Contact: Robin Rich, 219-881-6224, rrich@usw.org or Charlie Averill, 574-772-3332
USW Celebrates ‘Buy American’ Win
Resolution Urges Keeping Tax Dollars, Creating Jobs at Home
Knox, IN – The United Steelworkers (USW) said today that it appreciates the passage by the Starke County Commissioners and the Knox City Council of a “Buy American” resolution that ensures our tax dollars are used to create jobs at home.
The resolution has been introduced by USW activists in over 800 cities, states, boroughs, counties and towns. It’s part of the union’s Make Our Future Work economic renewal campaign, which aims to refocus the American economy on manufacturing and rebuild the middle class.
The resolution, which can be found at www.usw.org/buyamerican, calls on our local and state governments to:
- Maximize the creation of American jobs and restore economic growth and opportunity by spending economic recovery plan funds on products and services that both create jobs and help keep Americans employed.
- Commit to purchasing only products and services that are made or performed in the United States of America whenever and wherever possible with any economic recovery monies provided by the American people.
- Commit to publish any requests to waive these procurement priorities so as to give American workers and producers the opportunity to identify and provide the American products and services that will maximize the success of our nation’s economic recovery program.
“To get our nation back on track, we must get our economy working again and working for the middle class. In order to do that, we need to insist that our tax dollars are spent at home, on American-made products,” said Charlie Averill, Secretary Treasurer of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR). “The United States is, by far, the world’s largest importer. We brought in $819 billion in goods in 2007. We can afford to invest in our economy without breaking any international trade obligations.”
Studies show significant investment in infrastructure could create tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs if U.S.-made goods are used.
For more information about “Buy American” and the USW’s economic renewal campaign, visit www.makeourfuturework.org or www.usw.org.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada employed in the industries of metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service sector.
