The war on workers struck close to home in northeastern Minnesota last week as United States Steel, Cliffs Natural Resources and ArcelorMittal joined right wing republicans on the offensive against unions, attempting to impose deep cuts to wages, health and pension benefits for the United Steelworkers (USW). Indeed, the Steelworkers were desperately looking for allies in their fight for a fair contract as the clock wound down on contentious contract negotiations late last week and a strike or lockout appeared imminent.
While the DFL-endorsed candidate for Congress, former Congressman Rick Nolan, was visiting every steelworker hall on the Iron Range offering his unqualified support, 8th District Congressman Chip Cravaack was nowhere to be seen. A Cravaack staffer told the USW "the Congressman does not want to get involved."
Excuse me?
Cravaack boasts of being a former union steward and an advocate of mining and jobs for working people, and he doesn't want to get involved?
The big mining companies in Pittsburgh want to cut back wages and workers' health care benefits and completely eliminate retirement benefits for new hires at a time of unprecedented profits, and Cravaack doesn’t want to get involved?
At least one mining company announces plans to bring in scabs in the event of a strike, and Cravaack doesn’t want to get involved?
With an advocate like this, the Steelworkers don’t need an enemy.
Cravaack’s refusal to stand with the United Steelworkers tells us that while he may have been a member of a union, he is no friend to organized labor, and rather than being an advocate for mining and jobs, Cravaack is merely a shill for the mining companies. When Chip says he supports mining, what he is really saying is that he supports the mining executives in Pittsburgh, not the workers in the mines on the Iron Range.
Tea Party Chip Cravaack is clearly not the champion the United Steelworkers need and deserve; he's just a packsacker determined to advance the cause of Pittsburgh (and his steel industry executive brother) at the expense of Iron Range workers.
And where was Packsacker Chip last week while Cuyuna Range native Nolan was standing with the United Steelworkers? Schlepping drinks at a bar in Aurora (wearing a dress shirt and khakis).
As the November election approaches, voters across the Iron Range and northeastern Minnesota need ask themselves only one question: Do we want a congressman who stands with the steelworkers on the Iron Range, or do we want a congressman who stands with the big mining companies in Pittsburgh?
The choice will determine the fate of our region for generations to come.
Cross posted at Iron Country Free Press
To my Union Brothers and Sisters: Please help us get rid of this Bachmann-clone union buster by donating to our union-endorsed candidate Rick Nolan, a true champion for organized labor