'We can put a halt to concessions'
1985Shirley Pasholk 1985-04Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 9 →
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The following is an interview with workers of America Local 1397, which represents workers at U.S. Steel's Homestead Works. Weisen, who ran an unsuccessful bid for international president of the USWA, is a leader of the union's Rank-and-File Caucus.
Weisen was recently sentenced to six months in jail for his activities in support of the Rev. Doug Roth [See Socialist Action January and March 1985J. He is one of 65 arrested for activities sponsored by the Network to Save the Mon Valley. Funds to help with the defense effort can be sent to Labor Defense Fund, 615 McClure St., Homestead, Pa. 15120. The interview was conducted Socialist Action: One of the themes of the April 20 demonstration is the need to spend money for jobs and social services rather than the military. Could you go into why you think this is important?
Ron Weisen: Our jobs are being exported out of this country. What they're doing is exporting slave labor. We have 97 large corporations in El Salvador paying their work force 31 cents an hour.
Now Reagan wants a war down there to protect big business. It's our sons and daughters, not the sons and daughters of the rich, who will fight this war. He was elected president of the United States-not dictator of Central America.
Our argument isn't with the people down there. They're only being used by American corporations to make a larger profit. We should be out of Central America.
S.A.: Could you describe some of your activities?
Weisen: I've taken U.S. Steel to court five times to save this valley. It seems like the international union picks up on every program which comes out of Local 1397.
We started the first food bank in the USWA. We started the first unemployed committee in the entire country during the 1979 Youngstown shutdown.
We started the Tri-State Conference on Steel. We asked McBride [then international president of the USWA] four (continued on page 11, in “Anthony Mazzocchi: 'Labor needs own political party'”)