WHEREAS over 600 steelworkers, members of USWA Local 169 in Mansfield, Ohio, have been locked out by AK/Armco Steel since September 1, 1999; and

WHEREAS these workers were turned away after refusing management’s demand that they accept an agreement allowing for unlimited mandatory overtime, wreaking havoc on their personal and family lives; and

WHEREAS it is through heavy overtime that management plans to eliminate over 20% of the jobs at AK Steel; and

WHEREAS AK/Armco management has employed a paramilitary force of 200 hired thugs to harass union workers, following them home and even following their kids home from school; and

WHEREAS management has further harassed the union with numerous frivolous lawsuits; and

WHEREAS production has been continued by hiring out-of-town scabs who are producing inferior quality steel; and

WHEREAS the Big Three, Toyota, and Honda all use this scab produced steel in their US auto manufacturing operations, threatening motorists’ safety as well as bankrolling these now-notorious union-busters;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Pride At Work go on record as extending our wholehearted and unqualified solidarity with the locked out members of USWA Local 169;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pride At Work will publicize this struggle to its members, and where possible to the broader LGBT community, informing them of the issues and urging a massive LGBT call-in campaign to oppose the use of scab steel in the vehicles we buy.

Submitted by:
Northeast Ohio Pride At Work members:
Susan Schnur, Co-Chair
Sharon Danann, Secretary
Lloyd Clarke, Co-Chair
Martha Grevatt, Treasurer