Free Republic

Trump’s recent moves on steel have made him some new friends in the industry. Leo Gerard of United Steelworkers recently told NBC’s Chuck Todd that steel workers are going to remember what Trump did for them. Real Clear Politics has the story: In an interview with a combative Chuck Todd, Leo Gerard, President of the United Steelworks, praised the effect of President Trump’s newly proclaimed tariffs would have on the U.S. steel market. Gerard praised Trump for making it clear he is going to “tackle trade deficits” which he called a “wealth transfer” because they are “taking good jobs away.”...

Streets of Ahvaz in Khuzestan province and Haft Tapeh in the ancient city of Shush in Iran witnessed yesterday Nov.29, the well determined and courageous strikes of sugarcane and Ahvaz Steel mill workers. The recent endless brave strikes by workers prompted the regime to, send the henchman Sadegh Larijani, the head of the regime's judiciary, to the scene on November 26, to show off to and intimidate the workers to pay "We must deal with those who want to disrupt the order of the country, under the pretext of pursuing the demands of workers," he said. ... "Workers should not...

United Steelworkers international president Leo Gerard has a message to the flea party whiny-whiners still camping out instead of sleeping in their parents' basements -- playtime is over. Just in case the Occupy movement fails -- in other words, when it fails -- Gerard is urging union members to fill that gaping void with "more militancy." "And no wonder people are occupying. We oughta be doing more than occupying parks. We oughta start occupying bridges. We start oughta occupying the banks places themselves."

MSNBC host Ali Velshi patronized a steel worker on his show Friday by making the assumption that he wouldn't want his son to become a steel worker. Scott Sauritch, the president of United Steelworkers Union Local 2227, appeared on the show to discuss his support for President Donald Trump's newly announced tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports. "So let me ask you this, Scott. You saw this trend in the 80s. You saw the imported steel was hurting the industry. I guess my question is for steel workers around America as I discussed with...

... Tides Foundation, which is funded by George Soros. They donated $50,000. Other donors were the city of Tucson and the United Steel Workers labor union. Charities associated with several major corporations also donated. Patagonia.org, the outdoor apparel and equipment company, gave $40,000. The Ben & Jerry Foundation, the charity associated with the ice cream maker, gave $20,000. And Lush Cosmetic gave $43,950, the Daily Caller reported. Laughably, the Peace Development Fund gave $5,000 to this domestic terrorist organization. The New World Foundation also donated. That is a group chaired by Hillary Clinton in the 1980s. ...

The United Steelworkers union is broadening its nationwide walkout to include two more refineries. Early Sunday, the union is planning to go on strike against two BP facilities in the Midwest, union spokeswoman Lynne Hancock confirmed. That will bring the total number of plants on strike to 11, after union members walked out of nine facilities, including five in the Houston area, a week ago. The latest work stoppages are scheduled to begin 12:01 a.m. Sunday at BP’s refineries in Toledo, Ohio and Whiting, Ind., Hancock said. BP issued a statement saying it is disappointed the union is launching a...

The human cost of the War of 1812 was dramatic. Some 35,000 people were killed, wounded or missing at the end of the war. York (now Toronto), Niagara (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) and Washington, D.C. were torched. Elsewhere, homes and properties were looted and damaged and family lives were thrown into chaos. The borders between British North America and the United States might not have changed when the fighting stopped — the old lines were reconfirmed in the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war on December 24, 1814. But once the treaty was signed, there wasn’t simply a return to the...

For some time now, the left has been whipping up a boycott campaign against its favorite bogeymen, David and Charles Koch, billionaire owners of Georgia Pacific. As the lefties see it, the Koch brothers fund conservative organizations and politicians, like the Tea Party — which means, according to Common Cause, that they are “moving democracy into the control of more wealthy corporate hands.” (Common Cause, it should be noted, is itself heavily funded by corporate types, including the Kochs’ left-wing counterpart, George Soros.) But now, a top official of the United Steelworkers union, International Vice President Jon Geenen, has discovered...

Nancy Pelosi emerges from her bunker today to headline a New York fund raiser, a last-gasp stab at scaring up support for House Dems. And scare is in the script. Speaking in Pittsburgh yesterday, she fired up what's left of the Steelworkers' Union there by prophesizing calamity in the event of a GOP landslide. That, and laying blame -- at the feet of President Bush. And the Chamber of Commerce. "We have lost millions of jobs to outsourcing under President Bush," said Pelosi -- who then blamed her party's woes on foreign donations allegedly used to fund the pro-business chamber....

Obama decides to impose tariffs on Chinese tire imports for 3 years WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has decided to slap punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the United States from China. Obama had until Sept. 17 -- next week -- to accept, reject or modify a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that a rising tide of Chinese tires into the U.S. hurts American producers. A powerful union, United Steelworkers, blames the increase for the loss of thousands of American jobs. The federal trade panel recommended a 55 percent tariff in the first year, 45...

Ron Bloom, former United Steelworkers Union executive, car czar, named to oversee ALL of America’s manufacturing ---Is there anyone out there who needs any more proof that the usurper that sits illegally in the President’s chair in the Oval Office of the White House is, bit by bit, piece by piece, and day by day, in the process of totally destroying the democratic republic that once was the United States? With 80 percent of the communications network of this country shut down, for all intents and purposes, regarding reports on anything that is not popular with that usurper, you might...

Reported during Your World that Steven Rattner would step down and be replaced by a member of the Auto Task Force. No print story currently available at site.

WASHINGTON – Steven Rattner, head of the Obama administration's auto task force, is leaving that post and will be replaced by former steelworkers official Ron Bloom. The administration said Monday that Rattner decided to return to private life and his family in New York City. Rattner won praise for the job he did managing the massive restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. But his government service came under a cloud with an investigation of an influence peddling scandal back in New York. Authorities have said that Rattner, an investment banker, was unlikely to face charges in the investigation which involved...

When he voted for the Obama stimulus, Arlen Specter effectively signed the pink slips for 600 jobs in Pennsylvania. From the Canadian Press: As many as 600 steelworkers in Pennsylvania, whose union lobbied for the Buy America law, are slated to lose their jobs at Duferco Farrell after the company lost orders from its biggest customer because some of its goods are partly produced abroad.

Lawmakers in Illinois are calling foreign steel being used to construct a pipeline a slap in the face to U.S. workers. Steel pipes painted with a "Made in India" logo are being shipped through Granite City, Ill., right in front of a steel mill where more than 2,800 steelworkers have been laid off. "This is a perfect example of how our trade laws are failing our workers. At a time when thousands of local steelworkers are laid off, shipping steel from India for a project in our area is unacceptable and outrageous," said U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill. "It is...

Temporary layoffs for 77 employees will result from U.S. Steel Corp.'s plan announced last month to shut down three of the 12 coke batteries at its Coke Works in Clairton, according to a notice the company filed with the state. The Downtown-based steelmaker said Thursday it also plans to idle four coke batteries due to economic conditions and cutbacks in steel production. In the state notice, the company said the shutdown of three batteries and associated layoffs will take place March 22 or later. Spokeswoman Erin DiPietro declined to say when the four other batteries would be idled, or how...

Employees at refineries across the nation will report for work at the beginning of the week, after progress was made in contract negotiations between union leaders and Royal Dutch Shell, the lead negotiator out of more than 30 oil companies. Details of the negotiations were kept under wraps, but the deal staved off a strike at almost 90 plants nationwide, representing almost 64 percent of U.S. refining capacity

HOUSTON -- Some 24,000 refinery workers from the Gulf of Mexico to Montana are preparing to head to the picket lines. A labor agreement expires at midnight Saturday. On Thursday, union negotiators turned down the third and latest offer of a 2.5 percent wage increase for each of the next three years, in addition to changes in medical coverage. A strike would affect 60 producers, according to the United Steelworkers, which represents more than 30,000 oil workers nationwide. The nation's biggest refiner, Valero, said it will shut down some facilities if workers strike, as will European oil company BP. Shell...

U.S. businesses and trading partners are up in arms over a provision the House bill that prohibits the purchase of foreign iron and steel for any stimulus-funded infrastructure project.U.S. businesses and trading partners are resisting a new "Buy American" provision in the $819 billion economic stimulus package making its way through Congress. The provision, included in the House bill that passed on Wednesday, generally prohibits the purchase of foreign iron and steel for any stimulus-funded infrastructure project. The goal is to boost the U.S. iron and steel industries, which have been pummeled by the current recession. Shipments in the steel...

Economy: In barring foreign steel from infrastructure projects and forcing payment of "prevailing wages," the stimulus bill merges the Davis-Bacon and Smoot-Hawley acts in a way that could be a recipe for depression.Protectionism, one of the contributing factors to the Great Depression, has reared its ugly head again with a provision in the recently passed House stimulus package — H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In an amendment inserted by Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., and approved by the House Appropriations Committee, none of the stimulus-funded infrastructure projects can proceed "unless all of the iron and steel...