For a printable versions, please click HERE.
Note: Adobe Reader is needed to view the file.  For a download, click HERE

  

Rapid Response Says THANKS!       

Rapid Response has asked much of our activists in the past few years.  The work that has been done on the Employee Free Choice Act in particular has been outstanding.  Thanks to your efforts, the Steelworkers are leading the way in the labor movement on this critical issue.  Now is our time to say thank you!

Each local president should have recently received free entry cards and instructions for the 2008 Rapid Response Appreciation Drawing in the mail.  The person whose card is drawn will receive his or her choice of a USW-made 2009 Harley Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle or $16,000 cash.  Appropriately, the entry card for this drawing will be used as part of our union's efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.  These cards will reinforce our message to the next president and Congress that we need this bill. 

Please Note:  To win, the person whose name is drawn must be an active, retired or associate member AND be registered to vote.  Persons who are already registered are not required to re-register to participate.  All members should be given an opportunity to be part of the drawing!  Cards should be mailed to Rapid Response by October 10, 2008 at USW Rapid Response, 5 Gateway Center, 7th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

1. Get Registered to Vote

2. Fill Out a Card & Mail to Rapid Response

3. Help Our Union Pass the Employee Free Choice Act

4. Win a USW-Made Harley Davidson Motorcycle!

Questions?  Call us on the toll-free Action Hotline at:
866-311-1889

Where prohibited by applicable law, neither the offering nor awarding of the prize shall be valid or enforceable.

For a printable version, please click HERE.

 Voter Registration Action
About to Begin

The election is fast approaching.  Voting is critical to our efforts to hold elected officials accountable.  When union members and their families turn out to vote in large numbers, legislators pay more attention to our issues.  In order to be ready to vote, we need to ensure that all our members' registrations are current.

Rapid Response is in the process of mailing packets of voter registration information to each Local Union President.  Questions on the Action can be directed to Rapid Response on the toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-866-311-1889.

What are some reasons a person might need to register or re-register?

• Never having voted before
• Removed from the rolls because of not voting in a recent election
• Moved
• Changed names
• To receive an updated voter id card (helpful since so many polling locations have changed in recent years)
• Change political party affiliation (in some states)
• Completed punishment for a felony

Also, watch for materials on the free 2008 Rapid Response Appreciation Drawing enclosed in the packets! 
 

Are you from one of the following states?
Click here for additional instructions for your voter registration action.

CA, GA, IL, LA, MN, MO, NV, OH, OR, SD,
VA, CO, DE, FL, MD, NM or TX

For a printable version, click HERE.
Note: Adobe Reader is needed to view the file.  For a download, click HERE.

Taking Back Our Economy - Part 17  

Economic Snapshot    

While the Rapid Response Taking Back Our Economy series has taken a break for a few months during ongoing actions, the downturn in the U.S. economy keeps getting worse.  This InfoAlert gives a quick snapshot of job trends shaping our economy right now.  

For a printable version, click HERE.
  

Please Make a Quick Call to Protect Medicare TODAY    

The Cost of Activism in Colombia
Union activists in Colombia often put their lives on the line as they
try to improve their workplaces and communities.  

• During the morning of November 7, 2007, 45-year-old elementary school teacher Mercedes Consuelo Restrepo Campo headed to work on her motorbike.  As she stopped at a stop sign in front of another elementary school along her route, a group of gunmen unloaded fire, piercing Mrs. Restrepo's upper body with bullets.  The gunmen fled, leaving Mrs. Restrepo to die from her wounds.  Why was she killed?  She was known for the views she shared with her teacher union's leadership (Mrs. Restrepo was the head of her union's women's committee).  They had recently taken a public stance against the ongoing corruption occurring in the city administration of Cartago, Colombia, the city where Mrs. Restrepo had worked and lived. 
  
   
• José Jesús Marvín Vargas worked at a Nestlé subsidiary in Dosquebradas, Colombia.  On November 22, 2007, he left work as usual.  On his way home, unknown gunmen opened fire and shot him dead.  Mr. Marvín Vargas was a married father of two, who was known as a good union activist within Sinaltrainal, a food industry union in Colombia that has strong ties to the Steelworkers.  He was also known in the community for his activism and campaign work to gain a seat on the Dosquebradas city council. 
  
   
• This past fall, union activists throughout Colombia were part of the planning for a national protest event called the National Agrarian and Popular Mobilisation.  The goals of the protest included a demand for the resignation of Colombian President Uribe and a call to stop the pending free trade agreement with the United States.  Leading up to the October event, the state-backed paramilitary groups and the Colombian Army set out to silence dissent.  What followed was a systematic hunt for activists that resulted in torture, illegal detention, and most tragically, murders.  Among those murdered were Simón Corena, Gentil Yascuaran Pai, and Feliciano Obando, three union members involved in the protest planning.

Union Members Tortured and Murdered    
The Truth About Colombia  

If you lived in Colombia, you could be marked for murder simply because you are a union member.  Since 1991, over 2,200 union members have been murdered, giving it the notorious distinction of being the country with the most murdered unionists in the world.

Did You Know. . .

• The number of reported death threats in 2006 numbered an astounding 244. Many death threats start when union leaders and activists work to organize new members or get ready to bargain.
  
   
• Over 97 percent of the murder cases since 1991 have gone without punishment. Many are believed to be carried out by the government or by paramilitary death squads with corporate involvement.
  
   
• The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has declared Columbia: "the most dangerous place in the world to be a union member."
  
   
• Not surprisingly, this situation is taking a toll on the Colombian labor movement.  There are fewer and fewer people covered under new union contracts each year.  In 1996 there were 260,000.  Last year that number fell to only 47,000. 
  
   
• The Steelworkers have been in a years-long struggle on behalf of the beverage and food union known as Sinaltrainal to challenge the human rights abuses, including a number of murders as well as torture, against its members and leaders.  More Sinaltrainal members were murdered in 2007.
  
   
• The Bush Administration is actually considering a free trade agreement with Colombia even though they know all about the torture and murder of Columbian trade unionists!

Note to Rapid Response Teams:  Get Ready!  Rapid Response will be sending out additional educational InfoAlerts in the coming weeks which will lead to a call for action on Colombia.

 
Taking Back Our Economy - Part 14  

Fighting Back    

Our union was among the first to sound the warning bells over globalization and the free trade agreements that fuel the process.  Today we continue to lead the fight to protect workers in the global economy.  As a result of our efforts to raise the issues, public opinion is on our side, with a majority of Americans now skeptical of the "benefits" of globalization.* 

* An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted in mid-December 2007 showed that 58 percent of those surveyed thought the increased globalization of the American economy is bad because it "has subjected American companies and employees to unfair competition and cheap labor." 

Out with 2007 & In with 2008!