Steelworkers back Kerry

http://www.uswa.org/uswa/program/content/964.php

For Immediate Release, February 11, 2004

United Steelworkers of America Endorses Senator John Kerry for President


Pittsburgh â?? The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) today endorsed 
Democrat John Kerry for President, expressing confidence that Senator Kerry 
would "take immediate action as President to reverse the devastating decline in 
manufacturing jobs and the debilitating increases in the nation's trade and 
budget deficits.

"The Bush Administrationâ??s recent claim that 'outsourcing' U.S. jobs is 
'good' for America," said Steelworker president Leo W. Gerard, "leaves little 
doubt that this White House is either totally out of touch with reality, or 
completely indifferent to the suffering that its policies have caused the great 
majority of Americans who don't have six- or seven-figure incomes."

Gerard said that the Steelworkers' more than 1.2-million active and retired 
members "can't afford to wait for Bush to wake up to the reality that his 
single-minded attachment to tax cuts for the wealthy are destroying the 
economic security of everyday Americans."

Gerard said that a poll of Steelworker local leaders and activists had resulted 
in overwhelming support for Kerry by a margin of more than 10 to 1. He 
attributed that support to the Senator's record of advocating issues crucial to 
working Americans, including:

* Kerry's commitment to strengthening the right of workers to organize without 
the kind of intimidation by employers that is resulting in what the Senator 
condemns as an "imbalance of power in the workplace";

* His plan for halting the runaway costs in health care that are undermining 
the competitiveness of American manufacturers and the bargaining leverage of 
workers; 

* The Senator's call for changes to the tax code that would reward companies 
willing to invest in domestic manufacturing and wipe out incentives favored by 
the Bush Administration for corporations that export U.S. jobs;

* His outspoken support for continuation of the steel tariffs which President 
Bush abandoned under pressure from the European Union; as well as Kerry's 
support for federal legacy costs for retirees whose health care benefits have 
been wiped out by corporate liquidations; and, 

* Kerry's more recent commitment to review the economic impact of all trade 
agreements within the first 120 days of his administration, as well as his 
opposition to the CAFTA and FTAA trade agreements.

Gerard said that Kerry's strong case for restoring the employment, health and 
retirement security of workers throughout the economy -- issues largely 
disdained by the Bush Administration in favor of huge tax cuts skewed to the 
wealthy -- make the Senator a compelling candidate who, in Gerard's words 
"would fight for us instead of the powerful interests that continue exporting 
our jobs."

Contact: Marco Trbovich (412) 562-2442; or (412) 760-4335



- - - - -
John Lacny

People of the US, unite and defeat the Bush regime and all its running dogs!


"[C]apital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and 
dirt."
--Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Chapter 31

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