Bucyrus Workers Win; Other Trade Issues Left Unresolved After Obama’s Visit

Just before President Obama arrived in Racine for his town hall meeting yesterday, news broke that the federally funded U.S. Export-Import Bank will reconsider its previous rejection of loan guarantees for a coal-fired power plant project in India. Thanks to this reversal, Milwaukee-based Bucyrus International will be able to create or retain about 300 Wisconsin union jobs, and an additional 700 jobs in other states related to filling a $600 million dollar order for mining equipment.

“I am extremely proud of the way that our union and our company worked together to keep jobs in the United States,” says United Steel Workers (USW) Local 1343 President Kevin Jaskie which represents workers at Bucyrus. “Now that our members have some measure of job security, they will be able to make big ticket purchases they have been putting off, like cars and even houses. For some of the young guys who have been waiting to start a family, these loan guarantees will give them the confidence to spend what they earn. That will have a positive ripple effect throughout our economy.”

“In the end, it was local union activism that really made this happen,” says Bill Breihan, Sub-District Representative for USW District 2. “Hundreds of our members contacted the White House and advocates from our union partnered with the company to lobby on every level and save those jobs. This collaboration was possible because Local 1343 has a great working relationship with Bucyrus International.”

“We are extremely pleased with the Bucyrus outcome,” says Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President David Newby. “I was also encouraged to hear President Obama say that countries that we trade with need to ‘be fair.’ But I did not hear explicit and strong opposition to NAFTA and WTO style trade agreements that send U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas. That is an issue of deep concern that we will continue to monitor and speak out about.”

Newby added, “The president did have some harsh words for so-called fiscal conservatives who cut taxes for the rich, deregulate corporations, and leave working people to fend for themselves. I hope that translates in to immediate action on the desperately needed unemployment insurance extension.”

Click here to read a transcript of President Obama’s remarks provided by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Working people in Racine were extremely interested to hear what the president had to say about the brutal job market and the fragile economic recovery. Members from AFSCME, IRON Local 8, SEIU, SMWIA Local 18, UAW Local 72, UAW Local 180, and USW Local 1343 all participated in the town hall meeting.

(Top Photo: Members of USW Local 1343, which represents workers at Bucyrus International, celebrate outside of the Racine town hall meeting after receiving news of their victory. Bottom Photo: Members of UAW Local 72 rallied outside of the meeting to remind President Obama of recent injustices at the Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha. Chrysler shut the factory and moved jobs to Mexico after accepting a bailout from U.S. taxpayers. Credit for Both Photos: Justin Geiger. For more pictures from the Racine town hall meeting, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wisaflcio/sets/72157624274904479/.)