Contact: Chelsey Engel, cengel@usw.org, 412-212-8173
The United Steelworkers (USW) released the following statement in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month:
The USW proudly celebrates the many contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islander workers throughout our nation’s history and stands in global solidarity with workers in Asia and across the world.
As we seek to make our trade system fair and balanced, we recognize that we have an obligation to protect workers’ fundamental labor rights, in North America and in all our partner nations. This includes ending forced labor, ensuring workers can form independent unions and stopping retaliation against workers speaking out against unsafe work.
“Greedy multinational corporations are perfectly happy to pit workers against each other in a race to the bottom on wages and working conditions,” said USW International President Tom Conway. “We must resist their attempts to divide us.
“Instead, we must confront racism in our workplaces and communities and redouble our efforts to eliminate race-based violence. We must also strive to ensure all workers are able to access their basic human rights so that workers the world over can collectively negotiate fair contracts that allow them to provide for their families and return from work safely.”
The USW represents 850,000 workers in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.