Granite City, IL - The 6,000 union members of the Southwest Area Council (SWAC) of the IFT/AFT/AFL-CIO stand with the United Steelworkers (USW Local 1899) at Granite City Works and call on U.S. Steel to work with them to resume operations.
SWAC President Cyndi Oberle-Dahm released the following statement after steelworkers were laid off due to reduced operations:
“We stand with the hundreds of United Steelworkers in Granite City and their families as they face layoffs following U.S. Steel’s abrupt idling of blast furnace B. This is a reckless decision that has immediate impacts on workers’ families and the regional economy.
“The hard-working steelworkers of Local 1899 deserve better. They deserve job security. Instead, their employer used a loophole to lay off hundreds of people without any notice and is trying to pit worker against worker by blaming the UAW strike in the process. We see through this, and we will not accept it.
“This is no time to play politics with the lives of working families. We call on U.S. Steel to work with United Steelworkers to resume regular operations at Granite City Works and give their employees the respect they deserve.”
The Southwest Area Council (SWAC) consists of approximately 6,000 members throughout the Southern and Western portion of Illinois. SWAC is an affiliate of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers, and the AFL-CIO.
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