor/management associations, Indian tribes, and colleges and universities. The grants will fund training and education for workers and employers to help them identify and prevent workplace safety and health hazards. Harwood applications must be submitted online no later than September 2nd.

            The United Steelworkers Charitable and Educational Organization (the Tony Mazzocchi Center) has been awarded grant money through the Susan Harwood Grant Program. The funds have allowed the USW Tony Mazzocchi Center to conduct the “Preventing Fatalities and Improving Safety and Health in the Paper Sector” under which many Local Unions have already received valuable training.

September Safety Committee Meeting

7am - Training Room

All Hourly employees invited to attend