1,250-Member Union Merges with United Steelworkers

by James Parks, Apr 13, 2007

USW President Leo Gerard (center), ISU President Mark Glyptis (left) and USW District 1 Director David McCall celebrate the merger of the two unions.

The union movement long has believed that strength in numbers is one of the best strategies for success. Concerned about their job security, the 1,250 employees at Mittal Steel’s mill in Weirton, W. Va., voted overwhelmingly on March 31 to merge their independent union with the United Steelworkers (USW) to gain a stronger voice at the bargaining table.

During a merger signing ceremony today, Mark Glyptis, president of the Independent Steelworkers Union (ISU), which represented the Weirton workers, says:

Working people in Weirton, in West Virginia and the United States face serious issues in the future months and years. We must join together to continue the fight for our retirees, and ourselves, today and tomorrow.

USW President Leo Gerard says the merger is “historic.”

We’re proud of the history, the tenaciousness, the respect that people have for the ISU. We’re going to fight together.

Job security is a key issue for the Weirton workers. After Mittal bought the plant in 2005, it closed the plant’s iron-making and steel slab operations, putting 800 workers out of a job. Mittal is the third owner of the plant in four years.

The USW already represents nearly 20,000 Mittal employees and now will be able to take the Weirton workers’ concerns to the table.

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