Life on a Destroyer

Pasty Hits the Spot

About once a year, I get to hankering for some Pasty. My Grandmother used to make Pasty and serve it to a whole bunch of family members. Hers was the size of a big loaf of bread or a big meatloaf.

I can’t remember my Mother ever making Pasty but when vacationing up in Northern Michigan, Elaine and I stop now and then to sample the Pasty at various places.

With the wonderful Indiana garden crops this year we just haven’t been able to find the time necessary to travel to Northern Michigan so Elaine decided to make some for me. I always understood that Pasty originated in Cornwall England where the coal and lead miners would take them into the mines for lunch. The Pasty had thick crust on the edge so they the miners could just pitch the remains away so to keep their fingers away from their mouths.

Elaine just made some a couple days ago and here is a photo of just a few. The rest have found their way to the freezer. For me, they are best made with rutabaga rather than turnips. For those interested in trying some, well you’ll just have to search for your own recipe.

Steel Pride

Steel Communities Make a Comeback

America’s Steel Communities Make a Comeback

For the past 20 years, the American steel industry and its USW steel-sector members have suffered at the hands of surging imports of steel from China. Many American steel mills closed, tens of thousands of workers were laid off, and many communities were devastated by a lack of revenue.

But during the past year, there has been a resurgence in the steel industry with companies rehiring laid-off workers, bringing on new-hires and investing billions of dollars in their mills and factories.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing team recently traveled to four of America’s traditional steel producing areas – Northwest Indiana (Gary area); Fairfield, Alabama; Granite City, Illinois and Coatesville, Pennsylvania – to observe and discuss how conditions are today at these once renowned bastions of steelmaking.

The AAM team spoke with steelworkers, USW officials, company executives, members of the supply chains, community leaders and local business owners affected by the loss of business during the steel industry slowdowns.

It is a comprehensive look at the history and present-day conditions of how these workers and communities fought through the struggles of the 21^st Century.

We encourage you to visit our website and read the full details of the visits as well as listen to the podcasts held in each city. For the complete rundown, please visit AAM online at -

https://www.americanmanufacturing.org

Jeff Bonior is a staff writer for the Alliance for American Manufacturing

Elections Have Consequences!

Yes, Elections Really Have Consequences!

Elections have consequences, and it’s so important that we all vote and encourage others to vote.

The actions of President Trump and some of his appointees couldn’t be clearer. The negative impact on unions and workers is clear. Based on appointees to the National Labor Relations Board, we are seeing very bad decisions for unions and workers. We are also seeing similar bad decisions being considered or coming out of the Department of Labor. His pick for the next labor secretary, Eugene Scalia, has represented Corporate America and has fought against the interest of workers.

It has also been reported that Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, has encouraged various heads of government agencies to reduce or eliminate certain regulations.

Keep in mind that the Supreme Court and Lower Court Justices are also being appointed based on having conservative opinions regarding matters that could be very important to all of us. Many of these appointees will be with us for decades.

Bill Gibbons, SOAR Executive Board, PACE Representative

Pursuit of American Freedom

Lady Liberty and the Pursuit of American Freedom

I recently visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York and came away with some strong feelings on the present immigration issue. My grandfather came to the United States from Poland, alone when he was 17 without any other family members and no immediate family living in the U.S. We found the documents recording his arrival and saw some of the questions required to enter the country. He declared that he was not insane and was not a criminal. He also possessed no real skills. It was very emotional to see his name, where he ca I me from, the ship he was on and other information like his lack of knowledge of the English language in document form.

I felt something special when I was reminded of the rebuilding of Lady Liberty and the small role his descendants played in the rebuilding. His son and grandson worked at a mill that donated stainless steel rod towards the rebuilding of the Statue of Liberty to replace the old steel skeleton that had rusted.

I was less surprised to learn that two of the top three jobs held by Polish immigrants were working in mines and steel mills. My grandfather worked digging ditches and ultimately became a boss for a small gas company in Western New York. My grandfather’s legacy lives on through my grandchildren, who are the fourth generation of Americans born in this country. 

I wonder what would happen today if an unaccompanied 17-year-old boy who could not read, write or speak English, and had no identifiable skills, showed up at immigration and asked to enter our country to start a new life. 

Bill Pienta, SOAR President

The Power to Decide is Ours

Passing the Torch

We know that union pride is often passed down through the generations.  We feel it when a son or daughter gets a job in the same union shop their parent had retired from; when a union salary makes it possible to send a child to college as a first-generation college student; or when a dental procedure or pair of eyeglasses is affordable because the union negotiated for quality health care.  

Oddly enough, anti-union pride can also find its way down through the lineage.  

In mid-July, the untimely resignation of Alexander Acosta (a story itself too lengthy to get into here) prompted President Trump to nominate Eugene Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, to be the next Secretary of Labor.  

Following in the footsteps of his father (Antonin), who died in 2016 before he could cast the deciding vote in the anti-union Supreme Court case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, Eugene Scalia has long-represented the likes of Walmart and other companies who strongly oppose workers’ rights.  

The most glaring example of Eugene’s favoritism toward employers is his opposition to a regulation intended to protect workers from repetitive stress injuries.  In 2001, the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate blocked his nomination to the Labor Department on the grounds he had dismissed the regulation because he believed it was based on “unreliable science.”

Eugene Scalia also prevailed in a 2006 case where he served as legal counsel to Walmart, helping them defeat a Maryland law that would have required employers of 10,000 or more to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on employee health care costs.

Come 2020, please remember the power to decide who is the next Secretary of Labor rests in the hands of the United States Congress and President who WE elect.  

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/politics/eugene-scalia-labor-secretary.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/scalia-friedrichs/462936/

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/mar/29/supreme-court-scalia-public-sector-unions 

Julie Stein, SOAR Director

Cadillac Tax Repeal

Repeal of Cadillac Tax Protects Affordable Health Care for Millions - Especially Retirees

by Robert Roach, Jr.

The House recently passed H.R. 748, the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act. It repeals the 40 percent tax on employer-provided health care plans scheduled to take effect in 2022. 

The excise tax, commonly referred to as the “Cadillac Tax,” H.R. 748 passed by a wide margin with Republican and Democratic members voting for it. Now we need the Senate to pass it and send it to the president for signature. 

This excise tax is part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and it was initially conceived as a way to tax wealthy Americans’ high-premium plans to help provide coverage for uninsured individuals and families. In reality, the tax would disproportionately affect middle-class workers and families, and the labor movement has been working hard to repeal it for years.

If it goes into effect, the tax would affect private health care plans, which cost at least $11,200 annually for individual coverage and $30,100 for family coverage. 181 million Americans’ employer-provided health plans would be taxed. 

Experts say that employers will increase premiums and deductibles and even reduce health coverage to avoid paying it. 

Retiree health insurance plans would be especially hard hit. If the tax is implemented, employers could cut benefits for retirees younger than 65 and stop supplemental Medicare coverage for retirees 65 and over. 

Passage of this bill is long overdue and a rare bipartisan moment for the House. We must press the Senate to take action and kill this unfair tax immediately. 

Robert Roach, Jr. is president of the Alliance for Retired Americans.  He was previously General Secretary‐Treasurer of the IAMAW.  For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org.