USW@Work: Volume 17, Issue 4
FEATURES:
USW Convention
International President Tom Conway kicked off the USW’s 2022 Constitutional Convention with an address that celebrated the union’s victories and recommitted the USW to leading the fight for better lives for workers in the coming years.
Conway, at his first convention since becoming USW president in 2019, said that Steelworkers in all sectors of the economy – from health care to manufacturing – have shown repeatedly that they are an indispensable part of the fabric of the nation.
Read more on page 4.
Sailing the Great Lakes
Ron Wilson and his fellow Local 5000 members are more than just union siblings. They are each other’s live-in family, seven days a week, for weeks – sometimes even months – at a time.
On board the huge Great Lakes shipping vessels that haul iron ore, salt, limestone and other materials to and from mines, factories and other destinations, Wilson and his co-workers take to the water for such long stretches that they forge an even closer bond with each other than most of their fellow Steelworkers can claim.
“It’s a lifestyle,” said Wilson, who serves as an able seaman. “You have to be willing to be a recluse. You’re in your own little bubble.”
Read more on page 14.
New Contracts
USW members who work at Cleveland-Cliffs steel mills and mines bargained new four-year agreements with the company this summer, achieving wage increases and other improvements for about 12,000 mill workers and about 2,000 who mine and process iron ore.
USW members in August voted to ratify new contracts with three major tire producers that cover nearly 12,000 workers across the United States.
Read more on pages 18 and 19.