Steelworkers Fight Back

Last updated

Steelworkers Fight Back was a rank-and-file movement against corruption in the international United Steelworkers union. [1] It was founded in 1974, after Edward Sadlowski was elected president of USWA District 31 based in the Chicago area. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Racial quotas in employment and education are numerical requirements or quotas for hiring, promoting, admitting and/or graduating members of a particular racial group. Racial quotas are often established as means of diminishing racial discrimination, addressing under-representation and evident racism against those racial groups or, the opposite, against the disadvantaged majority group. Conversely, quotas have also been used historically to promote discrimination against minority groups by limiting access to influential institutions in employment and education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Federation of Miners</span> Labor union of miners and metalworkers in the US and Canada (1893–1967)

The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles – with both employers and governmental authorities. One of the most dramatic of these struggles occurred in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado in 1903–1904; the conflicts were thus dubbed the Colorado Labor Wars. The WFM also played a key role in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905 but left that organization several years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Murray</span> Scottish-born American labor leader (1886–1952)

Philip Murray was a Scottish-born steelworker and an American labor leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), the first president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), and the longest-serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Steelworkers</span> Industrial labor union in North America

The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the United Steelworkers represents workers in Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. The United Steelworkers represent workers in a diverse range of industries, including primary and fabricated metals, paper, chemicals, glass, rubber, heavy-duty conveyor belting, tires, transportation, utilities, container industries, pharmaceuticals, call centers, museums, and health care.

Iorwith Wilbur Abel, better known as I. W. Abel, was an American labor leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hegewisch, Chicago</span> Community area in Chicago

Hegewisch is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's far south side. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Riverdale and South Deering to the west, the East Side to the north, the village of Burnham to the south and the city of Hammond, Indiana to the east. The community area is named for Adolph Hegewisch, the president of U.S. Rolling Stock Company who hoped to establish "an ideal workingman's community" when he laid out the town along a rail line in 1883, six years before Chicago annexed the town.

Joe Magarac is a pseudo-legendary American folk hero. He is presented to readers as having been the protagonist of tales of oral folklore told by steelworkers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which later spread throughout the industrial areas of the Midwestern United States, sometimes referred to as the Rust Belt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1919 General Steel Strike</span> 1919–20 nationwide steelworkers strike in the United States

The Great Steel Strike of 1919 was an attempt by the American Federation of Labor to organize the leading company, United States Steel, in the American steel industry. The AFL formed a coalition of 24 unions, all of which had grown rapidly during World War I. In the lead role would be the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers (AA) with a five-member steering committee. The strike began on September 22, 1919, and finally collapsed on January 8, 1920. The opposition led by Elbert H. Gary, president of U.S. Steel had triumphed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers</span> Former American steelworkers union (1876–1942)

Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (AA) was an American labor union formed in 1876 to represent iron and steel workers. It partnered with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the CIO, in November 1935. Both organizations disbanded May 22, 1942, to form a new organization, the United Steelworkers.

Edward Sadlowski was an American labor activist associated with Steelworkers Fight Back, a rank-and-file movement against corruption in the international United Steelworkers of America union. Sadlowski became the youngest president of his local union at U.S. Steel's South Works, later served as director of District 31, and became known nationally during his unsuccessful attempt to become the international union's president in 1977.

Labor Notes is an American non-profit organization and network for rank-and-file union members and grassroots labor activists. Though officially titled the Labor Education and Research Project, the project is best known by the title of its monthly magazine. The magazine reports news and analysis about labor activity or problems facing the labor movement. In its pages it advocates for a revitalization of the labor movement through Social Movement Unionism and union democracy. Labor Notes is based out of Detroit, Michigan, with an East Coast office located in Brooklyn, New York.

Kenneth Yablonski was a noted attorney with the firm of Yablonski, Costello and Leckie in Washington, Pennsylvania.

George Becker was a steelworker, American labor leader and president of the United Steelworkers (USW) from 1993 to 2001. During his tenure as president of the Steelworkers, Becker also served as a vice president of the AFL-CIO.

Lloyd McBride was an American labor leader and president of the United Steelworkers of America from 1977 to 1983. He was on President Jimmy Carter's commission chaired by John G. Kemeny, President of Dartmouth College, to investigate the Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident in October of 1979.

The steel strike of 1959 was a 116-day labor union strike by members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) that idled the steel industry throughout the United States. The strike occurred over management's demand that the union give up a contract clause which limited management's ability to change the number of workers assigned to a task or to introduce new work rules or machinery which would result in reduced hours or numbers of employees. The strike's effects persuaded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to invoke the back-to-work provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act. The union sued to have the Act declared unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court upheld the law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congress of Industrial Organizations</span> North American federation of labor unions from 1935 to 1955

The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of Labor (AFL) by John L. Lewis, a leader of the United Mine Workers (UMW), and called the Committee for Industrial Organization. Its name was changed in 1938 when it broke away from the AFL. It focused on organizing unskilled workers, who had been ignored by most of the AFL unions.

The International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) was a labor union representing miners and workers in related occupations in the United States and Canada.

Susan Sadlowski Garza is a member of the Chicago City Council serving as Alderman for the 10th ward. The 10th ward is located on Chicago's southeast side and includes East Side, Hegewisch, Jeffrey Manor, South Chicago and South Deering. She initially assumed office after defeating Rahm Emanuel ally John Pope in the 2015 election. During the 2019–23 term, she was selected to be the chair of the Chicago City Council Progressive Reform Caucus.

The 2021 Allegheny Technologies strike was a labor strike involving about 1,300 workers for metals manufacturing company Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI), all unionized with the United Steelworkers (USW). The strike began on March 30 and ended on July 13 with the ratification of a new labor contract. Strikers returned to work by July 19. According to the Northwest Labor Press, the strike was among the country's largest for 2021 by number of strikers involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association for Union Democracy</span> American labor organization

The Association for Union Democracy (AUD) is a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, New York, which advocates for union democracy. Founded in 1969 by union reformer Herman Benson and Yale law professor Clyde Summers, the AUD has been called "labor's leading voice on democracy issues" by Labor Studies Journal.

References

  1. "Looking Back at the Steelworkers Fight Back Campaign – Part 3 | Portside". portside.org. 7 August 2023.
  2. "Sadlowski's War Against Tuxedo Unionism". Ann Arbor Sun. October 15, 1976.