BY RAY PARSONS
DES MOINES, Iowa - "There's a strike fever going on, and the
corporations see we're not playing." That's how William Argue,
a striking member of United Steelworkers of America (USWA)
Local 303L from Natchez, Mississippi, described the backdrop to
the May 1 solidarity rally celebrating the one-year anniversary
of the strike by USWA Local 164 against Titan Tire here.
The 670 members of Local 164 hit the bricks May 1, 1998, fighting against forced overtime, two-tier wages, and for pension and health-care benefits for retired workers.
Local 303L joined the strike against Titan Tire in September. The company bought the Natchez tire factory last year, but demanded big concessions from the union as part of the deal. Some 70 Natchez strikers came by bus and car to the Des Moines event.
More than 1,500 strikers and union supporters took part in the action, which included a march to the struck plant followed by food and refreshments.
USWA members from locals around the Midwest made up a large part of the crowd, including contingents of tire plant workers from Bridgestone/Firestone plants in Des Moines; Decatur and Bloomington, Illinois; and Tennessee. Forty members of USWA Local 307 who work at the Goodyear tire plant in Topeka, Kansas, and other Goodyear workers from Lincoln, Nebraska, were there as well.
Ada Owens, a member of USWA Local 713L in Decatur, helped lead the chants on the march to the plant. "It's my struggle too," she said. At the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in Des Moines, workers built the May 1 rally and collected $2,100 for the Titan strikers at the gates April 27 and 28. Contracts at Bridgestone/Firestone plants expire next year.
Kent Johnson, a member of USWA Local 787 at the Bloomington, Illinois, plant explained that workers there have been holding regular rallies outside the company office to build solidarity on the shop floor as contract negotiations draw near. He said, "Our local went to two rallies for the Titan strikers in Quincy, Illinois, and we came to the one today to show our support. We are supporting them and hopefully when we need it we'll get the same."
Before the rally began 150 people attended a panel discussion organized by Local 164. Rank and file strikers gave a powerful description of the stakes in the fight against Titan Tire. Lori Meier and Frank Lowery explained that under the provisions of the old contract, most workers had been forced to work 26 days in a row, and were often ordered at the last minute to work four hours of overtime. "I had parents to help me with child care, but lots of workers didn't have that," Meier said.
Sinnath Chan spoke out against the two-tier wages Titan imposed in the last contract. "I worked side by side, doing the same work as my co-worker, and I got lower pay than her. I don't understand that. Was it because I was low seniority? Because I am Asian-American?"
The panel discussion was moderated by U.S. Senator Thomas Harkin, and presentations were given by USWA and AFL-CIO officials. A representative of the Iowa Faith and Labor Committee reaffirmed the group's support for the strike.
Byron Orton, the head of the Iowa Labor Commission, reported on the recent confrontation between Titan and the state agency over safety inspections of the struck plant. Production continues with the use of replacement workers.
In March and April company officials refused on four occasions to allow Iowa safety inspectors into the facility. Titan objected to the inspectors being accompanied by Local 164 officials, which is permitted by law.
Orton reported that when the inspection was finally conducted April 22, Titan Tire owner Maurice Taylor, Jr. took him aside and said, "Mr. Commissioner, we are at war. And when Morry Taylor is at war I do not lose."
The rally opened with a talk by Local 164 president John Peno, who applauded the determination of the strikers through turning points over the 12-month strike. "In June, when Titan presented its `last best and final offer,' and told us to return to work or face replacement, not one union member crossed that day...In mid-February, when unemployment benefits ran out, not one member crossed."
He said three members have crossed the picket line in the last month.
In an interview one Local 164 strike activist, still on probation at a new job said, "We're getting stronger the longer the strike goes on. Where I work now, about half the workers are in the union. I try to talk to people about joining, and tell stories about our strike." He added, "For us Asian- Americans this strike means a lot. The owners think they can get Asians to be good workers for just $7 or $8 and hour, thinking we will cross picket lines. We proved them wrong and this makes me very glad."
Peno pledged solidarity with Local 303L in Natchez, and pointed to USWA organizing drives underway at nonunion Titan plants, in Quincy, Illinois and Clinton, Tennessee.
Charles Long is a leader of the Clinton fight. He was part of an earlier organizing attempt in 1995 but was fired two weeks before the vote. In an interview with the Militant after the rally he said, "Titan has treated the people there so badly they see we need some kind of representation." Union handbilling with news of the Des Moines and Natchez strikes takes place once or twice a week at the Clinton factory. Long added that an April 10 picnic hosted by the USWA drew 250 workers and their families, helping to win new support for the union.
USWA International officials spoke along with AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka. Dave Foster, Director of USWA District 11, pointed to other USWA struggles at Oregon Steel in Pueblo, Colorado, and at Kaiser Aluminum. Some 3,100 steelworkers at five Kaiser plants have been locked out since January 14, after USWA officials called off a 15-week strike. The unionists are fighting deep job cuts demanded by Kaiser.
Ray Parsons is a member of USWA Local 310 in Des Moines. Alyson Kennedy contributed to this article.