Lynne Baker, PACE (615-831-6782), cell (615-828-6169)
Steelworkers,
PACE Vote to Merge
Pittsburgh/Nashville,
January 11, 2005
– The International Executive Boards of
the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and the Paper, Allied
Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE)
have voted unanimously to merge. Merger
of the two unions will create the largest and most powerful
industrial union in
North America
, with over 850,000 active members in over 8,000 bargaining units in
the
United States
,
Canada
and the
Caribbean
.
The
newly merged union will be the dominant union in
North America
in metals, paper and forestry products, tire and rubber, mining,
glass, chemicals, energy and other basic resource industries. It
also will have a very strong presence in equipment and machinery,
stone, clay and concrete, other manufacturing, transportation,
utilities and the service sector.
The
combined union will have over 1.25 million active and retired
members to advocate for worker-friendly legislation and candidates.
Together, PACE and the USWA will be a major political force in key
battleground states and provinces in the
U.S.
and
Canada
.
“By
joining forces with the USWA,” said PACE President Boyd Young,
“PACE members will have greater bargaining power, because this
merger creates a larger union presence in our core industries and
gives us more leverage at the bargaining table.
Once merged, our union will immediately be a major presence
in
North America
’s core industrial sectors and that strength of diversity will
both protect and promote our bargaining agendas.”
“PACE
members will have access to a $150 million defense fund so that we can
take on employers who make unreasonable demands at the bargaining
table,” said Young. “Furthermore, with an organizing budget of
over $30 million per year, we will have the ability to strategically
organize workers in our core industries.”
“Our
unions share a commitment to innovative bargaining strategies that
protect our members in many ways, while
maintaining and
building the productive capacity of the companies they work in,”
said USWA International President Leo W. Gerard.
“We’re
also pledged to using our successes with our joint Rapid Response and
political programs to challenge anti-worker forces bent on undermining
the futures of our active and
retired members,” said Gerard.
The
new union will be called the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber,
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers
International Union. PACE and USWA members will vote on the proposed
merger at concurrent conventions to be held in April.
