United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 13 at GST Steel in Kansas City, Missouri, is hosting a rally April 18 to support their sister local at MEI, in Duluth, Minnesota. There, foundry workers, members of USWA Local 1028, went on strike last August. When the unionists offered to return to work February 28 the company locked them out.

The Kansas City action takes place simultaneously with rallies in Georgetown, South Carolina, and Tempe, Arizona, by unionists working at plants all owned by the same company as MEI.

Some 200 workers at Smurfit-Stone Container in Des Moines, who have been walking the picket lines since December 30, are building an April 22 solidarity rally at union workplaces throughout the region. The strikers, members of Teamsters Local 147, plan to leaflet the Bridgestone/Firestone tire plant across town and speak at upcoming union meetings to win support for their walkout.

The company organized a jobs fair April 11 to recruit scabs. Strikers attended to get out the truth about their fight. Recently, the unionists have made efforts to reach out to Asian and Spanish-speaking workers in the city, looking to draw on the talents of strikers to translate picket signs and leaflets into other languages. Strikers have expressed interest in attending the Kansas City rally.

The following week USWA Local 164 is hosting an event to mark the two-year anniversary of their strike at Titan Tire here. The action on April 29 is attracting solidarity from steelworkers locked out in Mansfield, Ohio, by AK Steel. There, USWA Local 169 held a very successful solidarity rally and march that drew 4,000 unionists and supporters from throughout the region on March 25. USWA workers at Husman in St. Louis are coming by bus to the rally. Titan strikers are discussing how to get the word out about their rally as widely as possible in Des Moines.

These three actions take place as USWA workers at Bridgestone/Firestone prepare for a possible fight over their contract, which expires April 23. Strike authorization votes in Des Moines and at seven other plants affected by the current negotiations were all 97 percent or higher in favor. Workers at the Des Moines plant are planning to make the trip to Kansas City, and participate in the two rallies to be held here. A plantgate collection for Local 164 is in the works, to help build participation of Bridgestone/Firestone workers in the April 29 rally.

For details on these actions, see the calendar on page 12.

Ray Parsons is a member of USWA Local 310 at Bridgestone/Firestone in Des Moines.  
 
 
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