United Steelworkers International President Tom Conway appeared on the Leslie Marshall Show Tuesday to discuss the importance of domestic manufacturing in solving ongoing supply chain disruptions.
Conway said part of the problem is a number of critical materials and goods that used to be made in the United States – including computer chips and semi-conductors – are now manufactured in Asia or elsewhere around the world.
“Really, we ought to be having a long-term discussion about why we let so much of this slip away, and what we are going to do about it,” said Conway. “Are we just going to fix a short-term problem and get this stuff loaded into the trucks, or are we really going to take a look at what's in those ships, and why we aren’t making it here?”
Conway said the offshoring of manufacturing sites in the U.S. has resulted in the loss of millions of factory jobs that provided good, family-sustaining wages and benefits. But investing in the nation’s infrastructure, along with legislation that includes strong domestic content provisions, can help to reverse this trend.
“The more jobs you create, the more revenue you create, the stronger your tax base, you begin to rebuild your systems, and your schools and your libraries and your fire and police systems. And that's what strengthens communities.”
Conway spoke about the USW’s “We Supply America” campaign that highlights the many ways USW members can meet the infrastructure and manufacturing needs of the country. The campaign has been part of an effort to urge Congress to pass the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“Biden understands that if you've got to rebuild this country, you have to give workers power with their employers at the bargaining table and put some balance back in that relationship. And that's how you're going to give people a better paycheck, be able to get a raise, and be able to hang on to some health care that's affordable. He believes that the power of collective bargaining works in this country.”
Listen to the whole show, below: