This document is a term paper written by Mike Olszanski about rank-and-file control over contract negotiations and strikes within the United Steelworkers union (USWA) and its predecessor the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC). It argues that rank-and-file control and involvement in negotiations and strikes was key to the rise of these unions, while the decline of such control contributed to their later decline. It analyzes differences between early SWOC negotiations with high rank-and-file participation, and later secretive USWA negotiations. The paper aims to evaluate degrees of rank-and-file control using various criteria to compare negotiations, and argues the unions declined as control shifted from local workers to distant international leadership
The United Steelworkers of America District 31 opposes the construction of the proposed Bailly I Nuclear Power Plant for several reasons:
1) The $1 billion cost would be better spent on energy conservation projects at steel plants.
2) The proposed site is too close to population centers like Chicago and steel plants like Bethlehem Steel's Burns Harbor Plant.
3) There is no adequate evacuation plan for the steel plants in the area in the event of an emergency at the nuclear plant. The risk to over 43,300 steelworkers in the area outweighs any potential benefits of the plant.
The United Steelworkers of America oppose the construction of the proposed Bailly I Nuclear Power Plant for several reasons:
1. The $1 billion cost would be better spent on energy conservation projects at steel plants.
2. The proposed site is too close to population centers and steel production facilities. It is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and within 700 feet of a large Bethlehem Steel plant.
3. There is no adequate evacuation plan for the thousands of steelworkers at nearby plants in the event of an emergency at the nuclear plant. A major accident could cripple the steel industry and cost millions in damaged facilities.
The union urges the committee to stop construction of the plant due
A Steelworker's Journey: Blast Furnace to UniversityMike Olszanski
This document summarizes Mike Olszanski's intellectual journey from working in a blast furnace to earning a university degree. It describes how he started working at Inland Steel right out of high school in 1963. Though he took some evening classes, mandatory overtime made completing a degree impossible at that time. The document then discusses how he became involved in the steelworkers union and led environmental committees. It highlights the Swingshift College program at Indiana University Northwest, which offered evening classes and helped steelworkers take advantage of tuition benefits to earn degrees starting in 1993. The program was aimed at empowering and motivating workers to take active roles in their unions and communities based on popular education theories.
This document discusses the history of efforts by workers and labor unions to reduce the standard work week and enact an 8-hour work day. It describes how in the late 19th/early 20th century, labor unions organized around reducing work hours as a key issue to address long hours and exploitation by employers. Over time, unions succeeded in negotiating shorter maximum work weeks and overtime provisions. However, real wages stagnated and unemployment remained high. The document argues that reducing overall work hours could help address these ongoing problems by spreading work more evenly and giving workers more leisure time and power relative to employers.
This document is a term paper written by Mike Olszanski about rank-and-file control over contract negotiations and strikes within the United Steelworkers union (USWA) and its predecessor the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC). It argues that rank-and-file control and involvement in negotiations and strikes was key to the rise of these unions, while the decline of such control contributed to their later decline. It analyzes differences between early SWOC negotiations with high rank-and-file participation, and later secretive USWA negotiations. The paper aims to evaluate degrees of rank-and-file control using various criteria to compare negotiations, and argues the unions declined as control shifted from local workers to distant international leadership
The United Steelworkers of America District 31 opposes the construction of the proposed Bailly I Nuclear Power Plant for several reasons:
1) The $1 billion cost would be better spent on energy conservation projects at steel plants.
2) The proposed site is too close to population centers like Chicago and steel plants like Bethlehem Steel's Burns Harbor Plant.
3) There is no adequate evacuation plan for the steel plants in the area in the event of an emergency at the nuclear plant. The risk to over 43,300 steelworkers in the area outweighs any potential benefits of the plant.
The United Steelworkers of America oppose the construction of the proposed Bailly I Nuclear Power Plant for several reasons:
1. The $1 billion cost would be better spent on energy conservation projects at steel plants.
2. The proposed site is too close to population centers and steel production facilities. It is adjacent to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and within 700 feet of a large Bethlehem Steel plant.
3. There is no adequate evacuation plan for the thousands of steelworkers at nearby plants in the event of an emergency at the nuclear plant. A major accident could cripple the steel industry and cost millions in damaged facilities.
The union urges the committee to stop construction of the plant due
A Steelworker's Journey: Blast Furnace to UniversityMike Olszanski
This document summarizes Mike Olszanski's intellectual journey from working in a blast furnace to earning a university degree. It describes how he started working at Inland Steel right out of high school in 1963. Though he took some evening classes, mandatory overtime made completing a degree impossible at that time. The document then discusses how he became involved in the steelworkers union and led environmental committees. It highlights the Swingshift College program at Indiana University Northwest, which offered evening classes and helped steelworkers take advantage of tuition benefits to earn degrees starting in 1993. The program was aimed at empowering and motivating workers to take active roles in their unions and communities based on popular education theories.
This document discusses the history of efforts by workers and labor unions to reduce the standard work week and enact an 8-hour work day. It describes how in the late 19th/early 20th century, labor unions organized around reducing work hours as a key issue to address long hours and exploitation by employers. Over time, unions succeeded in negotiating shorter maximum work weeks and overtime provisions. However, real wages stagnated and unemployment remained high. The document argues that reducing overall work hours could help address these ongoing problems by spreading work more evenly and giving workers more leisure time and power relative to employers.
Mike Olszanski, an outreach coordinator for a labor studies department, was invited to give a labor movement perspective on free market theory to a business ethics class. He expresses concern about the current political climate in the US, noting increased divisions in society and a move towards fascism. He urges students to pay attention to current events and get their news from reliable sources. Olszanski discusses conflict theory and quotes Marx and Lincoln to argue that workers' and capitalists' interests inherently conflict. He notes unions are important for empowering workers to collectively bargain for better conditions. In the past he led a steelworkers union local in negotiations with management.
Joe Gyurko was a dedicated union activist who spent his entire life fighting for workers' rights and social justice. He worked in the steel mills of Northwest Indiana for decades, holding numerous union positions from dues steward to grievance chairman. As a militant grassroots organizer, Gyurko led wildcat strikes in the 1940s and fought tirelessly to integrate jobs and promote equality. He continued his activism into retirement, mentoring younger generations on the principles of solidarity, fairness, and rank-and-file unionism. Gyurko made a significant impact on the labor movement through his commitment to workers' empowerment and bringing about positive change at both the workplace and community levels.
This document provides context about the rise of labor unions in the United States in the 1930s and the influence of the political left. It discusses how the labor movement gained momentum during the Great Depression due to high class consciousness and radical organizations influencing union leadership. While New Deal policies legalized unions, leftist groups were more willing to advocate for systemic change. Events like the 1934 San Francisco general strike showed the power of organized labor and threatened the capitalist system, prompting the National Labor Relations Act. However, the political left's influence over unions declined due to purges in the 1940s-50s, contributing to labor's loss of power in later decades.
This document discusses the rank and file movement within the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) union from the 1950s-1980s. It notes that black and white steelworkers who joined together in this dissident movement were often labeled "Reds", and examines the role that left-wing individuals and organizations played. It argues that the label "Black + White = Red" had a lot of truth, as communists, socialists, and other leftists had been instrumental in building the original union. It also discusses how black workers tended to develop class consciousness earlier than white workers due to their experience with racial oppression.
This document discusses the rank and file movement within the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) union from the 1950s-1980s. It argues that left-wing individuals and organizations played an important role in building the early USWA through the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC) and continued to support insurgent campaigns within the union. Coalitions of black and white rank-and-file steelworkers who challenged union leadership were often labeled "Reds", reflecting the left-wing political views that drove efforts for more democratic reforms and minority rights within the union.
This document is a term paper written by Mike Olszanski about rank-and-file control over contract negotiations and strikes within the United Steelworkers union (USWA) and its predecessor the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC). It argues that rank-and-file control and involvement in negotiations and strikes was key to the rise of these unions, while the decline of such control contributed to their later decline. It analyzes differences between early SWOC negotiations with high rank-and-file participation, and later secretive USWA negotiations. The paper aims to evaluate degrees of rank-and-file control using various criteria to compare negotiations, and argues the unions declined as bureaucracy grew and left-wing members were pur
This document summarizes a term paper about rank-and-file control over contract negotiations within the United Steelworkers union (USWA) and its predecessor, the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC). It discusses how SWOC/USWA Local 1010 exercised strong rank-and-file control and influence over negotiations in the 1930s-1940s, with bargaining taking place near the mill within sight and hearing of workers. However, over time the USWA increasingly centralized control over negotiations, removing rank-and-file input. This decline in democracy contributed to the union's loss of power and ability to protect workers. The document argues strong rank-and-file control is key to a union's success and connects left-
Steel Union Locals in Crisis: Labor's Response to the Restructuring of a Bas...Mike Olszanski
This document summarizes two theoretical paradigms for understanding organized labor's responses during times of industrial restructuring:
1) The "union leadership conservatism" model holds that a militant rank-and-file is pitted against a conservative central union leadership in negotiating contracts and policy.
2) The "sectoral-rationality" model argues that workers calculate their responses based on their own interests, which can divide them, rather than having common class interests against capital.
The document uses the restructuring of the US steel industry as a case study to assess which model more accurately describes the responses of four local unions of the United Steelworkers of America during negotiations for the 1986 contracts, the first conducted after the
USWA 1978 Convention Atlantic City Local 1010 Members Up FrontMike Olszanski
Foreground: 1010 Members Joe Gyurko, Don Lutes Jr., Phil King, Jimmie Freeman, Bill Gailes, Natcho Rodriguez, "Little" Joe Guiterrez, Mike Mezo, Jim Robinson, Cliff "Cowboy" Mezo, Mike Olszanski, Mary Hopper
Background right: 6787 Pres Paul Kaczocha, Diane Gumolowski
The document calls for people to fight back and resist some unspecified threat or adversary. It uses commanding language to encourage standing up and taking action, rather than accepting an undesirable situation. However, the document provides no details on the target, goals, or type of resistance being advocated.
Swingshift college popular education 2003 signed5Mike Olszanski
Swingshift College is a program at Indiana University Northwest that provides college education for adult workers. Inspired by popular educators like Paulo Freire and Miles Horton, its mission is to empower workers through education and enable them to build social movements. The program aims to create a "community of worker intellectuals, advocates, and activists."
It offers associate's and bachelor's degrees in labor studies and general studies. Classes are offered in the mornings and evenings to accommodate workers' schedules. The program is evaluated based on how well it achieves its goals of encouraging lifelong learning, providing high-quality curriculum, and implementing the principles of popular education theory, which emphasizes teaching students in a way that raises critical consciousness and leads to
Journey of a steelworker uale conference presentation draft 7Mike Olszanski
This document summarizes Mike Olszanski's experience in the Swingshift College program at Indiana University Northwest from 1993-2010. The program was aimed at working adults and inspired by popular education theories. It provided college credit courses in the evenings and mornings to accommodate shift workers' schedules. The classes emphasized critical thinking and a working class perspective. Students learned how their views had been shaped by societal influences and debated topics from different viewpoints. The program helped develop worker intellectuals and union leaders through an empowering educational model.
This document provides background information on steelworkers in Northwest Indiana during the 1970s, focusing on activism within Local Union 1010 at Inland Steel. It includes biographical details from Mike Olszanski, a former president of Local 1010, describing his upbringing in a working-class Polish immigrant family in Hammond, Indiana and decision to work at Inland Steel after high school. The introduction also outlines the editors' approach to examining rank-and-file insurgency within the union from the perspective of individual activists and Local 1010, known as the "Red Local" for its history of grassroots involvement.
This story describes events surrounding an incident at a steel mill where an employee, Al Con, is fired after allegedly striking his foreman, Bueller. Witness Joe Wizowski and another employee, Jim, were present. The union plans to challenge Al's firing at a hearing. Wizowski and Jim inspect the pit where Al worked and find unsafe, toxic conditions, in violation of OSHA regulations, raising the possibility of filing an additional complaint. Jim considers testifying at the hearing on Al's behalf. The union mobilizes support to save Al's job, seeing his firing as an attack on all workers' rights.
Mike Olszanski, an outreach coordinator for a labor studies department, was invited to give a labor movement perspective on free market theory to a business ethics class. He expresses concern about the current political climate in the US, noting increased divisions in society and a move towards fascism. He urges students to pay attention to current events and get their news from reliable sources. Olszanski discusses conflict theory and quotes Marx and Lincoln to argue that workers' and capitalists' interests inherently conflict. He notes unions are important for empowering workers to collectively bargain for better conditions. In the past he led a steelworkers union local in negotiations with management.
Joe Gyurko was a dedicated union activist who spent his entire life fighting for workers' rights and social justice. He worked in the steel mills of Northwest Indiana for decades, holding numerous union positions from dues steward to grievance chairman. As a militant grassroots organizer, Gyurko led wildcat strikes in the 1940s and fought tirelessly to integrate jobs and promote equality. He continued his activism into retirement, mentoring younger generations on the principles of solidarity, fairness, and rank-and-file unionism. Gyurko made a significant impact on the labor movement through his commitment to workers' empowerment and bringing about positive change at both the workplace and community levels.
This document provides context about the rise of labor unions in the United States in the 1930s and the influence of the political left. It discusses how the labor movement gained momentum during the Great Depression due to high class consciousness and radical organizations influencing union leadership. While New Deal policies legalized unions, leftist groups were more willing to advocate for systemic change. Events like the 1934 San Francisco general strike showed the power of organized labor and threatened the capitalist system, prompting the National Labor Relations Act. However, the political left's influence over unions declined due to purges in the 1940s-50s, contributing to labor's loss of power in later decades.
This document discusses the rank and file movement within the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) union from the 1950s-1980s. It notes that black and white steelworkers who joined together in this dissident movement were often labeled "Reds", and examines the role that left-wing individuals and organizations played. It argues that the label "Black + White = Red" had a lot of truth, as communists, socialists, and other leftists had been instrumental in building the original union. It also discusses how black workers tended to develop class consciousness earlier than white workers due to their experience with racial oppression.
This document discusses the rank and file movement within the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) union from the 1950s-1980s. It argues that left-wing individuals and organizations played an important role in building the early USWA through the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC) and continued to support insurgent campaigns within the union. Coalitions of black and white rank-and-file steelworkers who challenged union leadership were often labeled "Reds", reflecting the left-wing political views that drove efforts for more democratic reforms and minority rights within the union.
This document is a term paper written by Mike Olszanski about rank-and-file control over contract negotiations and strikes within the United Steelworkers union (USWA) and its predecessor the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC). It argues that rank-and-file control and involvement in negotiations and strikes was key to the rise of these unions, while the decline of such control contributed to their later decline. It analyzes differences between early SWOC negotiations with high rank-and-file participation, and later secretive USWA negotiations. The paper aims to evaluate degrees of rank-and-file control using various criteria to compare negotiations, and argues the unions declined as bureaucracy grew and left-wing members were pur
This document summarizes a term paper about rank-and-file control over contract negotiations within the United Steelworkers union (USWA) and its predecessor, the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC). It discusses how SWOC/USWA Local 1010 exercised strong rank-and-file control and influence over negotiations in the 1930s-1940s, with bargaining taking place near the mill within sight and hearing of workers. However, over time the USWA increasingly centralized control over negotiations, removing rank-and-file input. This decline in democracy contributed to the union's loss of power and ability to protect workers. The document argues strong rank-and-file control is key to a union's success and connects left-
Steel Union Locals in Crisis: Labor's Response to the Restructuring of a Bas...Mike Olszanski
This document summarizes two theoretical paradigms for understanding organized labor's responses during times of industrial restructuring:
1) The "union leadership conservatism" model holds that a militant rank-and-file is pitted against a conservative central union leadership in negotiating contracts and policy.
2) The "sectoral-rationality" model argues that workers calculate their responses based on their own interests, which can divide them, rather than having common class interests against capital.
The document uses the restructuring of the US steel industry as a case study to assess which model more accurately describes the responses of four local unions of the United Steelworkers of America during negotiations for the 1986 contracts, the first conducted after the
USWA 1978 Convention Atlantic City Local 1010 Members Up FrontMike Olszanski
Foreground: 1010 Members Joe Gyurko, Don Lutes Jr., Phil King, Jimmie Freeman, Bill Gailes, Natcho Rodriguez, "Little" Joe Guiterrez, Mike Mezo, Jim Robinson, Cliff "Cowboy" Mezo, Mike Olszanski, Mary Hopper
Background right: 6787 Pres Paul Kaczocha, Diane Gumolowski
The document calls for people to fight back and resist some unspecified threat or adversary. It uses commanding language to encourage standing up and taking action, rather than accepting an undesirable situation. However, the document provides no details on the target, goals, or type of resistance being advocated.
Swingshift college popular education 2003 signed5Mike Olszanski
Swingshift College is a program at Indiana University Northwest that provides college education for adult workers. Inspired by popular educators like Paulo Freire and Miles Horton, its mission is to empower workers through education and enable them to build social movements. The program aims to create a "community of worker intellectuals, advocates, and activists."
It offers associate's and bachelor's degrees in labor studies and general studies. Classes are offered in the mornings and evenings to accommodate workers' schedules. The program is evaluated based on how well it achieves its goals of encouraging lifelong learning, providing high-quality curriculum, and implementing the principles of popular education theory, which emphasizes teaching students in a way that raises critical consciousness and leads to
Journey of a steelworker uale conference presentation draft 7Mike Olszanski
This document summarizes Mike Olszanski's experience in the Swingshift College program at Indiana University Northwest from 1993-2010. The program was aimed at working adults and inspired by popular education theories. It provided college credit courses in the evenings and mornings to accommodate shift workers' schedules. The classes emphasized critical thinking and a working class perspective. Students learned how their views had been shaped by societal influences and debated topics from different viewpoints. The program helped develop worker intellectuals and union leaders through an empowering educational model.
This document provides background information on steelworkers in Northwest Indiana during the 1970s, focusing on activism within Local Union 1010 at Inland Steel. It includes biographical details from Mike Olszanski, a former president of Local 1010, describing his upbringing in a working-class Polish immigrant family in Hammond, Indiana and decision to work at Inland Steel after high school. The introduction also outlines the editors' approach to examining rank-and-file insurgency within the union from the perspective of individual activists and Local 1010, known as the "Red Local" for its history of grassroots involvement.
This story describes events surrounding an incident at a steel mill where an employee, Al Con, is fired after allegedly striking his foreman, Bueller. Witness Joe Wizowski and another employee, Jim, were present. The union plans to challenge Al's firing at a hearing. Wizowski and Jim inspect the pit where Al worked and find unsafe, toxic conditions, in violation of OSHA regulations, raising the possibility of filing an additional complaint. Jim considers testifying at the hearing on Al's behalf. The union mobilizes support to save Al's job, seeing his firing as an attack on all workers' rights.