Solidarity Works

Oct 30 2024 60 ep. 25 mins 49
Solidarity Works Podcast artwork

Welcome to Solidarity Works, a podcast from the United Steelworkers (USW) union. We’re here to have conversations and start conversations about the past, present, and future of the labor movement, as well as talk about the work the union is doing, with USW activists leading the way. Listen to us here or on your favorite podcast streaming service, like Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, and more.

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The Life, Death, and Legacy of Karen Silkwood

Oct 30 2024 25 mins  
Most people who are familiar with Karen Silkwood likely learned of the chemical technician through the 1983 film Silkwood starring Meryl Streep and Cher. But the movie is no mere Hollywood drama; it is based on the true story of a young woman and union member who fought to expose her employer for deliberately misleading workers and exposing them to harmful chemicals. This battle e

Fighting for Fair Trade: Why It Matters and How We Do It

Oct 02 2024 24 mins  
Last month, members of the United Steelworkers union from across the U.S. traveled to the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., to talk to their elected officials about the importance of reauthorizing Trade Adjustment Assistance. This program, which expired in 2022, provides training and educational opportunities for workers who lost their jobs due to foreign countries like China

Workers of the World: Labor and Global Solidarity

Aug 28 2024 25 mins  
The USW partners with labor organizations around the world to connect workers with common employers and help them build power. In the latest episode of Solidarity Works, we talk with Local 12075 President Kent Holsing and USW retiree Mike Zielinski about some of these partnerships, including a years-long alliance with rubber workers in Liberia, and why this solidarity is vital for

Bills, Bills, Bills: USW Members Take Legislative Action

Jun 26 2024 12 mins  
the podium at the state house in Lansing, Michigan, to give powerful testimony about his experience as a veteran. He and other activists were there to voice their support for Bill 5736, which would require employers to display a poster that outlines resources available for veterans and their families. This is just one of many pieces of legislation USW members are fighting to pass

Full Steam Ahead: Restoring Domestic Shipbuilding

May 29 2024 10 mins  
In 1975, the United States was a leader in global shipbuilding. The industry employed 180,000 workers who built more than 70 commercial ships in American shipyards. In the early 1980s, that changed as federal spending on domestic manufacturing was slashed and foreign competitors like China employed predatory practices to dominate the industry. Of course, the USW isn't letting this

Health and Safety Wins in Washington

Apr 24 2024 24 mins  
More than 80 years ago, U.S. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins identified silica dust as a deadly hazard. Finally, this past April 16, MSHA, through the Department of Labor, issued a final rule reducing silica dust exposure to better protect America’s miners. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA, also clarified a rule in another major victory for workers

The Future of Solidarity: Next Gen Activists Take the Lead

Mar 27 2024 16 mins  
The USW’s Next Gen program saw its humble yet historic beginnings in a resolution at the International union’s Constitutional Convention in 2011. It endorsed the training and development of younger Steelworker activists to take on increasingly greater roles in their local unions, their governments and their communities. Since then, young and newer members of the USW across the

Tackling Two-Tier: Workers Unite and Dismantle Divisive Wage Systems

Feb 28 2024 18 mins  
When late International President Tom Conway took the helm of the USW in July 2019, he made a promise that his administration would work to reduce or eliminate tiered wage and benefit systems in union contracts. Many USW locals have heeded late President Conway’s call and made great strides in eliminating these tiered systems in recent years. Today we’re talking with USW Vice p

Saving Maxo Vanka: USW Members Preserve Historic Murals

Jan 31 2024 17 mins  
When Croatian painter and immigrant Maxo Vanka first visited Pittsburgh in 1935, he fell in love with the steel town and developed a friendship with Father Albert Zagar of the St. Nicholas Croatian Church in Millvale. Zagar longed for color on his church’s plain walls, but he didn’t want the usual imagery found in most religious houses. He knew Vanka was the perfect artist for

Union-Made Holidays

Nov 29 2023 26 mins  
Members of the USW across the U.S. and Canada make the highest quality products in their industries, from Bulleit Bourbon distilled in Kentucky and All-Clad cookware handcrafted in Pennsylvania to clothing spun in Portland, Maine, at American Roots and Custom Foam pillows fabricated and molded in Ontario, Canada. Today we’re speaking with several USW members about the products th