BY RAY PARSONS
DES MOINES, Iowa - Nearly 30 members of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 310 rallied in downtown Des Moines March 6 to support members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) now in contract talks with Case Corp., a major producer of agricultural and construction equipment.

The USWA protest aimed its fire at Strom Engineering, a temp agency that for several weeks has been recruiting workers to "help temporarily staff a company during a potential work stoppage, caused by a strike," as ads in the Des Moines Register have put it.

The steelworkers are employed at Bridgestone/Firestone in Des Moines, where large agricultural and construction tires are made. The local went through a bitter strike battle in 1994-95. In January 1995 Bridgestone/Firestone "permanently replaced" thousands of strikers.

Wilbur Wilson, one of the organizers of the rally, said, "We thought it was important to do this because it happened to us, and it's reprehensible. We want to tell people that labor is here, we're not going away!"

"We went through what they are going through," said Joan Robinson, another member of USWA Local 310. "I support the auto workers 100 percent."

Leading up to the action, several union activists went undercover, going through Strom's application process. They confirmed that the outfit was lining up replacement workers for Case.

The UAW contract with Case expires March 29, and covers 3,300 workers at plants in Burlington, Iowa; Racine, Wisconsin; East Moline and Burr Ridge, Illinois; and St. Paul, Minnesota. Workers at the Burlington facility told the Militant that a key issue in the negotiations is opposition to the company's demands for mandatory overtime.

Case is also recruiting scabs in Burlington and in Peoria, Illinois.

Jeff Vance distributed flyers to build the union rally inside the tire plant, and management got wind of the action. "I was told that that type of literature is not allowed on company property ever, ever again - which made me want to do it again," he said.

The local's rally attracted new workers from Bridgestone/Firestone as well as strike veterans. One worker, hired last October and still on probation, said he came "because the company is more powerful than a single worker, but together we are stronger than them. When something like this rally is going on, we can let others know about the fight."

Two UAW Local 450 members who work at the John Deere Des Moines Works joined the rally. The UAW signed a new, six-year contract with Deere, another major producer of heavy equipment, earlier this year. The agreement included a deep two-tier wage scale.

The steelworkers set up a picket line outside the office of Strom Engineering, and offered flyers condemning the scab recruiting to passersby.

Wilson and others reported receiving a very warm response, except from those in business suits.

One worker, who asked that his name not be used, walked by and joined the picket line. He had just gotten a job at Titan, another tire factory in Des Moines, organized by USWA Local 164. Local 310 protesters welcomed him and explained that the contract at Titan expires in April, so the action in support of Case workers is good preparation for a possible fight at Titan as well.

Two TV news crews, WHO radio, and a reporter for the Des Moines Register covered the protest. The reporter for TV Channel 5 told Steelworkers that Strom executives had "no comment" on the unionists' rally.

Ray Parsons is a member of USWA Local 310.  
 
 
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