The United Steelworkers (USW) today applauded an agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Northwest, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and U.S. Enrichment Corporation, Inc. (USEC) to keep the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which was slated for closure at the end of this month, open for an additional year.

Under the agreement, the DOE will provide 9,000 metric tons of high-assay depleted uranium hexafluoride, also known as “tails,” to Energy Northwest. USEC, the contractor at the Paducah, Ky., facility, will enrich the tails to make 480 metric tons of low-enriched uranium.

“This agreement will keep 1,200 men and women employed for another year,” said Jim Key, Vice President of USW Local 550, which played a key role in working with the parties involved to secure the agreement. “It was several years in the making, and we are glad our hard work paid off,” said Key ... more

The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that through the successful work of Pinnacle Airlines’ Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, Pinnacle and Delta Air Lines have agreed to extend to July 13 the bankrupt regional carrier’s deadline to renegotiate its union labor contracts. The USW is one of seven members of the committee.

In its presentation to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which convened today to consider Pinnacle’s motion for approval of Debtor in Possession (DIP) financing and other agreements, the USW advised the court that agreements between Pinnacle and Delta will pose problems in upcoming bargaining.

USW International Vice President at Large Carol Landry, who leads the union’s Airline Division, stressed that the complex economic and non-economic issues that must be addressed in negotiations will require patience, good faith and commitment from top-level corporate management, Delta and other stakeholders in order to ensure that Pinnacle emerges from bankruptcy as a viable, more stable employer in the future. ... more

The United Steelworkers (USW) today urged the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Transportation Security to expand advanced Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening programs used by pilots to airline flight deck and cabin crew members.

In testimony submitted for today’s subcommittee hearing, “Access Control Point Breaches at Our Nation’s Airports: Anomalies or Systemic Failures?” USW International Vice President At-Large Carol Landry said that expanding these advanced screening programs to airline flight deck and cabin crew members would grant them expedited access through screening checkpoints and make everyone safer.

“The problem is that the current limited versions of risk-based surveillance screening systems like CrewPASS and Known Crew Member are available only to pilots and limited to a few locations,” Landry said. “Excluding flight attendants from the risk-based surveillance program creates a system where TSA agents must spend valuable screening time inspecting workers who are trained to be the last line of defense in the aircraft cabin ... more

The USW said today’s vote to affirm continued duties on tin-coated steel imports from Japan is recognition of the vulnerability that still exists for American steelworkers whose jobs depend on fair trade for steel products covered by duty orders.

“We appreciate the 6-0 unanimous vote of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) that sends a strong message for support of the domestic tin mill industry and the current anti-dumping order on imports from Japan,” USW President Leo W. Gerard said. The major domestic tin-coated steel producers employing USW members are: ArcelorMittal, U.S. Steel Corp., USS-Posco Industries, R-G Steel Corp., and Ohio Coatings Co.

Gerard said testimony by the domestic steel companies and the USW at last month’s five-year sunset review hearing presented a good case on the incentives for Japanese mills to ship significant volumes to the U.S. “If the duties were allowed to expire, a flood of tin sheet imports would have quickly depressed fair prices, putting at risk the jobs of 3,000 USW-represented steelworkers and the American industry ... more

A bill set to come before the U.S. House would gut health and safety standards at Department of Energy (DOE) weapons sites and put workers at DOE facilities, and residents of neighboring communities, at greater risk of exposure to hazardous materials and radiation.

United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard raised those concerns in a letter sent to Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. The committee approved the bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2013, which is scheduled for a vote before the full House this week.

Gerard said many USW members at DOE facilities deal with operations that are completely unique to the DOE. As a result of these threats, more specific worker safety orders are necessary to provide the proper protection. Unfortunately, the bill would eliminate those protections and turn back the clock on long-established standards in nuclear safety ... more