“

is published by the

United Steelworkers District 2 AFL-CIO·CLC

MICHAEL H. BOLTON, Director 1244A Midway Rd., Menasha, WI 54952

(920) 722-7630

Contributors to this issue include:

Lori Gutekunst, Jay McMurran, Tammy Duncan, Michael H. Bolton, Breahn Quigley-Knackert, Cindy Odden,

Kevin Mapp, Tonya DeVore, Linda Lucas, Heidi Puhl, Steve Doherty, Mark Tower (MLive/The Saginaw News),

USW Media Dept., Bio., Dean Baker—Truthout

Articles and photos are welcome

and should be sent to:

Art Kroll, Editor, District 2 News 20600 Eureka Road, Suite 300, Taylor, MI 48180

d2@usw.org • 734-285-0367

MAY 30, 2016, is the deadline for submissions for the next issue.

MICHAEL H. BOLTON, DIRECTOR

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 1

USW District 2 USW District 2 USW District 2 Council Steering CommitteeCouncil Steering CommitteeCouncil Steering Committee

The District 2 Council By-Laws established a District 2 Council Steering Committee comprised of a rank and file structure. It was set up to assist in the following:

Development of agenda for Council Conference.

● Planning of the District Council Conference Educational Conferences.

● District 2 strategic planning.

● Determining and assessing educational needs within the District.

Generating and leading activism and other purposes consistent with the mission and directives of District 2 and the USW.

The elected members of the Steering Committee are listed below by manufacturing sector. If you need to contact a Steering Committee Member, please do so by using the email provided below.

NameNameName LU#LU#LU# SectorSectorSector Email AddressEmail AddressEmail Address

Hawley Warren 1299 Steel and

Related hwarren1299@comcast.net

Dennis DeMeyer Jr. 2-15 Paper djdemeyer54501@gmail.com

Kevin Bishop 1533 Amalgamated kbishop2219@gmail.com

Jesse Edwards 2-232 Automotive

Related Jesse_edwards2010@yahoo.com

Kent Holsing 12075 Chemical &

Energy Related kentholsing@gmail.com

Mary Jane Holland 9184 Health Care mjhlocal9184@att.net

John Mendyk 12934 Public JohnpMendyk@chartermi.net

Dave Page 1327 At Large dpage004@yahoo.com

At Large

Jim Whitt 2-145 Allied Industrial whittjim@yahoo.com

DISTRICT 2 CONTACT IDISTRICT 2 CONTACT IDISTRICT 2 CONTACT INFORMATIONNFORMATIONNFORMATION

USW District 2 Office 1244A Midway Road Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 722-7630

Northern WI & MI Sub-District Office

1244A Midway Road Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 722-7630

Southern WI Sub-District Office 1126 South 70th Street Suite N509A West Allis, WI 53214 (414) 475-4560

Northern MI Sub-District Office

503 North Euclid Avenue Suite #10 - Euclid Plaza Bay City, MI 48706 (989) 667-0660

Southern MI Sub-District Office 20600 Eureka Road, Suite 300 Taylor, MI 48180 (734) 285-0367

A Message from Director Michael BoltonA Message from Director Michael BoltonA Message from Director Michael Bolton try our hardest. Our members won‘t ask for more

than that.

The second reason I say, “Go Build Our Union”

is a reminder that when we ran to become a Local Union Officer, we had to know that the work of the

Union is never done.

We don‘t get to pick when duty will call. But when it does, we have to be ready! The way that we

respond to those unplanned crises definitely has the power to build our Union or tear it down.

We could all become perfect examples of the ideal Union leader and the work of the Union still wouldn‘t

be done.

In order to keep our Union progressing forward, we have to keep it strong. That means maintaining

solidarity among current members, and building them and our new members into activists. This has always

been our responsibility

Now under Right to Work – how we maintain solidarity has become a different job for us as

leaders.

Remember – Solidarity is our power. We are

strongest when the boss knows we are speaking for the entire workforce. However, when members opt

out of our Union, the boss knows who and how many

there are. As a result, our voice gets weaker.

Right to Work was recently found to be

unconstitutional in Wisconsin by a court decision, meaning it is no longer a law in the state. That

decision has been appealed by the State to the

Appellate Court. If we win there, the State will appeal to the State Supreme Court; and, as Russ said

yesterday, we know what their decision will be. Right to Work will more than likely be restored by the

Republican-controlled Supreme Court.

Brothers and Sisters, I believe we really need to learn from this.

Last month, during the Wisconsin Presidential Primary, we also had another important election on

the ballot for the State Supreme Court. We had a great candidate, and the polls were indicating we

were going to win this crucial race.

However, we lost the election for two reasons: the first being that not enough Union households showed

up to vote, and the second reason was that not enough working class voters completed the bottom of

the ballot to cast a vote in the court race. — CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 —

Today, I want to talk about how we take the next

steps to Go Build Our Union.

I don‘t believe our movement is in such bad shape

that if we don‘t rush home and start working, it will collapse.

The labor movement is not dead, and we don‘t

have to worry about it dying any time soon. But we are a movement, and a movement moves. We can‘t

just sit still and play defense - we must be active. We must be prepared to fight when we need to fight and

compromise when it is in our best interest to do so.

Given the challenges the right wing has thrown at

us over the past six years, our District is in good

shape, and it will continue to be strong going into the future. Our responsibility at this time is simply to

make this movement stronger.

I say, “Go Build Our Union” for two reasons.

Both of those reasons are a reminder to us, as

leaders of the movement, of the awesome responsibility we have as Union leaders.

As leaders, we need to recognize that our Union is a movement. I know as activists that is what we

believe, but we need to show our members that is what we are, and building the Union is what we do...

Our members look to us to lead, and if we involve

them, communicate with them, and work towards building them into activists, they will follow our lead.

Steelworker members see us and see how we lead. As a result, they judge our Union and the labor

movement by what we do.

We need to be aware that our members are taking our lead and we must recognize that the way

we conduct ourselves as Union leaders really can build our Union or tear it down.

As leaders, we must always guide and direct our

members appropriately, and do what we say we‘re going to do. We should always do our best and

The following USW District 2 Conference address to the delegates is printed in its entirety and was delivered on May 7, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at 9:30 a.m., by Michael H. Bolton, Director, USW D2.

Brothers and Sisters, Since becoming your Director in 2008,

I have ended every District 2

meeting and function with the words – “Go Build the Union.”

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 2

A Message from Director Bolton — continued

HHHAVEAVEAVE YOUYOUYOU BEENBEENBEEN TOTOTO DDDISTRICTISTRICTISTRICT 2’2’2’SSS

PAGEPAGEPAGE ONONON FFFACEBOOKACEBOOKACEBOOK???

www.facebook.com/USWDistrict2

United Steelworkers District 2

AFL-CIO·CLC MICHAEL H. BOLTON, Director, 1244A Midway Road, Menasha, WI 54952

(920) 722-7630

Think about this for a moment . . .

Right to Work was found to be unconstitutional, and we had the opportunity to make sure it stayed that way by changing who sat on the Supreme Court. The voters were in

the voting booth. We had a chance to defeat Right to Work. Unfortunately, working class voters left the polling places before finishing the job.

You can bet going forward District 2 will continue to stress the importance of voting

the entire ballot to our members.

That is one hell of a way to learn a lesson.

So far, there have not been a significant number of members opting out of the Steelworkers. But that doesn‘t mean it cannot or will not happen. We have to keep our

eyes and ears open for bosses, or groups of employees acting on behalf of the bosses, attempting to weaken or break our Union.

“Building Our Union” means being ready

to respond to those threats before they happen.

District 2 has an internal organizing program you heard about this weekend

and you all need to be involved in it. Each

local must begin this program. We need to be communicating with our members and

teaching them about the labor movement, the USW, and their local.

Another part of the internal organizing program is the database that has been developed to assist you with your internal organizing efforts. The District requests a list

of all Union-eligible workers in each USW-represented unit; this list notes which eligible

members are actually paying dues. Once gathered, this information is entered into a database.

The database is regularly updated with monthly dues reports to monitor changes in the number of members who are paying dues.

If membership at a Local or Unit begins to drop, we must immediately start talking to

the members not paying dues using our internal organizing program to prevent further losses, and to attempt to convince those who opted out to opt back in.

Each Staff Representative has access to their Locals in the database and will be able to provide you with the names of the non-members in your Local or Unit.

Maintaining solidarity is a bigger challenge under Right to Work. But even if we have

every potential member in each District 2 Local signed up, our work still isn‘t complete.

If we are building our Union, we cannot be satisfied with just maintaining the

members we currently have. We should be continually adding to our numbers.

Organizing is the life blood of our Union, and it is a critical component to remaining

relevant into today‘s changing world.

District 2 is building an Organizing Team that will be ready to meet that challenge in

two ways.

First, we are looking for individuals who are interested in working for our Union on a lost time basis to assist in organizing campaigns.

As a member organizer, part of your job will be to help identify workplaces to organize, and assist when campaigns begin, in order to help those workers form a Union.

Don‘t worry if you‘ve never organized before. We will train potential organizers to get

them campaign ready. If you‘re interested in joining our team, you will need to have leave language to get off of work to assist us. Then you should contact my office and we

will get you on the training schedule.

— CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 —

Did you know?Did you know?Did you know?

The Union Plus Credit Card program.

With 3 card choices - designed to meet the needs of union members. All with competitive rates, U.S. based customer service and more. Plus, exclusive hardship grants for

eligible cardholders*.

The Union Plus Credit Card Program is designed to meet the needs of hard-working union members and their families.

To apply by phone, call: 1-800-522-4000.

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 3

We would also like to have our locals become more

active in organizing. The Steelworkers‘ Constitution already mandates that each local should have an active Organizing

Committee.

I ask that you not just do it just because the

International told you to; people don‘t always do their

best work when they are being told they have to do something.

Instead, your local should be organizing because it is

the right thing to do for you and your members.

It is the right thing to do because the industries with the highest percentage of Union workers are the industries

with the best benefits, the highest wages and the best working conditions.

Our core industries of steel, paper, rubber, oil and chemicals are excellent examples. Those industries have always enjoyed Union rates of 80% or higher.

As more and more jobs in these industries became non-Union, there has also been the increased downward pressure on wages and

benefits, which has contributed to over 30 years of wage stagnation in America.

So, as an example, if you work in a Unionized paper mill in Wisconsin Rapids, and a sister mill in the company you work for is

non-Union, it is in your Local‘s best interest to help workers there form a Union.

As part of our Organizing Program, locals are urged to form Organizing Committees. Your local should be finding workplaces to

organize, developing leads, and running the day-to-day steps of the campaign.

So, we have a plan for organizing new members, but if we organize every worker in Michigan and Wisconsin, we still aren‘t done!

―Building our Union‖ means passing laws to protect our hard won organizing and bargaining gains.

Before we can pass good laws, we have to elect the right people. And District 2 has a plan to do that. Our District asks each local to appoint a Political Coordinator. They will be your local‘s contact to the District 2 political program, and will take our pol itical message

into each local.

I won‘t go into great detail about our 2016 political program as we are just finalizing our plan, but it is a project that all of our Staff

and locals must be involved in in order for this plan to succeed.

The goal of our program is to not only educate members about Union endorsed candidates, but also to get all of our members registered to vote. We need to help them understand how and why the endorsed candidates were chosen by our Union, and of course,

to make sure that they vote.

In addition to communicating with Steelworkers on the job, our Staff and members are asked to join other Union members for

Worker-to-Worker or Neighbor-to-Neighbor walks in the community.

The community walks are simply going door to door asking voters to support our candidates in upcoming elections.

This is important because we cannot match the money the millionaires and billionaires are dumping into political campaigns.

In order to keep worker friendly candidates worker friendly – we have to be able to offer them something to help improve their chances for election.

Through door-to-door contacts, phone banks, and workplace leafleting, the labor movement has the potential to reach hundreds of

thousands of likely voters for our candidates.

And that is critical to keeping them on our side in the fight for good paying, Union jobs and restoring the American dream.

Okay, so our Union is making some head way here. Every District 2 member is registered to vote, they know the endorsed candidates, and they are voting for the candidates we recommend. But our work is not done yet.

We got the politicians elected, and now it‘s time to get the lawmakers to pass laws that work for working class families. Fair trade, the right to organize, freedom to engage in collective bargaining, and stronger workplace safety and health regulations - these are

some of the important issues on our agenda.

Rapid Response is the program we use to promote that agenda. It gives our members a voice in Washington, Madison, and Lansing that they‘ve never had before.

A Message from Director Bolton — continued

— CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 —

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 4

Steelworkers are making phone calls, writing letters to their members of Congress, and attending lobby days to influence legislation and

administration actions that benefit working class families at the state and federal levels.

Rapid Response is working, and it has made the United Steelworkers a respected and powerful voice on Capitol Hill.

But after we get every local participating in Rapid Response, our work is still not done.

Through our Next Generation Program, we need to educate and get our younger members engaged in our movement so that when

it is time for us to pass the torch, they will be ready to take it up and carry it. To help locals prepare for the future, District 2 has

developed a Next Generation program designed to teach young members about the labor movement and the skills needed to become effective Union Officers and Committee people.

We‘ve been holding District Next Generation meetings after Presidents meetings, and by encouraging locals to send interested

members to these meetings, we are developing a strong Next Generation Program.

During the most recent round of meetings, we held the Next Generation meeting in conjunction with the Presidents meeting. It was our intention to get these younger members acquainted with the issues we discuss and report on at those meetings.

The Next Generation Committees and many of our locals are working on community projects, and every time we do a community

event, that Builds Our Union.

We will, and are, building a strong Next Generation Program in our District, but again, we still have work to do.

The Women of Steel Program is helping to Build Our Union, and it has the

District‘s full support.

The Women of Steel Committees are active across the District through

area councils that meet regularly and offer women an opportunity to learn about our Union and how it works.

Over the past several months, Women of Steel activities have been

getting District 2 some positive press in area newspapers.

A Woman of Steel Town Hall Meeting in Flint was opened to the public

and included a delivery of bottled water and distribution of lead testing kits for water, toys and other household products.

Finally, “Go Build Our Union” means working to ensure that all of our members work in a safe environment and none of our

members will ever go to work to die.

That is a tall order, but it is a goal we all should be working at every day to make it a reality.

If you come to the District Office in Menasha, one of the first things you‘ll notice is the wall dedicated to displaying the pictures of members who have lost their lives on the job since September of 2007. If the wall had just one picture, it would be one too many.

Sadly, there are currently 18 members there, and they all serve as a reminder of the work we have to do.

To help reach our goal of ―No Deaths in the Workplace‖, we created the Kevin Wilson Safety Initiative in District 2. Since 2008, we

have been training Local Safety Committees in various topics of Safety by District 2 members. The first training module we suggest

locals utilize is Hazard Mapping and Hazard Recognition. Following that course, we have the ability to train our locals on other safety topics that they request.

In most cases, the training is available through government grants, which means our local unions and their employers pay nothing for the education.

The training is performed by District 2 local members who are interested in safety and training other members. At this time, we are

in need of more members to do this training. If that is of interest to you, please let the District know so we can get you trained to help us.

You will be hearing more about these programs throughout the conference and it is my hope that afterwards, you will work to implement them into your local if you haven‘t already.

In closing, I‘d like to say that there are hundreds of more things that we can do to Build Our Union. I hope that each of you will

accept my challenge to work with your Local Union Executive Boards to ensure that the Union we pass on to the next generation is stronger than the one we inherited.

So, when we go home after the conference, let‘s work toward building our union by always doing the best job we have the abi lity to perform.

Thanks for your attention and when the Conference is over - Go Build Our Union!

A Message from Director Bolton — continued

0.

2016 District 2 Calendar of Events2016 District 2 Calendar of Events JANUARY

15–18 Martin Luther King Jr. Civil & Human Rights Conference Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW • Washington, D.C.

22 WOS Quarterly Meeting Milwaukee Area Labor Council Building, 633 S. Hawley Road • Milwaukee, WI

26 WOS Quarterly Meeting Ronn Hall (USW Local 4950 Hall), 1206 Baldwin Avenue • Negaunee, MI

29 WOS Quarterly Meeting Kronenwetter Village Hall, 1582 Kronenwetter Drive • Kronenwetter, WI

FEBRUARY

3 WOS Quarterly Meeting USW Local 2-148 Hall, 1201 Gillingham Road • Neenah, WI

8 LM Review Session USW Local 2-21 Hall, 1201 Sheridan Road • Escanaba, MI

9 LM Review Session Kronenwetter Village Hall, 1582 Kronenwetter Drive • Kronenwetter, WI

10 LM Review Session Lucky Dog’z Labor Temple, 157 S. Green Bay Road • Neenah, WI

11 LM Review Session Milwaukee Labor Council Building, 633 S. Hawley Road • Milwaukee, WI

MARCH

1 LM Review Session USW Local 12075 Hall, 3510 James Savage Road • Midland, MI

2 LM Review Session American Legion Hall, 10 Mason Street • Manistee, MI

3 LM Review Session Teamsters Local 7 Hall, 3330 Miller Road • Kalamazoo, MI

4 LM Review Session USW Dist. 2 Southern MI, 20600 Eureka Road, Suite 300 • Taylor, MI

7–10 USW International Women’s Conference Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh, 600 Commonwealth Place • Pittsburgh, PA 21 Presidents Meeting/Next Generation Meeting (900 – noon)

Ronn Hall (USW Local 4950 Hall), 1206 Baldwin Avenue • Negaunee, MI

22 Presidents Meeting/Next Generation Meeting (9:00 – noon)

Fraternal Order of Eagles, 1104 S. Oak Avenue • Marshfield, WI

23 Presidents Meeting/Next Generation Meeting (9:00 – noon)

Lucky Dog’z Labor Temple, 157 S. Green Bay Road • Neenah, WI

24 Presidents Meeting/Next Generation Meeting (9:00 – noon)

Milwaukee Area Labor Council, 633 S. Hawley Road • Milwaukee, WI

APRIL

1 WOS Quarterly Meeting USW Dist. 2 Southern MI Office, 20600 Eureka Rd., Suite 300 • Taylor, MI

4–7 USW Paper Sector Bargaining Conference Westin Convention Center and Hotel, 1000 Penn Avenue • Pittsburgh, PA

6 WOS Quarterly Meeting Kent Ionia Labor Hall, 918 Benjamin Ave NE • Grand Rapids, MI 8 WOS Quarterly Meeting USW Local 12075 Hall, 3510 James Savage Road • Midland, MI 8 WOS Lock-In USW Local 12075 Hall, 3510 James Savage Road • Midland, MI

11 Presidents Meeting/Next Generation Meeting (9:00 – noon)

Teamsters Local 7 Hall, 3330 Miller Road • Kalamazoo, MI

12 Presidents Meeting/Next Generation Meeting (9:00 – noon)

USW Local 12075 Hall, 3510 James Savage Road • Midland, MI

12 WOS Quarterly Meeting Central Community Center (old elementary school), 413 Maple St. • Munising, MI

13 Presidents Meeting/Next Generation Meeting (9:00 – noon)

USW Local 1299 Hall,11424 W. Jefferson Avenue • River Rouge, MI 25–27 USW Rapid Response & Legislative Conference Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street • Washington DC

MAY

4–8 USW District 2 Council Conference Hyatt Regency, 333 West Kilbourn Avenue • Milwaukee, WI

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 5

JUNE

7–8 Sub-District Local Union Leadership Training (NMI)Great Hall Banquet & Convention Center, 5121 Bay City Rd • Bay City, MI

9–10 Sub-District Local Union Leadership Training (SMI) Village Conference Center, 1645 Commerce Park Drive • Chelsea, MI

14–15 Sub-District Local Union Leadership Training (NWI) Riverwalk Hotel, 123 E. Wisconsin Avenue • Neenah, WI

16–17 Sub-District Local Union Leadership Training (SWI) Olympia Resort & Conf. Center, 1350 Royal Mile Rd. • Oconomowoc, WI

17 WOS Quarterly Meeting USW Dist. 2 Southern MI Office, 20600 Eureka Rd., Suite 300 • Taylor, MI

20–24 USPA – 50 Years of Telling the USW Story Wyndham • Pittsburgh, PA

24 WOS Quarterly Meeting Dog Scouts of America - MI Camp, 5040 E. Nestel Road • St. Helen, MI

30 WOS Quarterly Meeting Kent Ionia Labor Hall, 918 Benjamin Ave NE • Grand Rapids, MI

AUGUST

22–26 Organizing Training (Wisconsin) - TENTATIVE Location to be determined

SEPTEMBER

6 Presidents Meeting (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon)

Next Generation Meeting (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.)

Location to be determined - Midland, MI

7 Presidents Meeting (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon)

Next Generation Meeting (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Location to be determined - River Rouge, MI

8 Presidents Meeting (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon)

Next Generation Meeting (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.)

Location to be determined - Kalamazoo, MI

12–16 USW Health, Safety and Environment Conference Location to be determined

20 Presidents Meeting (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon)

Next Generation Meeting (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Location to be determined - Negaunee, MI

21 Presidents Meeting (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon)

Next Generation Meeting (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Location to be determined - Marshfield, WI

22 Presidents Meeting (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon)

Next Generation Meeting (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Location to be determined - Neenah, WI

23 Presidents Meeting (9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon)

Next Generation Meeting (1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Location to be determined - Milwaukee, WI

25–30 WOS Leadership Development Course - Levels 1 & 2 The Waters of Minocqua, 8116 Hwy 51 South • Minocqua, WI

OCTOBER

31–Nov 4 Sub-District Local Union Leadership Training (Wisconsin)

Dates and Locations to be determined

NOVEMBER

28–Dec 2 Sub-District Local Union Leadership Training (Michigan)

Dates and Locations to be determined

DECEMBER

5–8 USW Civil Rights Conference Location to be determined - Birmingham, AL

This schedule is designed to assist in planning this year’s events. However, there is a possibility dates and/or locations cThis schedule is designed to assist in planning this year’s events. However, there is a possibility dates and/or locations c oulould change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please watch your mail and email for notices as each event draws near. An upd change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please watch your mail and email for notices as each event draws near. An up--toto--date date calendar can be found on our calendar can be found on our websitewebsite and will be published monthly in our electronic newsletter.and will be published monthly in our electronic newsletter.

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 6

It was a very busy agenda for our Next Generation training prior to the D2 Conference! We had a great turnout of over 60 Next Gen delegates and it was exciting to see that almost half of the group was first-time attendees. A special thanks goes to our speakers and guest trainers which included Elizabeth Shuler (AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer), Erin Forest (Emerge), Jen Dean (Chicago Votes), John Lepley (USW Education) and Denny Lauer (USW D2 Political Coordinator).

We focused on getting our Next Gen activists revved up to accomplish our 2016 goals: Building the Union from Within, Building in Our Communities, and Mentoring. To help Build the Union from Within and Mentor our newest members, the Next Gen Committees will continue their efforts of developing New Member Orientation and focusing on Union 101 trainings within their locals. This is crucial to building unity and strength within our locals because if we are not talking to our members in thei r first days on the job, we know that the company will be.

This year, our goal of Building within the Community is a two-part effort. The first part includes hosting Voter Registration events within our communities. During the training, our Next Gen members divided into groups by sub-district area and worked on planning their voter registration events. The second part of Building within the Community includes community service. Many of our locals and Next Gen Committees are already doing great things to help out in their community; and this year the focus is on making it bigger, getting all of our brothers and sisters involved and making it known to all that #USW Cares!

Last year the USW started a partnership with the Jefferson Awards (which honors community service projects throughout the country) to create #USW Cares. This year, we will again be nominating members and locals within D2 for a Jefferson Award in recognition o f their great contributions to the community – so let your Next Generation Coordinator know what community service activities and events you‘re involved in and send us pictures of Steelworkers lending a hand within their community!

These events will take a serious commitment to accomplish and our Next Generation committees need all the help they can get from their local brothers and sisters. If you are interested in assisting in planning either the Voter Registration or Community Service events, or want to participate during these events, be sure to talk to your Local Next Generation Committee and find out how YOU can help build your Union!

District 2 Conference Next Generation Training — By Breahn Quigley-Knackert and Kevin Mapp

District 2 Women of Steel just concluded another successful District Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two-day event featured education on the Building the Union and Internal Organizing. Guillermo Perez from the USW Education Department presented the ―We Are Steelworkers‖ segment which introduces members to many aspects of our Union and provides a brief history of the USW and the AFL-CIO.

Erin Forrest, Executive Director of Emerge Wisconsin, discussed the Emerge program in both Michigan and Wisconsin and encou raged those in attendance to run for Public Office.

In addition to the training and Emerge presentation, the highest ranking women in the Labor Movement today, Secretary -Treasurer Liz Schuler from the AFL-CIO spoke to the delegation about equal pay and other issues like affordable childcare, paid family leave, and paid maternity leave.

In keeping with the Women of Steel program design, representatives of several local union‘s Women‘s Committees gave Committee Reports updating the participants on the activities they have been doing to support the needs of the local union. Those in attendance were moved by the reports and

challenged to embark on similar activities in their local unions. Through the traditional White Elephant Auction, other raffl es, and voluntary contributions at this year‘s conference, the Women of Steel raised $643 for our members affected by the Flint Water Crisis, and $354 for PAC.

The WOS Committees also put together Blessing Bags back at their locals, then brought them to the WOS D2 Conference where we marched down the streets of Milwaukee to the Cathedral Center which is a homeless shelter. The bags were filled with items to help homeless/abused women and or families. Cindy Odden led the way shouting out union chants and the sisters and a few brothers followed her lead. Cars honked as they passed us by. The Cathedral Center was overwhelmed by our gift and because there were so many Blessing Bags they planned to share some with other shelters in the area.

D2 Conference Women Of Steel Training — By Tonya DeVore and Linda Lucas

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 7

The District 2 Spring Conference kicked off with two ―Safety Days‖. The theme of this year‘s classes focused on identifying hazards and conditions that have led to or that could have been addressed to prevent an injury or exposure to our members.

The 16 hours of the ―Incident Investigation‖ class was facilitated by Local 213 members Frank Helebrant and Russ Lardinois, along with USWTMC Program Administrator John Scardella. The members in attendance worked on ―Logic Tree Diagramming‖ to identify the roo t causes of an incident. All too often workers are disciplined without the root causes being identified and eliminated or mitigated.

A class on ―Near Miss Investigation‖ was facilitated by Local 482 member Steve Godin, and Local 213 member Dennis Delie. How many near misses go unreported or become an accepted practice that eventually leads to injury or exposure?

A third class developed in the USW‘s Triangle of Prevention (TOP) Program titled ―Mapping the History of an Incident‖ allowed members to look at the ―indicators‖ that if addressed could have prevented the injury from occurring. Dennis Delie, Russ Lardinois, and USWTMC Program Coordinator Steve Doherty facilitated this class. Examples include but are not limited to a near miss, reported or unreported , a work order that never got done, previous reports of strains or first aid, leaks and exposures, upset conditions and many other factors eventually leading to injury or illness to our members and reinforcing the importance of a strong Local Union Safety Committee‘s role in the success of the Labor/Management committee at your site.

For more information on classes or the Triangle of Prevention Program, contact your staff rep or log on to www.uswtmc.org.

D2 Conference Safety Training — By Steve Doherty

District 2 Conference Pictures

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 8

As you may know, Clint was one of five USW members sent last year to take part in the Progressive Change Campaign Committee’s National Candidate Training held in Washington, DC – July 30-August 2. Clint was recently selected to temporarily fill a recently vacated seat on Saginaw City Council. He will also run for this seat in November. Below is a recent article (edited

for space) about Brother Bryant.

SAGINAW, MI — The Saginaw City Council has chosen a new member to fill a seat vacated in April by former Mayor Pro Tem Amos O'Neal.

Lifelong city resident Clint Bryant was hired from among three candidates interviewed by City Council Tuesday, May 10. Bryant beat out fellow candidates John Milne and Joshua Watters in a 5-2 vote, and will officially take office at the next regularly-scheduled City Council meeting set for Monday, May 23.

Though he already serves on the Saginaw Riverfront Development Commission and as the president of his local neighborhood association, Bryant said he was thrilled to be selected for the job. "It's very exciting," he said. "It's exciting to take my public service to the next level."

Bryant made an unsuccessful bid for City Council in 2013 and was chosen as a finalist during a similar interview process in 2014 to fill a seat vacated by former Council Norman Braddock. Though Bryant led the first vote in 2014, City Council ultimately chose Councilman Demond Tibbs to fill the empty seat. But he had no problem securing the necessary votes Tuesday, receiving support from Council members Michael Balls, Annie Boensch, Brenda Moore, Demond Tibbs and Mayor Dennis Browning. Councilmen Larry Coulouris and Floyd Kloc cast votes for Milne.

Bryant said he expects he can bring a "fresher" and a "younger" approach to important tasks like spurring economic development and maintaining public safety services. "What I can bring is a citizen's perspective," he said.

During his interview, Bryant stressed the importance of economic development and echoed a 2014 speech by Mayor Browning in which he encouraged his fellow residents to "let the secret out" about the community's many assets. "I think the opportunities definit ely outweigh the challenges that we have," he said.

Bryant's appointed term on City Council will expire in November, when his and four other Council seats will be up for grabs. Council seats are "at-large" positions, meaning council members do not represent particular districts of the city.

USW District 2 Congratulates Clint Bryant!!

Meet Saginaw's Newest City Councilman: Clint Bryant — by Mark Tower, MLive/The Saginaw News

Who Is Mother Jones—Folk Hero (c. 1830-1930)? — By Bio

Mary Harris Jones (aka "Mother Jones") was a union activist. She founded the Social Democratic Party, and helped establish the Industrial Workers of the World.

Mary Harris Jones was born in 1830 in County Cork, Ireland. Mother Jones started out as a teacher and dressmaker and became a tireless fighter for the working class. In early years, she lived in Toronto, Canada, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. She became a labor activist and was given the nickname ―Mother Jones.‖ She was a campaigner for the United Mine Workers Union, founded the Social Democratic Party and helped establish the Industrial Workers of the World. Jones died in 1930.

Mother Jones experienced many great personal tragedies in the first part of her life. Jones lived in Memphis for a time, marrying George Jones, an iron worker and strong union supporter, in 1861. They had several children together, but an outbreak of yellow fever killed her husband and children in 1867. She returned to Chicago and found work as a dressmaker. But then she lost

her home in the great Chicago fire of 1871.

After this latest loss, Mother Jones began her work as a labor activist. She worked with the Knights of Labor, often giving speeches to inspire the workers during strikes. Around this time, she traveled to numerous strike sites, helping coal miners in Pennsylvania in 1873 and railroad workers in 1877. The way she cared for the workers inspired them to nickname her "Mother."

Known as the miner's angel, Mother Jones became an active campaigner for the United Mine Workers Union. A political progressive, she was a founder of the Social Democratic Party in 1898. Jones also helped establish the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905. For all of her social

reform and labor activities, she was considered by the authorities to be one of the most dangerous women in America.

Nothing could dissuade Mother Jones from her work. At the age of 82, she was arrested for her part in a West Virginia strike that turned violent and was sentenced to 20 years. But her supporters rallied and convinced the governor to grant her a pardon. Jones, undeterred, returned to organizing workers.

In honor of her allegedly 100th birthday (there is some speculation as to her actual birth date), Mother Jones was celebrat ed across the country with special labor events in 1930. She died on November 30 of that year. With the workers to the end, she asked to be buried in the

Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois.

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 9

Nearly 700 USW activists kicked off the union‘s 2016 Rapid Response and Legislative Conference on Monday with a series of speeches, workshops and panel discussions on issues ranging from fair trade to health and safety to the rights of workers to organize.

The delegates heard from USW Secretary Treasurer Stan Johnson, who oversees the Rapid Response program, as well as from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, OSHA Director David Michaels, USW Rapid Response Director Kim Miller, Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul, and BlueGreen Alliance Director Kim Glas. ―You are the bedrock of our program,‖ Johnson told the crowd. ―This is not a program we put on auto-pilot. It demands constant attention and activism.‖

USW Rapid Response activists spent the second day of their annual conference on Tuesday preparing themselves for meetings on Capitol Hill by focusing on the top issue on the union‘s agenda - fair trade. USW President Leo W. Gerard kicked off the

day‘s events by using his keynote address to highlight decades of failed U.S. trade policies that have cost USW members and o ther workers their jobs by the thousands.

―We need to say to the members of the House and the Senate, ‗enough is enough, get your head out of the sand and do somethi ng,‘‖ Gerard told the crowd. ―Our members can compete with anyone in the world, if we‘re competing on a level playing field.‖

On Wednesday, the 700 USW members took that message to their representatives in Washington, urging them to oppose the Trans -Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement that would include 40 percent of the world‘s economy. The TPP, which Congress is expected to conside r later this year, has been called ―NAFTA on steroids.‖

Nearly every USW sector has been affected by unfair trade, from paper to steel to aluminum to rubber and tires. A panel dis cussion that followed Gerard‘s speech outlined the depth of the problem and the possible solutions.

One possible solution to the crisis is for Congress to tackle the issue of global overcapacity in industries such as steel and aluminum, problems driven largely by China, said USW Vice President Tom Conway. Members of Congress could take action to address the problem and help to save jobs in manufacturing, all they need is the will to act, Conway said. ―Don‘t let them go quietly on this issue,‖ he urged the crowd.

District 2 would like to thank those from our District who attended the conference and participated in the lobby day action by visiting their

representative and discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); China Market Economy Status Congressional Review Act (H.R.4927); Protecting America‘s Workers Act (S. 1112 & H.R. 2090); and the WAGE Act (S. 2042 & H.R. 3514) and helped move our union‘s agenda forward!

2016 USW Rapid Response Activists Kick Off Annual Conference — In part by USW Media Dept.

Letter to Editor: Lobbying at the USW Rapid Response & Legislative Conference — By Heidi Puhl

I just want to thank Director Bolton for allowing me to attend the lobbying session with Senator Baldwin. The highlight

of my trip to Washington DC! Here is my report:

It‘s always exciting to be able to meet with a legislator who supports workers and their families and that‘s

exactly what it‘s like to meet with WI Senator Tammy Baldwin (D). We arrived early for our meeting and were

greeted warmly by her staff and escorted to a meeting room. Senator Baldwin arrived and we began discussing

our concerns with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Senator Baldwin agrees that we need to be concerned

about another trade deal that ships our jobs overseas and she is opposed to the TPP. She also supports the

workers of Wisconsin (and the United States) and is interested in co-sponsoring the Protect America‘s Workers

Act which would improve protections for workers on the job. Senator Baldwin agrees that we all have the right

to go home from work in the same condition that we arrived in. We thanked her for sponsoring the WAGE Act.

This will provide real monetary penalties for companies who knowingly break the law and does not affect

employers who obey the law at all. Currently, if a company knowingly puts workers at risk and there is a fatality as a resul t of this, there is only a

$7000 maximum fine to the company. This is outrageous! We need to begin asking why all of our Senators and Representatives aren‘t fighting for us .

When we arrived for our appointment with WI Representative Grothman‘s (R) staff, we were advised that the staff member we were to meet with

was unable to attend our meeting. This was disappointing. We met with another Representative from his office. He was pleasant and polite and knew

nothing about the issues we were discussing. He did not know the Representative‘s position on the TPP. He did not know about the Representative‘s

views on the China Market Economy Status Congressional Review Act, which would hold China accountable for massive overproduct ion and government

subsidies of steel, aluminum, paper, cement, etc. These are then flooded into our market making it impossible for us to comp ete. China has already

had multiple unfair trade cases successfully brought against it and have proven that they are not following the agreed upon t rade deal they negotiated

with the World Trade Organization.

The staff member did agree that this didn‘t sound good for the United States. He also did not know how the Representative felt about the

Protecting America‘s Workers Act or the WAGE Act. He did assure us that Representative Grothman felt very strongly about the importance of

manufacturing in the United States and that his district is the largest manufacturing district in Wisconsin. We left him wit h information to give to Rep.

Grothman and I hope that he has reviewed this as now is the time for our members of Congress to stand with us. Please be sur e to give

Representative Grothman‘s office a call (202) 225-2476 and let him know that these are important issues to the people he represents!

MAY, 2016 • VOLUME 6, ISSUE 5, PAGE 10

Workers’ Memorial Day - April 28, 2016 — By Cindy Odden

Remembering our fallen sisters and brothers on this day and honoring them by never forgetting they gave their lives for just trying to make a living for them and their families. I was honored to be ask to read the names at the South Central Federation of Labor on April 28, 2016.

These are real names of real workers that lost their lives on the job. The names represent a person, a daughter, a son, a granddaughter, a grandson, a sister, a brother, a wife, a husband, a mother, a father and a worker just trying to provide for a better life. No one should have to go to work and not return home at the end of the day. A reminder of we need to strengthen the laws in this county so everyone can go to work and return home safely.

Unions set the bar for working families by the ability to have a voice in the workplace and bargain safety in their contrac ts. By stripping unions of their collective bargaining rights, hurts all workers. We cannot let this happen! For all the workers that have lost their li ves, we need to be the voice that makes stronger laws so not one more person goes to work and loses their life!

The proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) like to describe it as a free-trade deal for the 21st century. That might be a good sales pitch, but it's not accurate. The TPP has little to with reducing trade barriers, which in most cases were already low. The TPP can more accurately be described as a piñata that is chock full of special deals for the corporate interests who negotiated it. It will likely do more to impede trade than promote it, and in the process it creates rules that potentially override democratic decision-making at all levels of government.

The connection between Silicon Valley and Detroit (sorry Detroiters) comes in Article 18.78, which requires countries to have laws allowing companies to protect trade secrets and imposing criminal penalties for violators. The language in this section is br oad, but it can certainly be interpreted as implying that governments allow for the enforcement of "non-compete" agreements under which employees can be prohibited from quitting their job and working for another company in the same industry for a substantial period of time.

This is an important issue for tech companies. Many states allow for the enforcement of non-compete agreements, which companies often put in contracts both to limit their employees' mobility and also to try to impede competitors. Importantly, California does not. A recent study found that the difference between California's law and Michigan's law, which does enforce non-compete agreements, was an important factor in California's success in the technology sector. Unlike Michigan, it is easy for tech workers in California to quit their jobs and join a new company o r start their own.

If it sounds strange that a 21st century trade deal would have language that could deny workers the ability to change jobs, then you weren't paying attention to how the TPP was negotiated. The Obama administration created 21 working groups to help draft the chapters dealing with specific areas. Each working group was dominated by representatives of the major corporations in the affected industries.

The tech industry undoubtedly had major input into the drafting of chapter 18. While it may be bad news for workers, the in dustry and the economy, the big tech companies are happy if they can keep workers from going to a competitor or starting their own company. In fact, many of the Silicon Valley giants actually joined together in an old-fashioned, wage-fixing deal where they promised not to hire each other's workers.

This violates current law, and these companies had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties, but that is why we have trade deals like the TPP. When companies can't get the legislation they want through Congress or state and local governments, they do an end -run and try to advance their interests in a trade deal like the TPP. In addition to the fact that provisions of the TPP are harder to reverse than o rdinary laws, corporate interests also get to impose them on the other countries in the deal.

The restrictions on trade secrets are not the only anti-growth provisions in the TPP. The deal also requires stronger and longer copyright, patent and related protections. These protections raise the price of the protected items in the same way that tariffs on imports rai se prices. The big difference is that copyright and patent protection is typically equivalent to tariffs of several thousand percent, not the single digit tariffs on other items that are being reduced or eliminated in the TPP.

While most proponents of the TPP have opted not to look at the cost of these forms of protectionism it is likely to be subs tantial. The New Zealand government estimated that increasing the duration of copyright protection from 50 years to 70 years, as required by the TPP, would cost it 0.024 percent of its GDP annually, the equivalent of $4.3 billion annually in the United States.

This is the cost of just one small provision in a country that already has strong copyright protection. The costs would undoubtedly be much larger in countries like Malaysia and Vietnam, which don't currently have strong copyright protections.

The TPP also requires that countries have criminal penalties for copyright violations. At a time when there is a bipartisan consensus to reduce the size of the prison population, President Obama wants to throw people in jail for circulating unauthorized copies of Batman movies or Taylor Swift songs.

And of course, there are the provisions for the pharmaceutical industry that make patent and related protections stronger and longer. In the United States we spend more than $420 billion a year (at 2.2 percent of GDP) for drugs that would likely sell for around $40 billion a year in a free market. The goal of the TPP is to make the other countries pay as much as we do, and to lock in place indefinitely high drug prices i n the United States. In addition to slowing growth, these protections will also jeopardize public health.

In short, the TPP as a modern "free trade" deal is the happy talk the industry groups and their allies will put forward to sell the pact. In reality, it's about advancing corporate interests and free trade has nothing to do with it.

Will the Trans-Pacific Partnership Turn Silicon Valley Into Detroit? — Dean Baker, Truthout