Forum addresses trade practices

Officials were urged to make it more difficult for companies to ship jobs overseas.

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

SALEM — If an international company follows through on a proposal to sell its plants, thousands of workers worldwide could be adversely affected — including nearly 400 who work at its local facility.

That was a core message from Saturday’s public forum hosted by the United Steelworkers union Local 1538, which represents hourly employees with American Standard’s Salem plant.

About 150 people attended the session at Local 1538’s CIO Hall, 547 Prospect St. The 90-minute forum was designed largely to address the impact of unfair and illegal trade practices on manufacturing jobs.

Leaving the industry

Earlier this year, American Standard announced it was no longer interested in continuing its bath and kitchen business. In the last two years, the Salem plant has lost roughly 150 jobs because of outsourcing to Mexico and automation, noted Kim Carman and Connie Ganslein, members of Local 1538 who organized the session.

“This forum is to educate the public ... and to see what the politicians can do to help us,” Ganslein said, adding that she wants elected officials to address unfair trade laws and make it more difficult for companies to ship jobs overseas.

Among those speaking at the session was David McCall, director of USW’s District 1. It’s important for representatives in Washington, D.C., to know the plight of workers affected by unfair trade practices and outsourcing, he said.

“We can’t be the sacrificial lamb on the altar for international greed,” McCall added.

Complicating the situation is that many Americans are “intoxicated” by the ability to buy cheap products, many of which are made in overseas sweatshops, noted Joe Rugola, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO. Most of those workers are paid less than $1 a day and work in deplorable conditions, he continued.

Several speakers urged the audience to support the Decent Working Conditions & Fair Competition Act, which, among other things, would prohibit the importing, exporting and sale of goods made in sweatshops.

The U.S. has a trade deficit of about $800 billion, in part because of the North American Free Trade Agreement and other similar measures, said state Rep. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th. Nevertheless, some positive steps have been made in the last six months, such as an increase in the minimum wage and the passage of a bill to make it easier for workers to form or join more unions, Wilson said.

Unfair trade agreements have made it easier for China to manufacture more of America’s weapons, tanks and armaments, explained state Rep. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-61st. Such a situation is dangerous because “we will forever be beholden to their interests,” he said.