Welcome to the Business Journal Archives
Search for articles below, or continue to the all new BusinessJournalDaily.com now.
Search
Steelworkers, PACE Vote to Merge"
PITTSBURGH -- The International Executive Boards of the United Steelworkers of America and the Paper, Allied Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union of Nashville, Tenn., have voted unanimously to merge, officials announced earlier today. Merger of the two unions will create the largest industrial union in North America, with more than 850,000 active members in over 8,000 bargaining units in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Membership including both active and retired members will exceed 1.25 million.The new union will be called the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers International Union.The newly merged union will be the dominant union in North America in metals, paper and forestry products, tire and rubber, mining, glass, chemicals, energy and other basic resource industries. It also will have a very strong presence in equipment and machinery, stone, clay and concrete, other manufacturing, transportation, utilities and the service sector, officials say."By joining forces with the USWA, PACE members will have greater bargaining power, because this merger creates a larger union presence in our core industries and gives us more leverage at the bargaining table," said Boyd Young, president of PACE. "Once merged, our union will immediately be a major presence in North America's core industrial sectors and that strength of diversity will both protect and promote our bargaining agendas.""PACE members will have access to a $150 million defense fund so that we can take on employers who make unreasonable demands at the bargaining table," Young added. "Furthermore, with an organizing budget of over $30 million per year, we will have the ability to strategically organize workers in our core industries.""Our unions share a commitment to innovative bargaining strategies that protect our members in many ways, while maintaining and building the productive capacity of the companies they work in," commented USWA International President Leo W. Gerard. "We're also pledged to using our successes with our joint Rapid Response and political programs to challenge anti-worker forces bent on undermining the futures of our active and retired members." Members of both labor unions will vote on the proposed merger at concurrent conventions in April. Visit PACE International Union: www.paceunion.orgVisit United Steelworkers of America: www.uswa.org"