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HAMMER FALLS ON WV STEEL INDUSTRY - More Jobs Globalized |
| (02/03/2006) |
| By Bob Weaver Following the announcements that tens of thousands of Ford Motor Company and General Motors jobs are lost, closing dozens of plants around the USA, and Kraft Foods is shutting down some operations, initially affecting 8,000 jobs, it was announced this week that 100 more jobs will be added to the recent loss of 800 steel production jobs in Wheeling. Several thousand steel jobs, mostly in the state's northern panhandle, have already been eliminated. Following the shift of American car production jobs to foreign counties and the production of steel, mostly to China, the country's food supply is rapidly becoming more globalized. This week the US House of Representatives repealed the Byrd Amendment, which was described as a protectionist measure. The repeal came as part of Wednesday's 216-214 House of Representatives vote passing the Budget Reconciliation Bill. "It was a disappointing day for all working West Virginians," said John Saunders, a United Steelworkers officer at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel. "Now that it is OK to dump cheap steel, we will be uncompetitive in a global market. This will hurt Wheeling-Pittsburgh, Mittal-Weirton and smaller companies like Warwood Tool Company," he said. "West Virginia voted twice for George Bush," Saunders said on Thursday. "Once again, this administration turned its back on West Virginia and working Americans." Steel production was once the leading employer in WV. Now it's WalMart. WV reps Alan B. Mollohan and Nick J. Rahall voted against the bill, with Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., voting for it. The Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, which calls itself a coalition of companies and organizations that promotes "a trade arena where U.S. consuming industries and their workers have access to global markets for imports that enhance the international competitiveness of American firms," said the dumping bill should be repealed. Rep. Alan Mollohan said, "Repealing the Byrd Amendment is further evidence of the free-trade agenda that dominates Congress today. It is an agenda that shows little concern for American workers who are severely disadvantaged when we pit them against foreign producers who pay low wages and face few environmental or worker-safety laws."
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