43
Ryan meets with workers
By GRACE WYLER
youngstown
On the final day of campaigning before the primary election, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, visited with retired steel and auto workers to tout the region’s economic successes and field questions about pension protection and the threat of Chinese imports.
Ryan addressed about 700 retired members of the United Auto Workers Local 1112 at Antone’s Banquet Center in Boardman on Monday. He later spoke with a group of about 50 retired steelworkers — and members of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association — at the monthly meeting of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees.
At both meetings, Ryan discussed the region’s recent economic successes — namely the V&M Star expansion and the addition of the third shift at the Lordstown General Motors complex — and emphasized his commitment to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States and to Northeast Ohio.
“We are now garnering an international reputation as a place for doing business,” Ryan said at the UAW retirees meeting. “We have got to resuscitate manufacturing; we’ve got to challenge the Chinese.”
The U.S. must address China’s currency manipulation and raise tariffs on Chinese goods, Ryan said.
He praised the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission for placing duties on Chinese steel-tube imports that have damaged U.S. industry, but said the U.S. still needs to do more.
“We need to push the administration to keep being tough on the Chinese,” Ryan said in an interview. “If we deal with currency manipulation, we won’t have to do these piecemeal things like raise tariffs.”
China’s unfair trade practices are a major issue for many retired steelworkers, said Hank Sadinski, vice president of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees.
“We need to do what is right to level the playing field,” Sadinski said. “Our people have to go back to work and compete on an equal playing field.”
At the retired steelworkers meeting, Ryan also was asked about the future of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
The PBGC, which protects workers’ benefits when a company defaults on its pension plans, has been overstretched by the record number of pension plans that have gone under in recent years.
The PBGC is now running a $12.9 billion deficit and has recently come under fire for lax financial management and privacy breaches.
Ryan assured the retired steelworkers, many of whose pensions are protected by the PBGC, that the federal agency would be stabilized.
“Periodically, the PBGC does get into trouble,” Ryan said. “But I can assure you that we are going to do whatever we have to do to solidify the PBGC.”
Ryan also addressed the concerns of representatives from the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, who had their pensions reduced when the PBGC took over Delphi’s pension plan from General Motors.
“The candidates are starting to pay attention to the importance of the salaried retirees,” said John Vogel, a member of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association.
Ryan said he hoped that if the federal government cannot find a solution to the Delphi workers’ pension problems, GM will step in and make up for the losses.
GM also faces problems with its pension plans. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office said the automaker will need to put billions of dollars into its pensions over the next five years to meet funding requirements.
Although Ryan did not address any pension questions at the UAW meeting, retirees were cautiously optimistic that Ryan would help protect their pensions.
“They’ve kept us safe so far,” said Ron Davis, 54. “There can never be complete confidence, especially for underage retirees, but he’s always been a good friend of [Local] 1112.”