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USW@Work (ISSN 0883-3141) is published five times a year by the United Steelworkers AFL-CIO•CLC Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, PA15222. 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 2006 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.

Direct Inquiries and articles for USW@Work to:United Steelworkers

Communications DepartmentFive Gateway CenterPittsburgh, PA 15222phone 412-562-2400

fax 412-562-2445on-line: www.usw.org

Communications Staff: Marco Trbovich, Assistant to the President/CommunicationsGary Hubbard, Director of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.

Jim McKay, EditorAaron Hudson and Kenny Carlisle, Designers Lynne Baker, Kelly Barr, Jim Coleman, Deb Davidek, Gerald Dickey,Joanne Powers, Wayne Ranick, Frank RomanoContributors: Holly Hart, Emily Jefferson, Kim Nibarger

InternationalExecutive Board

USWMOBILIAZATION INSIDEUSW@WORK

Official publication of the United SteelworkersVolume 01/No.5 Fall 2006

Goodyear StrikeA contract dispute forces some 15,000 USW members tostrike 16 Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plants in theUnited States and Canada.

04

The Big SqueezeThe American Dream is getting harder to reach for manymiddle-class families. We must fight back.06

Steeling for ActivismThe USW's Women of Steel is growing as a voice forworking class women in North America.

12

Safety FirstThe desire to maintain safe working conditions drew 750labor and management participants to the USW's firstunion-wide Health and Safety Conference.

20

To makedemocracy work,

we must be a nationof participants, notsimply observers.One who does not

vote has no right tocomplain.

“

”Louis L'Amour, U.S. author, 1908-1988 Features:

Speaking OutCAPITOL LETTERSNews BytesUnion Security NoticeWorker Economics

0318262830

Leo W. GerardInternational President

James D. EnglishInt’l. Secretary-Treasurer

Thomas M. ConwayInt’l. Vice President

(Administration)

Fred RedmondInt’l. Vice President

(Human Affairs)

Ken NeumannNat’l. Dir. for Canada

Richard LaCosseInt’l. Vice President

Gary BeeversInt’l. Vice President

James H. DunnAssociate Secretary-Treasurer

Ron HooverExec. Vice President (R/PIC)

Lewis PeacockVice President (Organizing)

James K. Phillips, Jr.Vice President at Large

DirectorsDavid R. McCall, District 1

Jon Geenen, District 2Stephen Hunt, District 3

William J. Pienta, District 4Michel Arsenault, District 5

Wayne Fraser, District 6Jim Robinson, District 7

Ernest R. “Billy” Thompson, District 8Connie Entrekin, District 9John DeFazio, District 10

Robert Bratulich, District 11Terry L. Bonds, District 12

J.M. “Mickey” Breaux, District 13

Co-DirectorsGerald P. Johnston, District 1

Lloyd Walters, District 9Kenneth O. Test

USW activists Leslie Curtis and Rick Benson urge Pittsburgh resident andunion member Robert Pasquantonio to vote in November. USW volunteers arewalking neighborhoods to get out the vote in election battleground statesincluding Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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Your vote countsI have been a member of various

unions during my working career, withthe USW being the present. I haveenjoyed the benefits that union involve-ment and membership brings, as well asthe downturn of a plant closure(Aerovent Inc. of Piqua, Ohio, 1992).

Recent articles in the union's publica-tion, USW@Work, concerning the various attacks by government andemployers are on the money.

We basically have no friends inplaces of power that can or will stop theonslaught against organized labor. Thesepersons in power should remember thatthe luxuries they enjoy are a direct resultof the labors of thousands and thousandsof hard working union members pastand present.

I would strongly urge every memberof any local to remember the importanceof their voice in the upcoming elections.If our glorious nation is going to sur-vive, WE THE PEOPLE, will be hersavior.

Donald HuttonChillicothe, Ohio

Vote for our ownLet us face it folks none of the politi-

cians are true working people. We needto find people of our own to push forelection to the public offices. Justbecause you don't have a degree fromcollege does not disqualify you frompublic office. I would love to see a pres-ident some day who is just a plain oldworking man like myself.

Russell Terry PowellDanville, Ill.

Remembering retireesI would like to add my thanks to all

those who worked so diligently on pastcontracts, helping retirees with coveragefor prescription medicine, doctors' visitsand hospitalization. I know at times itwasn't easy.

I am 90 years old, retired 31 yearswith 39 years of service.

Thanks for remembering those whoare gone but are still with you. Keep upthe good work.

Harry F. ReynoldsLas Vegas, Nev.

Runaway jobsIn reading articles in USW@Work on

Continental Tire, I became quite upset.I was a proud member of the union

for over 20 years when I worked atBriggs & Stratton.

During this time we lost many unionjobs to Murray, Ky., when Briggs decid-ed to move for cheaper wages. We alsohad a costly strike in which memberslost their houses.

Never once did I hear anyone fromKentucky ask about those thousands ofjobs lost in Milwaukee and say, 'we can'tlet this happen.'

I predicted then, in the mid-1970s,that those jobs in Kentucky and in othersouthern states would be moved over-seas before they retired, and when theycried it would be heard all the way backto Milwaukee.

Randy KwiatkowskiMilwaukee, Wis.

Training assistance deniedI was just reading the letter in the

latest edition of USW@Work from awoman in Kentucky whose husband waslaid off by Continental Tire.

I worked at a (Kaydon CustomFiltration Corp.) plant in Greeneville,Tenn. under Local 6884, and in 2005,after a slow start, we went to a four-dayweek for one-third of the year while thecompany decided whether to move theplant to LaGrange, Ga.

By mid-year we were working sixand sometimes seven days a week, onlyto be told in November that the plantwould close in 2006. We were a unionplant, our wages were double the ratesin Georgia and our benefits were better.

After the Greeneville plant closed onMay 12, I was told by our local unemployment office that we do notqualify for any job retraining assistancebecause the jobs didn't go overseas.

This country is not going to be happyuntil we all work at Wal-Mart for $6 anhour and drive Chinese imports.

Lynn MaloneAfton, Tenn.

Keep jobs in the U.S.My wife works for a company in

Utica, N.Y., that was purchased by aJapanese firm and she will lose her jobbecause the work is being moved toJapan. She also worked for ChicagoPneumatic Tool for many years untilthey moved their headquarters fromUtica to South Carolina. The businesswas sold to Atlas Copco, an internation-al company based in Sweden.

This crap has to stop. Where will itend? Keep our jobs in the U.S.

Thomas D. StilwellUtica, N.Y.

Buy made in the USAI am responding to the letter in

USW@Work from Shirley Adamczak,who questioned buying goods fromThird World countries.

Yes, we are all guilty. But I comefrom a union family, and try my hardestnot to buy anything but goods labeled"Made in the USA"

Imagine my surprise and delightwhen I found the web site, www.howtobuyamerican.com, by RogerSimmermaker. They have just abouteverything you can think of on this site,not just clothing. Please print this in thenext issue of the magazine. I'm sureother union members might also beinterested.

Mary RitsemaHastings, Mich.

USW active and retired members and their families are invited to “speak out” on these pages. Letters should be short and to the point. We reserve the

right to edit for length. Mail to USW@Work, Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh PA15222 or e-mail to editor@usw.org.

Speaking OutSpeaking Out

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hree years after the USW gavesteep concessions to bring thecompany back from the brink of

bankruptcy, a healthier Goodyear Tireand Rubber Co. forced a strike by seek-ing to close U.S. factories in favor ofoffshore production and to cut wagesand benefits.

"The company left us with nooption,'' USW Executive Vice PresidentRon Hoover said after nearly 15,000members walked off the job Oct. 5 at 16tire or rubber products plants in 10 statesand Canada. "We cannot allow addition-al plant closures after the sacrifices wemade three years ago to help this com-pany survive."

USW President Leo W. Gerard urgedthe nation’s political leaders to encourageGoodyear to invest in American produc-tion instead of abandoning Americanworkers, retirees and their communitiesin a global race to the bottom in pursuitof cheap labor and unregulated foreignmarkets.

Enough is enough"Simply put, enough is enough,"

Gerard wrote.If Goodyear's demands are allowed to

stand, Gerard predicted

a dramatic acceleration in the offshoringof U.S. manufacturing beyond the 3 mil-lion jobs already lost to countries wherehealth care costs are subsidized andlabor and environmental standards arelax or totally nonexistent.

"The time is now to stop the disas-trous decline of America's industrialbase,'' Gerard added. "Our members canno more endure this assault on theirbasic living standards than the Americanpublic can endure the unabated rise inthe cost of health care and prescriptiondrugs, let alone Congressional inactionon health care reform."

The union offered to work withGoodyear to ensure production of tiresfor military use in Iraq, but companynegotiations did not fully respond by thestrike deadline.

In the 2003 negotiations, the

USW agreed to the closure of a facilityin Huntsville, Ala., and gave the compa-ny additional financial flexibility byaccepting wage, pension and health carecuts. In addition, each local unionworked closely with their plant manage-ment to increase productivity andenhance efficiencies.

Goodyear rewards others"We worked very hard with the com-

pany in 2003 to deal with a difficult sit-uation,'' Hoover said. "While more canbe done, Goodyear has rebounded andother stakeholders have been rewardedaccordingly. Now, the company seemsdetermined to only take more away fromour members."

Bargaining started months before thescheduled July 22 expiration of the pre-vious three-year master contract. Talks continued under a day-to-day contract ex-tension that was canceled when it becameclear that Goodyear was intent on guttingour contract and closing our plants.

Goodyear plansAs we went to press, members at all

locals were maintaining strike solidarity.There was evidence of unprecedentedpublic support, suggesting that the strikeis perceived as a fight to defend manu-facturing communities and the economicsecurity of workers rather than a moreconventional labor-management dispute.

While USW members organizedpeaceful picket lines, Goodyear said itwould use salaried workers at the struckplants and continue production atnonunion plants in Lawton, Okla., andNapanee, Ontario, as well as draw oninventory and tires from overseas.

The company would not offer con-tractual protection to all of the U.S. facili-ties where the USW represents workers.

"Closing more plants would not onlycause additional job losses and devastatethe communities where the operationswould cease, but it would also threatenthe long-term viability of Goodyear,"Hoover said. "You can't build long-termviability by giving up market share."

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Goodyear workers marchtoward the company’s headquarters in Akron.AP Photo/Mark Duncan

The expired master contractbetween the USW and Goodyear

covered 14,000 workers at 12 U.S.plants in Akron, Ohio; Gadsden,

Ala.; Buffalo, N.Y., St. Mary's, Ohio;Lincoln, Neb.; Topeka, Kans.; Tyler,

Texas; Danville, Va.; Marysville,Ohio; Union City, Tenn.; Sun

Prairie, Wis.; and Fayetteville, N.C.

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he United Steelworkersdenounced a shocking newapproach that employers are con-

sidering to limit health care expenses —sending employees to India or otherlow-cost countries for expensive med-ical procedures.

Dubbed "medical tourism" by themedia, the idea of outsourcing medicalcare to low-cost countries is finding itsway into corporate agendas as a way tocut health care costs.

"Our members, along with thousandsof unrepresented workers, are now beingconfronted with proposals to literallyexport themselves to have 'expensive'medical procedures provided in India,"USW President Leo W. Gerard said in aletter sent to Senate and House commit-tees with jurisdiction over health careissues.

Blue Ridge Paper Products, Inc., ofCanton, N.C., proposed sending one ofits employees, a USW member, to Indiafor surgery — a move that would have

saved the self-insured company tens ofthousands of dollars.

The USW, however, intervened andthe company withdrew the proposal.Both sides agreed to work together tofind an alternative within the UnitedStates for the employee, who had volun-teered to undergo surgery in India inreturn for a share of the savings.

"With companies now proposing tosend their own American employeesabroad for less expensive health careservices, there can be no doubt that theU.S. health system is in immediate needof massive reform," Gerard said.Frightening risks

No U.S. citizen should be exposed tothe risks involved in traveling interna-tionally for health care services, saidGerard, who described the willingnessof employers to offer incentives foremployees to assume those risks asfrightening.

"The right to safe, secure anddependable health care in one's own

country should not be surrendered forany reason — certainly not to fatten theprofit margins of corporate investors,''he added.Real issues ignored

The United Steelworkers is con-cerned with the unwillingness ofemployers and government to confrontand address the issues that are drivingup health care costs for our employedmembers and our retirees.

The union remains steadfast in itscommitment to rebuild a domestichealth care system, one that does notsubject our members other U.S. citizensto the immeasurable risks of dealingwith foreign health care providers.

"The offshoring of family- and com-munity-supportive jobs is bad enough,''Gerard said. "Exacerbating this crisis byattempting to outsource health care isnot only shameless; it does nothing tosolve the nation's skyrocketing healthcare costs.

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iddle-class families are taking it in the neck.While the Bush administration boasts of a glitter-

ing economy where jobs, corporate profits and stockprices are up, those of us in the middle class, or working hardto get there, are dealing with a world outside the WashingtonBeltway that's a whole lot different.

Every day it is getting harder to hold onto those things thatmake up the American dream: good and stable jobs, thepromise of a secure retirement after a lifetime of work, accessto affordable housing and health care, the ability to send ourchildren to college and to care for our elderly parents.

At the same time, big business and other powerful interestsare abandoning American workers, particularly in manufactur-ing, by using lousy trade agreements to send millions of goodjobs overseas.

Yet the Administration's policies ignore the economic reali-ties that are squeezing the middle class. In many ways, we'repaying for the Administration's addiction to tax cuts for mil-lionaires, giveaways to big oil special interests and skyrocket-ing budget deficits.

So the question is, can we afford the Bush policies anylonger and the Republican-controlled Congress that rubber

stamps them? Or is it time to make a change at the votingpolls in November?

Anxiety about the future is growing. Consumer confidenceas measured by the University of Michigan has fallen sharply.People's expectations for the future are now as downbeat asthey were in 1992 and 1993, when the job market had yet torecover from a recession.

If current trends continue, we are in the first sustained peri-od of economic recovery since World War II that has failed tooffer a prolonged increase in real wages for most workers.

For most of the last century, wages and the productivity ofAmerican workers have risen together, increasing rapidlythrough the 1950s and 1960s and growing more slowly in the1970s and 1980s.

In recent times, though, wages and productivity have partedways. The median hourly wage has declined while productivi-ty, an economic measure of how much an average worker pro-duces in an hour, has soared.

This isn't happening by accident. Consider a commentmade nearly 20 years ago by Goodyear executive Stanley J.Mihelick to The New York Times.

"Until we get wage levels down much closer to those of the

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Brazils and Koreas, we cannot pass alongproductivity gains to workers' wages andstill be competitive,'' Mihelick, an executive

vice president, said in 1987.

Worker productivity upWorker productivity rose 16.6 percent from

2000 to 2005, while total compensation for themedian worker rose less than half as much —7.2 percent, according to an analysis of govern-

ment statistics by the Economic PolicyInstitute, a Washington-based researchgroup. And benefits accounted for most ofthe increase in compensation.

As a result, wages and salaries now makeup the lowest share of the nation's gross

domestic product (GDP) since the governmentbegan keeping tabs of the data in 1947. At thesame time, corporate profits have entered agolden era, climbing to their highest share ofGDP since the 1960s.

As wages stagnate, the rising costs of gaso-line have driven up the costs of driving towork. Staying warm at home costs more, too.

Natural gas prices have risen by 140 percent over a decade.Helping your kids get ahead with a better education is also

outrageously costly. The average college tuition for a four-yearpublic school is up by 95 percent in the last decade.

While employees' wages have stagnated, CEO compensa-tion has soared to new heights. Last year, the compensation forthe chief executives of the 500 largest U.S. companies aver-aged $10.9 million. In addition, these CEOs can expect enormous pensions and lifetime health and welfare benefits inretirement.

The top 1 percent of earners — a group that includes manychief executives — received 11.2 percent of all wage incomein 2004, compared to 8.7 percent a decade earlier and less than6 percent three decades ago.

While the CEOs retire in style, corporations, with the helpof politicians and bankruptcy courts, are chopping health carebenefits and breaking pension promises for average workers.

Pensions for America's workers are taking a beating as cor-porations dramatically scale back traditional defined benefitpension plans that were supposed to provide a steady incomefor life.

Those traditional defined benefit plans, which provided amonthly check based on years of service and income, arebeing replaced by savings plans into which employers make

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set, or defined contributions, leaving itup to the worker to make the amountstretch until death.

Health care costs upAfter several years of steep rises,

the cost for family health coverageunder an employer health plan nowaverages $11,480 a year — nearly dou-ble what it cost in 2000 and more thanthe entire annual income of a full-timeminimum-wage worker.

Premium costs rose this year by anaverage of 7.7 percent — more thantwice as fast as the growth in workers'wages (3.8 percent) and overall inflation(3.5 percent), according to a survey bythe Kaiser Family Foundation.

It is little consolation that this year'spremium rise is less than the 9.2 percentincrease recorded in 2005 and the recentpeak increase of 13.9 percent in 2003.Employees now pay an average cost of$2,973 toward the family plan premium.

"While premiums didn't rise as fast asthey have in recent years, working peo-ple don't feel like they are getting anyrelief at all because their premiums have

been rising so much faster than theirpaychecks,'' said foundation presidentand CEO Drew E. Altman.

As costs go up, fewer workers andtheir families have coverage.

Last year, the percent of people withemployer-provided health care fell forthe fourth year in a row. Nearly 3.7 million fewer people had employer pro-vided health insurance in 2004 than in2000.

To pay for tax cuts that benefit therich, the Bush administration andCongress have amassed record federaldeficits and trimmed social spending inareas such as job training, housing andhigher education.

The latest tax cuts signed by Bush inMay are being paid for entirely withborrowed money, according to an analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice, anon-profit public interest and researchorganization.

National debt balloonsThe national debt, including amounts

owed to the Social Security Trust Fund,will balloon by $3 trillion over the fiscal

2002 to 2007 period. The cost of thisborrowing binge will ultimately comeout of taxpayers' pockets, throughspending cuts or future tax hikes.

The benefits of the Bush tax cutshave gone primarily to the wealthiestone percent of Americans — leavingthe vast majority of the nation's taxpay-ers to pick up the tab.

Government services are being cut ata time when America's working poor —people who work as secretaries, cooks,laborers, clerks and others — are findingit difficult to meet their basic needs.

Not even the troops who put them-selves in harms way for our countryhave escaped the impact of budget cuts.One telling example is the reduction infunding for one of the most commoninjuries of the Iraq war.

Traumatic brain injuries have becomethe signature wound of the Iraq war, aby-product of roadside bombs, suicideattacks and improved armor that allowsour troops to survive attacks that couldotherwise be deadly.

Yet Congress is poised to cut militaryspending on researching and treating

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traumatic brain injuries. House andSenate versions of the defense appropri-ation bill under consideration at presstime would chop funding for theDefense and Veterans Brain InjuryCenter from $14 million to $7 million.The center runs 10 facilities across thecountry, including one at Fort Bragg thathas treated soldiers' injuries since 1998.

Minimum wage stagnatesWhile millionaires are getting tax

cuts, the U.S. congress can't agree onraising a federal minimum wage thathasn't budged from $5.15 an hour since1997.

The mean-spirited Republican agendashowed itself in the details of a mini-mum wage bill that passed the Houseearlier this year, yet failed to get Senateapproval.

In addition to extending a host ofexpiring tax cuts for high wealth indi-viduals and businesses, the bill wouldhave decreased earnings for people whodepend on tips for a living.

Waiters, waitresses, bellhops, hotelhousekeepers and parking lot attendantsworking in Alaska, California, Oregon,Minnesota, Montana, Nevada andWashington state would have seen their

pay cut since the Republican bill calledfor pre-empting more generous stateminimum wages and mandating insteada lower federal wage rate of $2.13 fortip earners.

Squeezed on all sidesWe are getting squeezed on all sides

by a corporate agenda that favors taxcuts and out-of-sight CEO pay for thetiny minority at the top and high unem-ployment, higher benefit costs and lowor stagnant wages for workers.

This strategy plays out when anemployer engages in union busting andthe outsourcing of good-paying jobs tolower-wage countries. You can also seeit in moves to privatize and deregulategovernment and public services.

The business agenda is to distract,divide and conquer us, eliminate laborunions and pressure politicians to servethe interests of corporations rather thanworking people.

Our agenda must be to fight back —to organize new workers and be strongin bargaining and politics.

You can start by getting involved inyour local union and becoming a com-mitted and educated voter in theNovember congressional elections.

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ecently, Henry Paulson, theTreasury secretary, acknowledgedthat economic inequality is rising

in America. In a break with previousadministration pronouncements, he alsoconceded that this might be cause forconcern.

But he quickly reverted to form,falsely implying that rising inequality ismainly a story about rising wages for thehighly educated. And he argued thatnothing can be done about this trend,that "it is simply an economic reality,and it is neither fair nor useful to blameany political party."

History suggests otherwise.I've been studying the long-term his-

tory of inequality in the United States.And it's hard to avoid the sense that itmatters a lot which political party, ormore accurately, which political ideologyrules Washington.

Eras of inequalitySince the 1920s there have been four

eras of American inequality:The Great Compression, 1929-1947:

The birth of middle-class America. Thereal wages of production workers inmanufacturing rose 67 percent, while thereal income of the richest 1 percent ofAmericans actually fell 17 percent.

The Postwar Boom, 1947-1973: Anera of widely shared growth. Real

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By PAUL KRUGMAN

R

Paul Krugman is a syndicated columnist for The New York Times and a professorof Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University whose professionalreputation rests largely on international trade and finance. He has taught at Yale, MITand Stanford and is the author or editor of 20 books and more than 200 papers in pro-fessional publications.

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wages rose 81 percent, and the incomeof the richest 1 percent rose 38 percent.

Stagflation, 1973-1980: Everyonelost ground. Real wages fell 3 percent,and the income of the richest 1 percentfell 4 percent.

The New Gilded Age, 1980-?: Biggains at the very top, stagnation below.Between 1980 and 2004, real wages inmanufacturing fell 1 percent, while thereal income of the richest 1 percent —people with incomes of more than$277,000 in 2004 — rose 135 percent.

What's noticeable is that except dur-ing stagflation, when virtually allAmericans were hurt by a tenfoldincrease in oil prices, what happened ineach era was what the dominant politi-cal tendency of that era wanted to hap-pen.

New Deal wages soaredFranklin Roosevelt favored the inter-

ests of workers while declaring of plu-tocrats who considered him a class trai-tor, "I welcome their hatred." Sureenough, under the New Deal wagessurged while the rich lost ground.

What followed was an era of biparti-sanship and political moderation;Dwight Eisenhower said of those whowanted to roll back the New Deal,"Their number is negligible, and theyare stupid." Sure enough, it was also anera of equable growth.

Finally, since 1980 the U.S. politicalscene has been dominated by a conserv-ative movement firmly committed to theview that what's good for the rich isgood for America. Sure enough, the richhave seen their incomes soar, whileworking Americans have seen few ifany gains.

By the way: Yes, Bill Clinton waspresident for eight years. But for six ofthose years Congress was controlled byhard-line right-wingers. Moreover, inpractice Mr. Clinton governed well tothe right of both Eisenhower and Nixon.

Now, this chronology doesn't provethat politics drives changes in inequali-ty. There were certainly other factors atwork, including technological change,globalization and immigration, an issuethat cuts across party lines.

Government plays big roleBut it seems likely that government

policies have played a big role inAmerica's growing economic polariza-tion — not just easilymeasured policies

like tax rates for the rich and the levelof the minimum wage, but things likethe shift in Labor Department policyfrom protection of worker rights to tacitsupport for union busting.

And if that's true, it matters a lotwhich party is in power — and moreimportant, which ideology. For the lastfew decades, even Democrats havebeen afraid to make an issue out ofinequality, fearing that they would beaccused of practicing class warfare andlose the support of wealthy campaigncontributors.

That may be changing. Inequalityseems to be an issue whose time hasfinally come, and if the growing move-ment to pressure Wal-Mart to treat itsworkers better is any indication, eco-nomic populism is making a comeback.It's still unclear when the Democratsmight regain power, or what economicpolicies they'll pursue when they do.But if and when we get a governmentthat tries to do something about risinginequality, rather than responding with amixture of denial and fatalism, we mayfind that Mr. Paulson's "economic reali-ty" is a lot easier to change than he sup-poses. Copyright © 2006 by The New York Times Co.Reprinted with permission.

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Inequality seems tobe an issue whose time

has finally come.

“”

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Lee Ann Jendrejeski pulls a test from an electric arc furnace at

Allegheny Ludlum's Brackenridge,Pa. plant to check the chemistry

of the heat.

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wo years after a 1974 federal consent decree opened the way forwomen to work alongside men in the steel industry, Lee AnnJendrejeski landed a job in a melt shop at Allegheny Ludlum, a

specialty steelmaker.She was 19 then — coming into a job that had traditionally

been a man's world with all that entails — dirty and difficultwork, rough language and no rest rooms specifically desig-nated for women.

At first, there was resentment as women came pouringinto mills as a result of the consent decree, which set hiringgoals for women and minorities and was the outcome ofdecades of civil rights litigation and activism.

Some men outright rejected the presence of women inblue-collar mill jobs while others were overly solicitous

towards them. Women had to prove over and over thatthey could fit in.

Novelty at first"We were a novelty," said Kathy Garrison, whostarted working 30 years ago at an open hearth fur-

nace at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point plant,now owned by Mittal.

"A lot of men had never worked with awoman and they didn't know how to take

us. There were comments: 'Go home' …'You're taking a job away from aman.'"

Over the decades, Jendrejeski hasseen attitudes towards women andtheir accommodations improve,sometimes slowly. A rest room forwomen where she works wasrecently renovated 30 years afterit first became an issue.

"We're still struggling. Butthings have actually lightenedup," said Jendrejeski, who nowworks in a mold and prep area."You always have some folkswho aren't as open minded as oth-ers, but that is the exception to therule."

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Garrison still does a strenuous job — cutting steelslabs to length after they emerge from a continuous cast-er. Robots help do the work in a very hot environment.

"I still do a man's job for a man's pay,'' she said."Nontraditional jobs were very physically demanding.Technology has really helped everyone, not just thewomen."

Women have a roleAs the work place matured, so did women's role in

their union. They challenged sex discrimination, advo-cated for women's rights on the job and built a move-ment, "Women of Steel" — a name that endured as theunion diversified to represent workers in other manufac-turing sectors, health care and government.

As a union program, Women of Steel is dedicated toincreasing activism among women through sharing ofinformation and networking in the varied industrieswhere the USW has a presence.

The program started in Canada as a leadershipdevelopment course for women in the union whowere doing nontraditional jobs in the mid-1980sunder former Director Leo W. Gerard, now theunion's international president.

The leadership course grew into women's com-mittees under Gerard's direction. It didn't take longfor women to build confidence and get involved inunion and local politics.

"Within a few years we had tripled the number ofwomen in executive positions in the locals and thedistricts," Gerard recalled. "And a number got elect-ed to regional political offices like school boards."

One of the first women to attend the course inCanada, Carol Landry, became a full-time localunion president and a USW staff member. She is now anassistant to the District 3 Director Stephen Hunt.

From Canada to U.S.The idea gravitated to the United States and took root

at first as a women's caucus in the steel producing areas,notably in Indiana and Illinois, formerly District 31,now District 7.

"Women, especially those in nontraditional areas,came together around issues that were affecting them inthe mill,'' said Sharon Stiller, retired assistant to theUSW President on Women's Issues. "They really weren'tgetting a lot of help from the establishment, either thecompany or the union."

Realizing that they could take an active role in pro-moting change, women created women's committees intheir locals and kept in touch by phone or fax. At first,those committees were not officially sanctioned by theunion.

Eventually, Stiller said women began to agitate tomake the Women of Steel course available to all womenthroughout the union and campaigned on the grass rootslevel for a convention resolution to make that a reality.

Unanimous victoryAfter drumming up broad support on the local and

district levels, a resolution to turn Women of Steel froma course into a union movement was passed by unani-mous vote at a 1989 convention. Women's Committeeswere made mandatory for local unions with womenmembers at the last convention, held in April, 2005.

Under retired president George Becker, the unionestablished the position of Assistant to the InternationalPresident on Women's Issues. Stiller was the first to holdthat assistant's job, now held by Leeann Anderson. AnnFlener is Women of Steel Director.

When the USW held its first international women'sconference in Pittsburgh in 2000, some 775 womenattended to share stories and discuss union activism andissues of importance to women.

"The women's conference is one of the most upliftingconferences I attend as an officer of this union,'' Gerardsaid. "They are engaged. They are motivated and full ofenergy and ideas."

Moving forwardThere is the hope that Women of Steel will continue

to grow as a voice for working class women in NorthAmerica, identify common issues of concern and workwith other unions and organizations to advance a com-mon agenda for working women.

"We intend to not only move Women of Steel for-ward, but use the foundation of the WOS network tobuild a working class women's network in NorthAmerica," Flener said. "When women come togethergreat things happen."

Our network of active women can be used to supportthe broader initiatives of the union including politicalaction, corporate campaigns, organizing and the RapidResponse program. Regional Councils of women can,for example, support work going on in the union's dis-tricts.

"Labor is at its best when it remembers it is a move-ment. Women of Steel has a role to play in building ourunion as an activist union," Anderson said.

"Someone once said that, 'if you've got a tough job inthe local, give it to a woman and get out of the way.'The same holds true for fighting the good fight in thelabor movement," she added. "Women are key to build-ing power in our new union and WOS has a critical roleto play."

14 f a l l 2 0 0 6 • U S W @ W o r k

Someone once said that, ‘ifyou've got a tough job in the

local, give it to a woman and getout of the way.’ The same holds

true for fighting the good fight inthe labor movement.

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ork lift driver Linda Howard is feel-ing financially squeezed.

She earns less now under a newemployer than she did last year at thesame Pennsylvania factory where shehas worked for more than three decadesand pays more for health care coverage.

"Our golden years are not lookingvery golden,'' said Howard, 57, a USWmember at Signature Aluminum inGreenville, Pa., which last year tookover a factory formerly owned by theWerner Co., a ladder maker that movedproduction to lower-cost Mexico andChina.

"Those of us left are pretty much gladto have a job but we're living day to day,paycheck to paycheck,'' said Howard,her family's principle wage earner. "Asfar as trying to save money, that's ajoke."

Working women worriedHoward is not alone in her anxiety.

Working women all over the UnitedStates are worried about rising healthcare costs, their pay not keeping up withthe cost of living and dwindling retire-ment benefits, according to a survey of22,000 working women by the AFL-CIO.

"What we heard was a sense of des-peration about how hard it is to keepthings together,'' said Karen Nussbaum,director of Working America, an affiliateof the AFL-CIO.

The "Ask a Working Woman" surveywas supported by the USW's Women ofSteel program.

Affordable health care topped the listof concerns for working women. Ninety-seven percent of women across age andrace lines said they are worried about therising costs of quality care while 65 per-cent ranked health care as their top leg-islative concern.

Out of control"Health care right now is totally out

of control,'' said Lee Ann Jendrejeski, ofUSW Local 1196 at Allegheny Ludlum’splant in Brackenridge, Pa.

"It is a problem for all womenbecause we worry about our families,"said Pam Foxx, who was laid off thisyear from Continental Tire in Charlotte,N.C., where she worked as an inspector.

Any health care legislation shouldtake into account the changing structureof American families, said KathyGarrison, who chairs her local's Womenof Steel group at Mittal's Sparrows Pointplant in Maryland where she works inthe cast house.

"Most women who work now aren'tworking just to entertain themselves orto occupy themselves because the kidswent off to school,'' said Garrison, her-self a single mom. "A lot of women outthere are single parents and a lot of themare the main breadwinners."

Night shift bluesA third of all women work evenings,

nights and weekends. Two in fivewomen work different shifts than theirpartners or husbands — a percentagethat increases for African Americans.

"The hard thing about being a working mom is that not only are youexpected to bring home the bacon, butyou have to fry it up in the pan, andwash the pan and do the laundry afterthat,'' Garrison said.

An 89 percent majority of workingwomen who participated in the surveyexpressed concern for the future ofyoung women going into the work force.Women without college degrees are evenmore worried — 93 percent describedthemselves as concerned for the nextgeneration.

Women want CEOs and corporationsto be held responsible for their actionsand mega profits. Nearly half, 48 per-cent, want to limit CEO pay when workers are being laid off or losing ben-efits. Additionally, 47 percent of womenwant to protect employees' rights to payand retirement benefits if a companyfiles for bankruptcy protection.

Loud and clear"Could working women be more loud

and clear about what they want andneed?" asked Linda Chavez-Thompson,executive vice president of the AFL-CIO. "Affordable health care. A pay-check that keeps up with thecost of living. A secureretirement. Qualitychild care. And theywant CEOs heldaccountable whenworkers' jobs areon the line."

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In a decision that could disenfran-chise millions of workers who needunions, the National LaborRelations Board has establishedbroad new standards for determin-ing whether an employee is asupervisor.

The long-awaited decision,which came in one of a trio ofcases known collectively as"Kentucky River," gaveemployers an easy-to-readroad map by which they candeny union rights to nursesand other skilled workers.

"The collective bar-gaining rights of millionsof workers, who upuntil now wereassumed by all to havethe right to form aunion, are now injeopardy,'' USWPresident Leo W.

Gerard said.Gerard called the ruling,

which clarified issues left open by arelated 2001 U.S. Supreme Court case, apolitical decision to further undercut theright of workers to enjoy collective bar-gaining benefits.

"What is left to our union members isa political challenge to immediately fightback by encouraging voters in thisNovember's mid-term election to holdaccountable those legislators who helpedto give us this pro-corporate SupremeCourt and board,'' Gerard said.

Party line voteNurses who regularly run shifts at

health care facilities should be consid-ered supervisors and exempt from feder-al protections that cover union member-ship, the board ruled in its 3-2 decision.

People who work supervisory shiftsonly on a rotating basis may be exempt

from supervisory status in some casesbut not others, depending on the frequen-cy and consistency of the shifts, theboard also said.

If the decision is upheld on appealsand implemented, it could affect hun-dreds of thousands of union-representednurses and perhaps 8 million other work-ers in a broad swath of industries.

"Health care and particularly nurseshave been one of the areas where thelabor movement really has been makingsome strides in organizing,'' said Paul F.Clark, who heads labor and managementrelations studies at Penn State University."When they really do start to get tractionin an industry, the Bush NLRB steps inand throws a big road block in theirway."

Professional employees who havesome supervisory duties are among thosewho could be hurt by the ruling, said thetwo NLRB members who dissented fromthe majority.

"The decision "threatens to create anew class of workers under federal laborlaw: workers who have neither the gen-uine prerogatives of management, northe statutory rights of ordinary employ-ees," they wrote.

Oakwood lead caseThe case the board used to expand the

definition of supervisor involved chargenurses at the Oakwood Heritage Hospitalof Taylor, Mich., a facility that theUnited Auto Workers was trying to orga-nize.

In two related cases, one involvingthe USW and the Golden Crest Health-care Center in Hibbing, Minn., the boardruled that workers with limited supervi-sory duties were not supervisors.

The lead decision was roundlydenounced by labor union leaders includ-ing Gerard and AFL-CIO President JohnSweeney. As expected, the board rulingwas praised by business interests.

Radical reinterpretationFormer NLRB Chairman William

Gould, who served on the board from1994 to 1998 during the Clinton admin-istration, called the ruling a "radical reinterpretation of the statute."

"This decision constitutes a flawedand erroneous interpretation," saidGould, now a professor at Stanford LawSchool. "It has potential for harm to thecollective bargaining process."

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fter months of preparations andnegotiations followed by anintense test of solidarity with a

25-day strike, 1,300 registered nurses atNew Jersey's Robert Wood JohnsonUniversity Hospital ended up with a newthree-year agreement that improveshealth care coverage for themselves andtheir families.

"This victory belongs to the nurseswho stood together to demand dignityand respect from their employer,'' USWVice President Fred Redmond said."Without their steadfast determinationand unwavering support, this agreementwould not have been possible."

In a climate where management in vir-tually every industry is seeking conces-sions from employees, the new agree-ment included improvements in all areasof the contract, most notably in healthcare coverage, without any additionalcosts to the employees.

While our members were able tosecure a better deal, the entire U.S. healthcare system remains severely broken.Skyrocketing costs are driving theemployer-sponsored health care systemdeeper into crisis, causing grave problemsat bargaining tables around the countryand swelling the ranks of the uninsured.

"It is past time for a new approach,"Redmond said. "As a nation, we need to

take a renewed look at universalcoverage."

Using the slogan, "Be Fair toThose Who Care," the nurses stood

strong on the picket lines in the face of

management's decision to temporarilyreplace strikers with highly-paid regis-tered nurses provided by a nationalstaffing company.

The contract was ratified on Sept. 17by a vote of 769 to 117. The strike beganAug. 24 after the nurses twice rejectedtentative agreements in votes held onAug. 16 and July 27.

"Our membership voted not just intheir own best interests, but also in thebest interests of the hospital and the com-munity," said Jerry Collins, president ofUSW Local 4-200, which represents thenurses.

"The nurses decided it was importantto take the high road," he added. "Theywere concerned about getting back to thepatients and re-establishing the hospitalso it can go back to taking care of thecommunity."

Insurance key issueThe key issue in the strike, which

began Aug. 24 and ended with the Sept.17 ratification, was high insurancedeductibles that the nurses had beenforced to pay for non-emergency medicalprocedures performed outside the hospitalor by doctors not listed as participating inthe hospital's health plans.

Nurses, many of whom live out ofstate, called deductibles of $800 to$1,000 a "penalty" they were forced topay for not using the New Brunswickhospital. They also cited the lack of par-ticipating specialists available through theinsurance program.

The new contract, which was retroac-tive to July 1, reduced the deductibles byan estimated 30 percent in addition toother health care improvements, saidCollins, the local union president.

In addition to major improvements inthe health care coverage, the agreementincludes wage increases of 3 percent foreach of the three years of the agreementand no increases in the health care premi-ums.

Contract improvementsThere were improvements in contract

language covering bereavement, acuityand staffing levels, as well as new provi-sions to protect employees' rights andtheir safety on the job.

To limit the impact of future NLRBrulings, the parties agreed that any posi-tion currently in the bargaining unit willcontinue to be considered part of the bar-gaining unit, irrespective of any futuredecision.

That provision was designed to protectsupervisors who could lose union repre-sentation in the wake of the labor board’sOctober decision that expands the definition of supervisor.

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ongress galloped back into townafter Labor Day with a monu-mental "to do list" of unfinished

business. Instead of tending to the 12massive bills that must be passed annu-ally to fund the government and takecare of other pressing issues, the Houseand Senate leadership instead devoted alot of floor time to message bills thatappeal to their "base." They're countingthe days until they can get back in theirdistricts and do what really matters —raise money and campaign for re-election.

Don't Eat the HorsesYou have to wonder what House

Republicans were thinking when thecenterpiece of their agenda on returningto Washington after Labor Day was thepassage of the American HorseSlaughter Prevention Act banning thekilling of domestic horses for humanconsumption. While there is certainlynothing wrong with stopping cruelty toanimals, it is astonishing that morepressing issues weren't at the top oftheir agenda. Have you met any of the46 million Americans (8.4 million ofthem children) who have no healthinsurance? What about those (3.4 mil-lion) disappearing manufacturing jobs?

Who Will Make the Fence?Not long after saving horses, the

House Republicans were determined tosave America from illegal immigrants.

Leading up to and during the sum-mer break, House members conductedendless field hearings on immigration,particularly concentrating on border andconservative states where emotions onthe issue run high.

There was no action on a compre-hensive solution, but the House haspassed and the Senate is considering astand-alone bill to build a 700 mile

double-layer fence along our borderwith Mexico.

If any campaigning member ofCongress talks about this great "accom-plishment" ask him or her if there areprovisions to "Buy American" for anycomponents of this fence. It will be nosurprise if our Congress builds a fenceto keep out "foreigners" that is madewith foreign steel.

Where's the Reform?Remember Dubai Ports World when

the U.S. government almost gave astate-owned company in the UnitedArab Emirates ownership of some ofour biggest ports?

Remember the outrage of membersof Congress that this dangerous lapse ofnational security almost happened undertheir nose? Remember the calls forreform regarding the Committee onForeign Investment in the United States(CFIUS) — a Department of Treasurypanel that is supposed to review theireffect on national security?

Well, once again our champions inCongress are punting.

The House has passed a business-endorsed bill that will only notifyCongress after deals are done by CFIUSto sell national assets to foreign coun-tries. To the Senate Banking commit-tee's credit, they have written a bill thatactually lets Congress know about thedeals before it's too late.

Give Away More U.S. JobsDespite their reluctance to bring

them up for vote before the Novemberelection, the White House has beenbusy negotiating free trade agreementsall over the world, including one signedwith Peru, where the labor rights recordis horrific.

If its labor record was not badenough, Peru has given Dubai PortsWorld a contract for its ports. Once thetrade agreement is in place, the compa-ny owned by the government of Dubaiin the United Arab Emirates will haveprotection to again bid on operatingU.S. ports!

In addition, President Bush is travel-ing to Vietnam in late November andwants Congress to give him PermanentNormal Trade Relations (PNTR) withthat country. The vote is expected afterNov. 13.

Negotiations are progressing withSouth Korea and that agreement isexpected to be completed by early2007. The Korea-U.S. Free TradeAgreement will have enormous economic impact as it is the largesteconomy we have negotiated with sinceNAFTA.

Just recently President Bush noti-fied Congress that he intends to sign afree trade agreement with Columbia.Colombia is the most dangerous placein the world to be a trade unionist.During the two years that the U.S. andColombia were negotiating the tradeagreement, nearly 200 trade unionistswere murdered and many more threat-ened with death!

Give With One Hand...You may remember the Rose Garden

ceremony in July when President Bushsigned the extension of the VotingRights Act. After initial Republicanresistance, this bi-partisan effort ensuredthat millions of American citizens willhave their voices heard at the polls.

But wait, too many of those "voices" might be registeredDemocrats! Just last week HouseRepublicans passed a bill that willrequire all Americans to show proof ofcitizenship in order to vote in the 2008elections. The measure is being toutedas a means to keep illegal immigrantsfrom voting.

`The bill, however, will mandate thatby 2010, every single American whoshows up at the polls must have a U.S.identification card. Called a "21stCentury Poll Tax" by Democrats, thisbill will place an enormous burden ontraditional Democratic voters — theelderly, the rural, the poor and minori-ties — who may have trouble payingfor and producing the required papersfor proof of citizenship.

18 f a l l 2 0 0 6 • U S W @ W o r k

CAPITOL LETTERSCAPITOL LETTERSThe inside scoop on what's going down in D.C.

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ot surprisingly, the U.S. trade deficit with China willreach new record highs this year. With it, jobs, livesand livelihoods will be lost.

No other union understands the China trade problem betterthan the USW. The diversity of our membership does not insu-late us from China's growing industrial might and its predatoryand protectionist trade practices.

Our industries are the targets of China's industrial policies.Manufacturing is a key not only to their economic success, buttheir desire for military strength as well.

It's easy to understand why the USW has been the nation'sleading voice on the need for a fair trade policy and for activeand aggressive enforcement of our nation's trade laws.

Steel expansion driveIn steel, China has been a key ingredient in the downsizing

of our industry. Despite global overcapacity, China continuesto expand their facilities. We already face a threat from China,but you can bet that when China's economic growth ratesbegin to slow, they will flood our market with their excess pro-duction.

In the forest and paper products sector, an industry-spon-sored group identified approximately $2 billion in subsidiesthat China has used to help their industry and to attract someof our key producers to set up facilities on their shores. TheUSW has had to fight the dumping of Chinese paper products.

Right now, some of the paper and forest products key com-panies are setting up facilities in China. It's just a matter oftime before they begin to service the U.S. market from theirChinese operations.

In glass, China has flooded our market. Our employmentand domestic operations have plunged as China penetrates ourmarket. Between 1996 and 2005, China's share of our marketin one major category of glassware rose by more than 400%capturing more than one-third of our market.

A flood of cheap tiresIn rubber, China has hundreds of manufacturers and the

major international producers have either set up shop there orare using Chinese manufacturers to source major product linesfor sale here in America. Millions of cheap tires made inChina are now sold in retail outlets all across America. Thesetires directly result in lost production and employment here athome.

In fiber optics, one of the most high-tech productive sectorshere in America with USW members, we've seen China blocksales of our products to benefit their own producers. Theywant U.S. technology and producers to move there to helpthem gain the competitive edge with the ultimate goal of beingthe world's supplier.

In autos and auto parts, China is growing by leaps and

bounds. Shortly they will have twice as much supply asdemand. China is exporting auto parts to the U.S. and manyof our companies have rushed there to take advantage of cheaplabor working in unsafe and unfair conditions. Some Chineseproducers already plan to ship cars here. It's just a matter oftime before the Big Three does so as well, at the furtherexpense of production and employment here at home.

Supporters of allowing China into the World TradeOrganization said that China would be an enormous exportopportunity for the U.S. They claimed that it would createhuge opportunities for our companies and our workers. Theyalso claimed that greater economic engagement would resultin greater freedom and rights for the Chinese people.

Wrong on all countsThey were wrong on all counts. We knew that our com-

petitors were willing to do whatever it takes — even resortingto cheating — to win.

Hundreds of thousands of American jobs have been lost asChina has claimed more and more of the economic pie.Democratic rights, religious freedom, workers’ rights andhuman rights all have been trampled on by China's leaders.China is treating us like chumps, and our leaders are lettingthem get away with it.

Being right is no consolation. But, the USW's continuingrefusal to give up is making a difference. It's time not only todefend the laws we have on the books, but to create new legislative tools to fight China's unfair, predatory and protec-tionist practices. We need tools that will stop their cheatingonce and for all and that will let us know who'sfighting for our interests and who is com-mitting economic treason on behalf of theChinese.

The USW has been the leading voicefor a fair trade policy. We can't give upthe fight.

George Becker is a commissioneron the U.S.-ChinaEconomic and SecurityReview Commissionand the formerPresident of theUnited Steelworkers.

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he desire to maintain safe working conditions drew 650USW members and about 100 management representa-tives to the USW's first union-wide Health and Safety

Conference.A highlight of the event, held August 21-25 in Pittsburgh,

was a powerful address by Carolyn Merritt, chairman of theU.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, whichinvestigated the deadly explosion at BP's Texas City refinery.

A culture of safety in the workplace requires commitmentfrom the highest level of management as well as the workerson the shop floor, Merritt said.

There is often a gap, she said, between executive manage-ment's view of the safety culture that exists under their leadership and the actual safety on the ground at facilities.

Even though executives believe they are conveying themessage that safety is a top priority, oftentimes in practicesafety is dead last — forgotten in the demands of production,profit and returns on investment.

"This gap can be miles deep and miles wide,'' she said.Fifteen workers were killed and about 170 others were

injured as a result of a series of explosions at the USW-represented plant on March 23, 2005, during a restarting of ahydrocarbon isomerization unit.

Dozens of workshops were held during the conference ontopics ranging from establishing an effective safety committeeto OSHA-certified standards training.Real mark of success

"The conference got great reviews from the participants —both union and management," USW health, safety and envi-ronment director Mike Wright said.

"But the real mark of success isn't what happened at theconference itself, it will be what happens back in our work-places in the weeks and months to come."

USW members work in nearly every kind of environmentfrom steel mills to hospitals, underground mines, tire plants,chemical plants and public utilities.

Every workplace has hazards, but every workplace can bemade safe with the help of a strong local union safety andhealth program that focuses on eliminating hazards and cor-recting unsafe conditions.

20 f a l l 2 0 0 6 • U S W @ W o r k

anagement cooperation withunion safety committees canlead to a reduction in work

place accidents, results from two ShellChemical locations show.

"We've just celebrated one year with-out an OSHA recordable injury," saidTracy Schmitz, a lab technician at thecompany's Mobile, Ala., plant. She isLocal 9-265's Triangle of Prevention(TOP) rep; helping to coordinate safetywith the company.

"We're small and we're a pretty tightgroup," she said. "It's pretty open and honest out there (in the plant)

and our members are encouraged to bring up any safety issues in

their work areas. We investigate near misses and management coop-

erates in getting things fixed."Rob Colbert, a TOP assistant representative for Local 13-1 at

Shell's Pasadena, Texas, plant echoes the sentiment on the value of

joint cooperation. At his plant, management and hourly workers com-

bine efforts in safety training, accident prevention and education.

"We had 170 safety incidents over a recent one-year period and

now we're down to 20. "It's drastically improved because of the joint

program," he said.

he I.W. Abel Award, named after USW's 3rd interna-tional president, is given to a member of our unionwho has demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice him-

self for the safety and health of his fellow workers. Thisyear's winner is George Kline, a member of Local 6996-23in Reading, Pa. Here is his story.Maintenance man Ron Moyer was checking acid levelsin the tanks at the Exide Battery plant. As he descended a10-foot ladder, he tripped and fell backwards on to a 4-inchplastic line, causing it to break off from the tank. He waslying face down on the ground when uncut sulfuric acidbegan pouring over him."I pulled him out, walked him over to a water hose andstarted rinsing him down," said Kline, who was alsosplashed with acid during the rescue effort.As soon as Moyer was able to use the hose unaided,

Kline hurried to a nearby safety shower and rinsed himselfoff. Co-workers called for help.A helicopter carried them to Lehigh Valley HospitalBurn Center. Burns covered 85 percent of Moyer's body.Despite several surgeries, he died about a month later.Burns covered 60 percent of Kline's body. "I can never return to my old job," he said. "The acid

mist in the air eats away at my skin grafts. I do mostlyoffice work now."

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George Kline Receives I.W. Abel AwardTA Cooperative ManagementProduces a Safer Workplace

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U S W @ W o r k • f a l l 2 0 0 6 21

t 4:30 a.m. on a February day in 2005, railroader John

Novick was riding the lead gondola car of a train being

pushed to a loading area at Allegheny Ludlum's steel

plant in Brackenridge, Pa.Holding firmly to the ladder on the side of the car as con-

ductors do, Novick could not see what lie ahead on the bend

where the tracks narrowed. Another train of gondola cars

loaded with steel slabs was stored on adjacent tracks.

There was not enough room between the two trains and

Novick was crushed. He was 50 years old with 10 years of

service.Why did it happen? In the darkness, Novick could not see.

Railroad cars had never before been stored on that track. The

company wanted to get more production out of its employees

so it cut back on crews. Leaving the loaded train parked there

saved time. What did OSHA do? It fined the company $70,000, the

maximum that it could issue under a "willful citation"— mean-

ing the company knew an unsafe practice existed and did not

correct it. The company was also required to correct a list of

numerous safety problems.

An ongoing struggle"We called OSHA into the plant almost

a year before the accident," said Local1196 President Walt Hill. "We had lots of

safety problems on the railroad. In fact,we even shut it down over safety."

Following an initial OSHA inspectionin 2004, four citations were issued.However, the company delayed fixingproblems, providing evidence that thecompany knew of safety issues but did

not correct them. That knowledge led to the "willful" citation

following Novick's death and the maximum penalty.

"We know that we have to keep fighting," Jeannie Nesbit,

Local 1196's safety chairman, said as she looked back over her

30 years in the mill.Nesbit's first involvement as a union activist was as a mem-

ber of the Workers' Compensation Committee. "The company

used to deny every injury," she said. "When we dug into it, we

found records missing and eventually, we uncovered the

biggest case of a lack of record keeping by a company."

OSHA fined the company $3,000.It was an important lesson to Nesbit. She realized that the

Safety Committee and the Workers' Compensation Committee

must work together so that injured workers get proper treat-

ment and unsafe conditions are corrected.

Union reps do training now"We work for a company that has a history of fighting the

union on everything," Nesbit said. "But it's better today.

Union safety representatives do the safety training instead ofthe foremen. We do the jobs and weknow how to do them safely. Wehave hourly safety coordinators inevery department."

Reflecting on all that has happenedin his local, brings Hill to focus on themost important ingredient for a safeworkplace. "The members know thatthe union will stand up for them,'' hesaid. "And that's what makes thedifference."

ore than 700 USW members are employed at the BP refinery in TexasCity, Texas where in March, 2005 a massive explosion killed 15 peopleand injured 170, most of whom were contractors."We're revamping our safety program," said Dale Battiste, a pipefitter/welderand member of the local union safety committee. "We've added more unionsafety reps and it seemed like the company was coming on board with our safetyprogram but things have changed." Greg Kahner, an operator and safety committee member, explained thathourly people are getting the message, supervisors are trying to do their bestand upper management is saying the right things. "But everybody's afraid to put their signature on anything because theymight be disciplined for it," Kahner said. "Somebody put out orders to do a lotof discipline.""We've got to get the threat of discipline away from safety," said Battiste."It intimidates the workers from voicing safety concerns and reporting injuries.Our members are concerned about their jobs. There was some improvement butnow there's a lot of confusion."

Pictured from left are: Local 1196 President

Walt Hill and safety committee members

Terry Davidek, Jeannie Nesbit, Rick Kus and

Fran Arabia. Photo by Gerald Dickey

Fatality Results in Renewed Commitment to Safety

A

USW Health & Safety specialist Kim Nibarger discusses

plant safety with Dale Battiste and Greg Kahner.

Photo by Gerald Dickey

BP's Push for Discipline at Texas CityHurts Program

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velyn Mosley left the USW’s 14th International Civil andHuman Rights Conference energized, inspired and readyto do the work necessary to get our country back on the

right track.Mosely, representing USW Local 2801 in Long Beach,

Calif., shed her doubts at the opening session of the confer-ence, held at the Sheraton Music Center in Nashville fromSeptember 7-10.

“When I was asked to take on this awesome task, I didn’tknow how to start. But when I entered the hotel, I encounteredhundreds of my sisters and brothers with eager anticipation ofa powerful movement on their faces,’’ Mosely recalled. “I said,‘oh yes, I can do this.’ ’’

Mosley, one of approximately 650 delegates to the confer-ence, said she was inspired to hear Fred Redmond, USW vicepresident of human affairs, explain how the union became aleader in the civil rights movement.

Fair employmentIn 1960, the late USW President David McDonald pressed

the union to work closely with other labor unions in the AFL-CIO to promote a national civil rights policy and to lobby in

Washington for fair employment policies.In 1962, the union negotiated a non-discriminationclause and broader seniority rights in basic steel

agreements. Similar provisions were included incontracts covering aluminum, mining and

metals fabrication.In the late 1960s and 1970s the

union held a series of discus-sions over the issue of

inclusion. That debate cul-minated in 1976 when

the position of vicepresident of humanaffairs was estab-lished and LeonLynch becamethe first minoritymember of theexecutive board.Lynch is nowretired.

Fight to Take Our Country Back, Civil RightsConference Delegates Urged

International Vice President Fred Redmond addresses the delegation atthe Civil and Human Rights Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee.Photos by Kenny Carlisle

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Since then, Redmond said, we have seen an increase inminorities and women serving the union in a variety of posi-tions from servicing staff, sub-district directors, technicians,clerical staff, department heads and assistants to the interna-tional president.

The nation is in serious trouble. Wal-Mart has supplantedGeneral Motors as the country’s largest employer and manyof its employees have neither health care nor retirementbenefits.

Millions of jobs goneOver the past five years we have lost over 3 million U.S.

jobs that have been outsourced to other countries and millionsmore are poised to leave. The bulk of these jobs are producinggoods abroad under conditions that would never be allowed inthis country.

“Like it or not, you are competing with global slave labor,”Redmond told the delegates. “You are a commodity, not a per-son. Your value is based on your production versus your cost.”

“Where do we go from here?” Redmond asked as he calledfor the delegates to mobilize in their communities, get out thevote for the November election and defeat the political allies ofthe Bush administration. “It is time for us in organized labor tostand up, to do what only organized labor can do, to take ourcountry back.”

Redmond’s speech was one of many calls made to the dele-gates during the conference to become active. InternationalSecretary-Treasurer Jim English challenged the delegates tolook within their locals for our leaders of tomorrow and tobuild power within their locals to help combat the race to thebottom.

Turn out the voteBill Lucy, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of

State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) andPresident of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU),enthusiastically encouraged the delegates to turn out the vote.Chuck Rocha and Peter Kaval of the USW PoliticalMobilization Department urged delegates to become electedofficials in their communities and offered the USW’s assis-tance to help make it happen.

Richard Womack, assistant to AFL-CIO President JohnSweeney and a former USW member, noted that the USWalways stirred the pot and asked the delegates to keep that tra-dition going.

“We’ve got to learn to be obstinate! Be strong!” saidClayola Brown, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.Speakers also included Alex Powell, retired civil rights direc-tor; Maria Somma, president of the Asian Pacific AmericanLabor Alliance; Jean Hervey, executive vice president of theCoalition of Labor Union Women; Tim Waters, RapidResponse director; and Michael Scarver, PAC coordinator.

Delegates heard panel discussions on Hurricanes Katrinaand Rita, their aftermath and USW efforts to help; foreignsweatshops, foreign policy, international affairs and immigra-tion reform.

New awards announcedTwo new civil & human rights awards were also

announced.The Rosa Parks Award will be presented annually to two

local union members who exemplify the boldness of the lateMrs. Parks, a civil rights leader. This year’s recipients areCindy Boyd-Williams and former local union president EddieCoppedge of Local 8888 in Newport News, Va.

The second award will be presented at all future confer-ences to honorees who reflect the qualities and ambitions ofthe union’s Civil & Human Rights Department. This year’srecipients were Lynch and Sharon Stiller, retired Assistant tothe President for Women’s Issues.

Like it or not, you arecompeting with globalslave labor,” Redmondtold the delegates.“You are a commodity,not a person. Yourvalue is based on yourproduction versusyour cost.

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he ink was barely dry on a new pension reform billsigned by President Bush when the chemical manufac-turer DuPont announced it would cut contributions to

employee pensions by two-thirds after 2007.The changes at DuPont affect union and nonunion workers

alike. The USW has filed a grievance in Niagara Falls, N.Y.over the change, arguing that the new plan breaches a laboragreement by withdrawing coverage from new hires. Theunion represents 1,700 chemical workers at DuPont.

“It’s a blatant lie to say this is good for workers,’’ said USWstaff representative Jim Briggs. “They did what they felt wasbest for DuPont. That has nothing to do with what’s best foremployees.”

DuPont said its traditional pension will be off limits to newemployees starting next year. In 2008, the company willchange its defined benefit pension formula for current employ-ees to lessen their payouts in retirement.

Sea change in relationsThe announcement by DuPont was another signal of a sea

change in U.S. industrial relations as large companies continueto accelerate their move away from traditional defined benefitpensions toward so-called defined contribution programs, suchas 401(k) plans.

DuPont is among the first major U.S. companies to cut pensions after President Bush signed into law new rules thatoverhauled the country’s pension system, the most sweepingreform in more than 30 years.

Other companies making similar moves after the pensionlaw was signed include: Tenneco Inc., an automobile partscompany; Blount International, an outdoor equipment maker;Arkema Inc., a chemical producer, and Calgon Carbon Corp.

Although the Bush administration hailed the legislation as away to strengthen retirement security and make corporationskeep their promises to employees and retirees, critics suggestthat just the opposite may happen.

It is feared that a dramatic increase in funding requirementscould make the traditional benefit system so financiallyunpalatable that companies will increasingly freeze or dropdefined benefit pensions rather than bear the additional costs offunding them and paying for higher federal insurancepremiums.

Corporate transitionThe changes reflect a corporate transition from defined ben-

efit to defined contribution plans where employees assumemore of the financial burden of their retirement.

DuPont executives asserted that the new changes willenhance the “portability” of employee retirement benefits and“provide more opportunity for employees to self-manage”their retirement benefits.

But based on company projections, the USW’s Briggs esti-

mates that current employees could see their pension checksdrop by $300 a month or more when they retire even with newsavings plan contributions.

The 907-page pension reform bill, signed by the presidentin August, was cloaked in Bush administration rhetoric as away to strengthen retirement security and make corporationskeep promises made to employees and retirees.

But a close look at the details show an effort byRepublicans and their corporate allies to hasten the demise oftraditional defined benefit plans that guarantee retirees steadyincome for life.

Little in the new law is likely to stop the trend away fromdefined benefit plans. In fact, stricter funding rules may onlyencourage companies to freeze pension plans rather than com-ply with new standards.

Trojan horse?Business consultants speculate that more companies will

follow DuPont’s lead, in part because tougher pensionaccounting rules take effect at the end of this year. TheFinancial Accounting Standards Board will require companiesto include pension funding obligations in their balance sheet,which could potentially reduce net worth.

Lawmakers may look back at the law as the “Trojan horse”that brought the end of the defined benefit pension system,said U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the top Democraton the House Ways and Means Committee.

“Erosion of the defined benefit pension system represents adangerous shift from a ‘we’ society to a ‘me’ society, whereevery worker is on his or her own,’’ Rangel added.

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DuPont Cuts Contributions

Highlights of Pension LegislationThe measure will, among other things:• Require plans each year to compare the market value ofplan assets to the amount needed to fully fund the plan. Anyshortfall must then be funded over a seven year period. Thiscalculation must be performed annually to take into accountchanges in the market value of fund assets. More stringentfunding rules are applied to plans that are considered to be “atrisk” due to lower funding levels.• Prohibit employers and unions from increasing pensionbenefits from single-employer plans that are less than 80 per-cent funded, or if the employer is in bankruptcy.• Prohibit so-called “magic number” shutdown pensions if aplan’s funding is below 60 percent. • Measure the five year phase-in of PBGC-guaranteed bene-fits from the plant’s shutdown date rather than the effectivedate of the benefit. Further, if a plan is terminated duringbankruptcy, PBGC guarantees and maximum benefit limita-tions are calculated as of the initial bankruptcy filing date. • Impose additional restrictions on the payment of pensionsin a lump sum.

Pension Reform Bill May Hasten Demise of Traditional PensionsDuPont Cuts ContributionsT

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he U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)agreed to place tariffs of up to 250 percent onlined school notebooks and paper from China,

Indonesia and India, protecting 600 USW-representedworkers in Pennsylvania.

USW President Leo W. Gerard applauded the deci-sion to levy tariffs, which will provide relief to 400workers at MeadWestvaco’s paper plant in Alexandria,Pa. and more than 200 workers at Roaring SpringsBlank Book Co. in nearby Roaring Springs, Pa.

Illegally dumped“The ITC agreed that school notebooks, com-

position books, filler paper, and other schoolsupplies are being illegally dumped into ourmarkets, injuring American jobs and the paperindustry,” Gerard said. “This decision shouldbe a loud message that says ‘enough!’”

The September ruling means job securityat MeadWestvaco, said Michael Heaton,president of USW Local 10-1442. Heatonattended an ITC hearing in July on theissue with fellow union members.

“We produce a good product withworld class technology and productivi-ty,” Heaton said. “We can’t let unfairimports purchased by mass retailersharm our family-supportive jobs.”

Debbie Foor, president of USWLocal 10-488 at Roaring Spring, saidthe union workers at her plantalready made big sacrifices to helpthe company survive as millions ofimported school notebooks flood-ed the market.

“We lost jobs and benefits.Now we can get breathing spaceto recover our sacrifices bysending a message to cus-tomers that American madeproducts mean quality andgood jobs,” Foor said.

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News BytesNews Bytes

Dunn Accepts PositionSW Associate Secretary-TreasurerJames Dunn has been elected sec-retary-treasurer of AFL-CIO's

Union Label & Service TradesDepartment. He succeeded Matt Bates,who resigned to teach and pursue a doc-toral degree at the University ofMaryland.

A former PACEmember, Dunn beganhis union career atInternational Paper'spulp and paper millin Pine Bluff, Ark.,where he served aslocal president from1963 to 1967.

Thompson Honoredhe Kentucky Labor ManagementConference has named Ernest R."Billy" Thompson, director of USW

District 8, the 2006 winner of its presti-gious Labor Person of the Year Award.

Each year the award goes to a repre-sentative from labor and management

who have demon-strated a sincerecommitment to theconcept of labor-management coop-eration.

Thompson isserving his thirdterm as Director ofDistrict 8.

on Marino, president of USW Local 5032, addresses a rally at theNeville Chemical Co. near Pittsburgh. Approximately 150 USW mem-bers were locked out of their jobs Aug. 1 by Neville Chemical in a con-

tract dispute over health care coverage. A new three-year agreement wasreached on Sept. 7 and employees began returning to work a few days later.Photo by Robert V. Pollak

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nited Steelworker editors and webmasters came from across North America tothe 21st Biennial Conference of the United Steelworkers Press Association

The conference included courses in writing, editing, layout and design fordelegates at the novice, intermediate and advanced levels, as well as courses andinformation for webmasters.

"Everything we do is about education," International Vice President Tom Conwaysaid in opening the conference, which was held in Pittsburgh from August 13-16.

USW President Leo W. Gerard presented 22 awards to local union editors andwebmasters at the end of the conference. Most notable were the Raymond W. Pasnickawards for editorial excellence.

Pasnick awards went to USW Local 1023, Salem, Va. (circulation under 1,000),USW Local l746L, Tyler, Texas (1,000 to 2,000 circulation), and USW Local 1123,Canton, Ohio (circulation over 2,000).

The Michael R. Enos awardfor best local union web sitewent to USW Local 1998,Toronto, Ontario. The Howard J.McCartney award for achieve-ments in labor communicationwent to Dana Dixon of Local831L, Providence, N.C.

Delegates elected VanTenpenny, of Local 1155L inMorrison, Tenn., USPA presi-dent to succeed outgoingPresident Ucinda Sims.

USW Editors and Webmasters Polish Skills

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Aruban Union Affiliates with USWhe USW expanded its presence in petroleum refining and alliedindustries by affiliating with a 320-member oil workers union onthe southern Caribbean island of Aruba.

The affiliation between the USW and the Independent Oil WorkersUnion of Aruba (IOWUA), which represents workers at Valero EnergyCorp.'s oil refinery in San Nicolas, took effect Sept. 15.

Through its 2005 merger with PACE, the USW represents morethan 75,000 workers in the petroleum industry including more than1,800 workers at Valero's U.S. refineries in Delaware, Ohio, Tennesseeand Texas. Valero acquired the refinery from El Paso Corp. in 2004.

The affiliation coincided with the start of contract negotiations withValero. The current agreement expires on Oct. 31.

Renamed IOWUA-USW Local 1961 as a result of the affiliation,the local has represented workers at the refinery since 1961. It is theUSW's first local union outside the U.S. and Canada (including PuertoRico and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

Mittal, USW Adopt Mississippi Townteelworkers from Mittal Steel USA's plant inConshohocken, Pa. lent time, strength and skillsto help refurbish public and children's libraries in

Long Beach, Miss., that were destroyed by HurricaneKatrina.

As part of a company-wide effort to help Long Beachrecover, 10 Steelworkers from Conshohocken spent aweek installing interior walls in the libraries, wall boardin city hall, council chambers and the water departmentoffice.

Mittal "adopted" the town of Long Beach a weekafter Katrina hit last year and has donated $1 million incash plus services. (The USW had already donated morethan $1 million for relief of members whose homeswere devastated by Katrina.) For the library project,employees at all facilities collected 45 boxes of crayons,books, DVDs, paper and other supplies, plus checkstotaling more than $14,000.

A wall of water more than 12 feet high hit the facili-ties, damaging buildings and ruining books, files,records, computers, DVDs and other media, saidlibrarian Jeannie Ripoll.

Continental Tire Workers Get Supporthe Mecklenburg County Commissioners in North Carolinapassed a resolution supporting Continental employees who losttheir jobs when the company shut down its plant in Charlotte.

The resolution acknowledges that Continental abandoned most ofits North American operations, devastating thousands of workers. Italso states that the commissioners expect all employers to treatemployees fairly.

The City Council in Mayfield, Ky. passed a resolution supportingUnited Steelworkers Local 665. The company announced in Augustthat it would close the Mayfield facility in 2007 and move productionelsewhere.

SW member John Moss of LocalUnion 4889 is interviewed inWest Philadelphia for a political

commercial supporting U.S. Senate can-didate Bob Casey, a Democrat vying tounseat Republican Rick Santorum.Moss, a father of five, is scheduled tolose his job at BOC Edwards — StokesVacuum in November when the compa-ny moves production to the CzechRepublic. Casey has vowed to keep jobsin the United States.

Calling a Scab a Scabhe USW has filed an unfair labor practice allegation on behalfof a nonunion employee who was fired, in part, for callingreplacement workers "scabs."

"It's in Webster's. It's purely descriptive and wasn't meant to beoffensive," the USW's Stan Johnson said of an incident at the NuclearFuel Services facility in Erwin, Tenn., where 370 USW membershave been on strike.

The unfair labor practice charge was filed with the National LaborRelations Board against NFS for firing salaried worker Kim Gordonfor describing replacement workers as scabs.

The union asserts that the company violated laws that permit non-supervisory employees to express opinions on labor matters.

Shown working, from front to back, are USW members RonDavis, Mike Dryslewski and Kevin Moore. Photo by Mittal Steel USA

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The Procedure is available to any USW representedemployee who is subject to a union security clause but who isa non-member and who objects to his or her union securityfees being expended on nonrepresentational activities.Paragraph 1 of the Procedure states:

"1. Any individual, who is not a member of the UnitedSteelworkers and who is required as a condition of employ-ment to pay dues to the United Steelworkers of America pur-suant to a union security arrangement but objects to supporting... political or ideological expenditures by the UnitedSteelworkers which are not necessarily or reasonably incurredfor the purpose of performing the duties of an exclusive col-lective bargaining representative shall have the right upon per-fecting a notice of objection to obtain an advance reduction ofa portion of such individual's dues obligation commensuratewith expenditures unrelated to collective bargaining asrequired by law."

An eligible employee who objects to the USW expendingmonies for nonrepresentational activities such as charitable orpolitical activities may choose to perfect a notice of objectionunder Paragraph 2 of the Procedure, which states:

"2. To perfect a notice of objection, the individual mustsend an individually signed notice to the InternationalSecretary-Treasurer during the first thirty days following eitherthe individual's initial date of hire into the USW representedunit or an anniversary date of such hiring: provided, however,that if the individual lacked knowledge of this Procedure, theindividual shall have a 30 day period commencing on the datethe individual became aware of the Procedure to perfect anotice of objection; and, provided, further, that a member whoresigns membership shall have the opportunity to object withinthe 30 day period following resignation.1 Any objection thusperfected shall expire on the next appropriate hiring anniver-sary date unless renewed by a notice of objection perfected asspecified above.

Objectors are not USW members and have no right to votein union elections or to be a candidate, no right to participatein union meetings or activities, and no right to vote on contractratification.

Upon perfecting properly a notice of objection, the objectoris entitled to an advance reduction of a portion of his or herunion security obligation commensurate with expendituresunrelated to collective bargaining, as required by law.International Secretary-Treasurer James D. English has deter-mined, based upon expenditures for the calendar year 2004,that the reduction percentage under the Procedure is 11.65%(29.61% if organizing expenditures were to be included).

There are court decisions holding that organizing activitiesare non-representational activities. The USW does not agreewith those rulings. However, without intending to waive itsposition that its organizing expenditures are not subject toobjection and without intending to waive its right to assert itsposition if there is a challenge to the reduction percentage, theUSW has deemed it expedient to apply the 29.61% figure tomost current and future objectors. Therefore, an objector willbe charged 70.39% of the regular dues amount. Each objectorwill be given a detailed breakdown between representationaland non-representational activities with a report by an inde-pendent auditor.

The Procedure contains an appeals system under whichchallenges to the reduction percentage determination must befiled within 30 days of the Notice of Determination and are tobe decided by an impartial arbitrator appointed by theAmerican Arbitration Association. Disputed amounts areescrowed pending appeal.

While a notice must be individually signed and timelymailed, there is no form for a notice. Processing is faster, how-ever, when the notice contains the objector's name, address,local union number, and employer.

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NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES COVERED BYA UNION SECURITY CLAUSE

All USW represented employees covered by a union security clause have the right, under NLRB v. General Motors, 373 U.S.734 (1963), to be and remain a nonmember subject only to the duty to pay the equivalent of union initiation fees and periodicdues. Further, only such nonmember employees have the right, under Communications Workers v. Beck, 487 U.S. 735 (1988), tolimit payment of union-security dues and initiation fees to certain moneys spent on activities germane to a union's role as collec-tive bargaining representative. This latter statutory right is embodied in the USW's Nonmember Objection Procedure.

Contracts Approved at Two Sappi Mills in Maine

fter a protracted contract campaign, unionworkers at two Maine paper mills ownedby Sappi Fine Paper North America voted

to accept the terms of labor agreements that theysay will provide regular pay raises, strong familyhealth insurance and other long-term improve-ments in the terms of employment for workers.

The union gained a commitment that negotia-tions will be more congenial in Cloquet, Minn.and Muskegon, Mich.

Winner SteelGoes USW

orkers at WinnerSteel Inc., a makerof galvanized steel

coil in Sharon, Pa., voted 137to 55 in August to join theUnited Steelworkers union.Winner has operated in Sharonsince 1995. It opened a thirdgalvanizing line at the plant in2004.

Steelworkers WinMine Rescue Competition

teelworkers from Local 13214 at theFMC Trona Mine in southwesternWyoming finished in first and second

place at a National Metal and Non-Metalunderground mine rescue competition heldin Reno, Nev. The competition, which drew34 teams from across the country, tests theskills of rescue teams by staging mock minedisasters. The events help rescue teams staysharp and prepared for actual disasters.

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1 Any right of a resignee to pay a reduced amount under this Proceduremay or may not be superceded by the resignee's check-off authorization."

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t started with a gasp and ended witha kiss and a prayer.

Tears flowed when USW memberThomas Shumpert Sr. and his wife,Gracie, caught a glimpse of their son, asenior master sergeant serving in Iraq,on a large-screen television set up in theunion's Career Development Center inBurns Harbor, Ind.

"We started crying,'' Mrs. Shumpertsaid of seeing her son, 19-year Air Forceveteran Thomas Shumpert Jr. "And hedid too."

Mrs. Shumpert, carrying a wad offacial tissue and surrounded by mesmer-ized relatives, kissed her son's image onthe TV after the family was able tospeak with him for 30 minutes via aWeb video camera.

Freedom Calls FoundationThe Shumperts and four other union

families were able to visit loved onesserving in central Iraq during videoreunions organized by USW Local 6787in cooperation with Mittal Steel and theNew York-based Freedom Calls

Foundation, a nonprofit organizationthat helps service members in Iraq andAfghanistan keep in touch with theirfamilies free of charge.

"It was very heartwarming,'' AlLong, the local's financial secretary,said.

The foundation, formed by New Yorkbusinessman John Harlow, supportsabout 1,000 video conferences a monthbetween service members and their fam-ilies with the help of donors.

"We do more than 1 million minutesof phone calls per month,'' Harlow said."For every family that we help, I have toturn down three because we don't havethe resources to reach the other camps inIraq and Afghanistan."

The senior Shumpert, an employee ofMittal's Indiana Harbor plant in EastChicago, learned of the opportunityfrom a bulletin board notice in the fur-nace area where he works. He bothlaughed and cried when talking with hisson, who is nicknamed Juno.

"It sure is good to see you, Juno," hesaid. "This is big to us."

Good-natured funThe family reveled in their short time

together. They poked good-natured funat each other and talked about theweather and baseball. The son teased hisfather about his gray goatee.

"Dad, what have you got under yourchin?" Juno asked, smiling broadly.

Thomas Sr. stroked his gray beardand laughed. Then he pulled off his capto show his bald head. "I'm taking afteryou, Juno," he said.

The session ended with a quietprayer.

After the Shumperts concluded theircall, the family of Gisele Rios, 23, adental hygienist for the Army NationalGuard's 738th Medical Company, gottheir turn.

Gisele was able to pass along birth-day greetings to her grandfather, RobertRodriguez, who turned 84 the day of thecall. Her grandmother, CarmenRodriguez, wiped away tears.

"This is something we are nevergoing to forget,'' said her father, JesusRios.

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Gracie Shumpert kisses a televisionscreen showing a live video of her son,Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Shumpert Jr.,who is stationed in Iraq.

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WorkerEconomicsWorkerEconomics

Uninsured Americans Hits New Record Highhe number of Americans without health insurance hit a record high in 2005 asmedical costs increased three times as fast as wages, according to preliminaryCensus Bureau forecasts. The total has climbed every year since George W. Bush

took office.When final numbers are available, health policy researchers from Harvard and

Princeton universities believe that the number of uninsured will top what it was in2004 when one in six Americans were without coverage.

The average expense of providing medical care for a family of four rose 9.6 percentthis year to $13,382, according to a separate survey by the Seattle-based MillimanConsulting Group.

When the costs of health care and health care insurance rises, fewer employers typi-cally offer coverage for their employees and fewer workers accept coverage when it isoffered.

Economic Inequality on the Riseconomic inequality in the United States is on the rise whether measured in termsof wages, family incomes or wealth, and is much higher than that experiencedby other advanced countries.

The accompanying chart by the Economic Policy Institute shows that one eco-nomic measure — wealth —has not only persisted butgrown over time.

The richest 1 percent ofAmericans had 125 times thewealth of the typical house-hold in 1962. By 2004, therichest 1 percent had 190times as much as the typicalhousehold, or $14.8 million inwealth for the upper 1 per-cent, compared to just$82,000 for the household inthe middle fifth of wealth.

Executive OrderDiscourages Outsourcing

ennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendellsigned an executive order at theUSW International headquarters in

Pittsburgh encouraging state contractors touse American workers rather than out-sourcing operations overseas.

Under the order, businesses must dis-close where they intend to have the workdone. Those companies that agree to keepwork within the United States will receiveextra consideration from the state.

A similar approach was used success-fully to encourage minority- and women-owned businesses to compete for statecontracts. Procurement service contracts tobusinesses owned by minorities or womenquadrupled in four years.

Sending jobs overseas has become agrowing trend for private sector employ-ers. Millions of U.S. manufacturing jobshave moved to foreign countries so farwith no end in sight to the practice.

AT&T Returns Outsourced Jobs to Company Payroll n a move hailed as a union victory, San Antonio-based AT&T has agreed to return2,000 outsourced jobs, including some that were shifted overseas, to the companypayroll.After negotiations with the Communications Workers of America, the telecom giant

next year will begin turning 800 jobs now filled by outside contractors into union-rep-resented company positions. It will also return to its U.S. payrolls about 1,200 cus-tomer service jobs now filled by overseas contractors, many in India.

The jobs support AT&T's growing high-speed internet business."I think this is a considerable victory for labor,'' said Alex Colvin, labor studies pro-

fessor at Penn State University. "They won it at the bargaining table using traditionalunion leverage at a time when people talk about unions' dwindling influence."

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Top Paying Jobs (average)Surgeons — $181,850Chief executives — $140,880Pilots, flight engineers — $134,090Dentists — $132,650Lawyers — $110,590

Low paying jobs (average)Fast-food cooks — $15,980Waiters — $15,980Gaming dealer — $16,730Amusement park attendant — $16,730Farm worker — $17,110

Clocking In7.5 million Americanshold more than one job294,000 workershold down two full-time jobs28 percent of workersclock more than 40 hours a week8 percent of workerswork more than 60 hours a week10 percent of workershave stayed with an employer 20 years or more4 years senioritythe median time Americans have in current job62.2 percent of motherswork while raising child under age 678 percent of motherswith kids between 6 and 17 work4.7 million peoplework from home

Wage Gap$41,383annual median earnings for men workingfull time 2005$31,858annual median earnings for women working full time 2005

Commute25.1 minutesaverage daily commute to work 200587. 6 percent of Americansdrove to work in 2005, up from 64 percent in196010.6 percent of Americanscarpooled in 2005, versus 19.7 percent in 19804.6 percent of Americanstook public transportation in 2005 — down from6.4 percent in 1980

Gender Pay Gap Slips as Wages for All Fallew data released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that thegender pay gap for full-time, full-year workers is the smalleston record. But the report is not the good news that it seems.

The gap between what men and women earn has shrunk over thepast two years following an increase from 2002 to 2003. Women nowearn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men.

The declines, however, were solely due to the fact that earningshave fallen for both men and women, but have fallen more so for men— not exactly a desirable scenario.

The Labor Department brags that the gender gap in pay is now thesmallest ever, while ignoring what made the gap narrow. Following thetrend, the gap could be eliminated in a few years if wages fall another40 percent for men and 22 percent for women.

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Court Rules Against Can Company Retireeson Health Benefits

federal judge newly appointed by President Bush has ruledthat a major can company, Rexam Inc., has the right to stopproviding health benefits to many of its retirees.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schlitz overturned mostof a more favorable ruling made a few months earlier by U.S. DistrictJudge Ann D. Montgomery, a Clinton appointee.

Rexam and its predecessors, the American and National can compa-nies, provided health benefits to retirees for decades. After makingchanges to these benefits in 2003, Rexam earlier this year terminatedbenefits completely for all retirees who are eligible for Medicare.Unlike pension benefits which automatically vest under the law, feder-al law permits companies to reduce or terminate health benefits unlessthe company and the union have agreed that the benefits would bevested.

Shortly after cutting benefits in 2003, Rexam sued the USW andseveral individual retirees seeking court approval for the cuts. TheUSW countersued, seeking restoration of benefits.

Last year, Rexam filed a motion for summary judgment, asking thecourt to rule that the company can discontinue the benefits.

Last February, Judge Montgomery denied Rexam's motion, findingthere was sufficient evidence of vesting that the matter should bedecided by a jury. The company then asked for reconsideration and thecase was transferred to Schlitz, who entered summary judgment infavor of Rexam.

A trial will be held on the claims of the American Can retirees inearly December. The union will appeal Judge Schlitz's ruling as to theNational Can retirees.

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magine having an employer who doesn’t think of the unionas an obstacle but as an ally to help the business grow andcompete in the global economy. Sound like a fairy tale?Not at SCA Tissue where the USW and the company have

a formal partnership to engage in an open and honest relation-ship with one another and to look out for the best interests ofthe business and its employees.

“The only way for such a program to succeed is to have anabsolute commitment from the CEO and from the interna-

tional union president,” said International VicePresident Dick LaCosse, who is responsible

for national paper bargaining.USW International President Leo W.

Gerard and SCA President and CEO JoeRaccuia reaffirmed their organizations’partnership and “Principles ofBehavior” for organizing drives last

June.“I give credit to the formerPACE leadership and SCA man-

agement for setting aside theirdifferences and agreeing to

forge a new approach tosatisfy the needs of the

workers and thecompany,” Gerardsaid.

Born out of fireLabor-management relations at the Swedish-owned compa-

ny weren’t always cordial. Back in 2002 the union and thecompany were at each other’s throats during contract negotia-tions at the Alsip, Ill., paper mill.

SCA decided it was cheaper to buy pulp in the open marketthan to make it so it shut down the de-inking department andlaid off about one third of the membership, said Local 1085President Howard Snell.

“After they did that there was no relationship, except onpaper. Morale went down the tubes. The union showed repeat-edly how it wasn’t a good idea to eliminate the de-inkingdepartment but management’s attitude was that ‘it was ourway or nobody’s way,’ ” Snell said.

SCA also attacked the contract and decreased benefits. Inresponse, the union launched a corporate campaign against thecompany and started lining up global support. “It was gettingcontentious,” said retired District 7 co-director Bill Gibbons,who played a key role in putting together the partnership in2004.

“I said to the company, ‘If you want to improve operations,attacking the workers and the rights of workers is not going toenhance productivity. There’s a better way to do this. No oneunderstands the operations better then the employees. Ourpeople can run the mill. Give them the ability to do that.Cutting pay only leads to poor morale and productivity.’ ”

Independent consultant John Nee helped facilitate the dis-cussions leading to the USW-SCA partnership and Principlesof Behavior agreements. A senior level labor-managementJoint Advisory Committee was established to engage in hon-est and open discussions over SCA’s business and to assisteach location in implementing what it thinks is important,Gibbons said. Each SCA location also has a joint labor-man-agement steering committee.

Turnaround in AlsipWhen negotiations came around again in Alsip during the

fall of 2005, Local 1085 received a guarantee from the com-pany: Local management would approach corporate head-quarters in Sweden and ask for a de-inking project if the localunion would accept concessions.

“When the higher-ups knew the union wanted to work withthem, they agreed to do the project,” Snell said. “It’s up to thework force to make it work. Maybe in another year the com-pany will put in more investment. I’m optimistic.”

Grievances also dropped dramatically — a result reportedat other SCA locations as well. “Because of this strategic

32 f a l l 2 0 0 6 • U S W @ W o r k

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Photo by Lynne Baker

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alliance, our grievances went from a couple of hundred a yearto maybe 20,” Snell said. “They (management) used to fla-grantly violate the contract. Now, they work with us todecrease the number of grievances we need to file.”

Local 12-8850 President Dave Hetzler from the SCABellemont, Ariz. converting operation said the partnership is amore productive relationship than the traditional adversarialones he hears about from USW members at other companies.

A high performance work systemBoth the Bellemont and Barton operations started out with a

high performance work system that places more control over ajob into the employees’ hands. Extensive work system redesignis underway at the Neenah and Menasha, Wis., and SouthGlens Falls, N.Y., facilities.

One of the hallmarks of such a work system is mutualproblem-solving. “We have meetings every two weeks withmanagement and the union to work on problems,” Hetzlersaid. “We don’t always agree but we agree on what we can.We put the rest aside for the next meeting. We try and focus onthings that benefit us mutually.”

Management now seeks the union’s input and gives it acomplete accounting of the company’s finances and other busi-ness information. “They come to the union for solutions nowinstead of implementing stuff,” said Local 324 President ChrisSchrader of the Menasha tissue mill.

He said SCA management asks the union for input on cap-ital projects, handling of pensions and “stuff you thoughtthey’d never ask you before.”

The union membership is in on designing the high perfor-mance work systems in their departments, which evolves over

time. At the Neenah converting operation, the design teamsfrom the departments have two-thirds representation from theunion membership and one-third from management, said Local2-1279 President Denny Lauer. He said feedback from the hourlyworkers in the department that is being redesigned is important,and they decide whether or not to ratify the design changes.

Under SCA’s high performance work system, supervisorsbecome mentors and workers take on greater responsibilitiessuch as vacation, equipment and training schedules.

The Barton mill union-management leadership team islooking at the level of decisions workers should take on, theiraccountability for those decisions and how this affects pay,said Local 9-1535 President Joey Weston.

“In the traditional way the supervisor decides what you’lldo. Everything is set up for you and you do the job,” Westonsaid. “In our facility we have to order the products and decidewhether they’re good or not. You make these choices andyou’re responsible for them.”

Who benefits“We’re solving so many things but we’re not holding a

gun to each other’s head,” said Local 1478 President KeithBaker of how workplace problems are resolved before theybecome grievances.

“We need to work together,” he said, “because if SCA suc-ceeds, we succeed.”

“I think with this new form of labor-management relation-ship our company is better able to weather the difficult timesthe U.S. paper industry is experiencing now,” Snell said.

That will be the best test for this innovative way of con-fronting globalization.

ave you ever heard of an employer failing to interferewhen employees talk openly about organizing a unionin front of the boss?

It happened at SCA Tissue during organizing efforts by theformer PACE union.

Production, logistics and maintenance workers at SCATissue’s converting plant in Bellemont, Ariz., voted 88 to50 for union representation in a 2004 National LaborRelations Board election that was remarkable for its goodbehavior.

The union and the Swedish-based paper giant agreed to“principles of behavior” during the campaign that allowed foran expedited election, determination of the bargaining unit

and a positive code of conduct.The agreement removed the usual contentiousness and

confrontation that is often found when workers try to orga-nize a union, said USW organizer Jack Cavanaugh. The earli-er owner of the facility, Georgia-Pacific, had vigorouslyfought previous attempts at unionizing.

The Bellemont win followed a successful card check drivein Barton, Ala., where SCA had agreed to voluntary unionrecognition as a result of the partnership agreement with theUSW. This was a major accomplishment for the unionbecause it was the first new Greenfield mill organized inrecent history.

USW-SCA Partnership Opens Door to Organizing

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34 f a l l 2 0 0 6 • U S W @ W o r k

he results are in for the 2006 USW Photography Contest.Union members from across the country took their

cameras to work to capture co-workers and fellow USWmembers doing their jobs.

The second- and third-place winners, along with severalphotographs judged to be honorable mentions, are shown onthese pages. The first place winner was given a more promi-nent place of honor on the back page of USW@Work.

This year is the first time the union has conducted a members-only contest and we were pleased with the numberof entries and the general quality of the photography.

We will conduct the contest again next year and encourage

you to take a camera along with you to work when possibleand keep an eye open for the artful or unusual portrait.

Most of this year's entries reflected the proud manufacturingtradition of the USW, the nation's largest industrial union.

Next year, we hope entries will also show the growingdiversity of the USW with photographs of members in healthcare and other less traditional sectors in addition to our coremanufacturing industries.

This year's prizes were $300 for the first place winner, $150for second place and $50 for third place. Look for a few of thewinners in this issue of USW@Work.

Thank you and good luck in 2007.

T

Robert GaruccioParma, Ohio — Local 979

David TreeceLeeds, Ala. — Local 3-0542

Peter DingerLindenhurst, Ill. — Local 1744

Joseph M. MatteroWorcester, Mass. — Local 2285

Albert HermanJeanette, Pa. — Local 532

Robert GuierLaBarge, Wyo. — Local 15320

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U S W @ W o r k • f a l l 2 0 0 6 35

Robert GuierLaBarge, Wyo. — Local 15320“The Inspector”

$150 Second Place Prize

Peter DingerLindenhurst, Ill. — Local 1744“Going With the Flow”

$50 Third Place Prize

Turn to the back cover to see the 1st place winner!

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Have You Moved?Notify your local union financial secretary, or clip out this form

with your old address label and send your new address to: USW@Work

USW Membership Department, 3340 Perimeter Hill Drive, Nashville, TN 37211

Name

New Address

City

State Zip

Tim HuffButler, Pa. — Local 9445-11“Heat at Night”

$300 Grand Prize

Turn to page 26 to seemore contest winners!

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