March 31, 2000

To: All Steelworkers

From: George Becker

Subject: A Message From Pittsburgh

Sam Masarachia. A 93 year old retired Steelworker from Indiana was written up in a local newspaper for a contribution he made to establish a scholarship fund at Purdue University. Sam Masarachia who is active in SOAR began work in a saw manufacturing plant in 1923. In 1937 he helped organize his union and in 1941 went on the USWA staff. The scholarships will be awarded based on need and merit and will go to students with an interest in labor as well as senior and community advocacy.

Local 8957, District 12. Local 8957 made t-shirts and delivered them to Senators Feinstein and Boxer of California. The front of the t-shirt is a letter expressing opposition to PNTR for China. The back contains the signatures of 192 of its members. We applaud their creativity.

Student Protests. Students associated with United Students Against Sweatshops have begun demonstrations, rallies, hunger strikes and sit-ins on a multitude of major college campuses around the country. The actions are designed to highlight the plight of exploited workers and get their universities to withdraw from the FLA, a government-industry partnership that has been giving the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” to companies which continue to produce its products in sweatshops around the world. The students want the universities to have the monitoring done by the Worker Rights Coalition, an entity that is more interested in eliminating sweatshop conditions than protecting the reputation of garment manufacturers.

Steelworkers and Students at Purdue University. Last week a group of students at Purdue held a rally as they began a peaceful hunger strike until Purdue joins the Worker Rights Consortium. A group of some 40 to 50 steelworkers from Indianapolis, Lafayette, Kokomo, and Logansport showed their support by joining them in a kickoff rally. Greg Goodnight, the Steelworker who is running for Congress in Indiana spoke at the rally.

Seattle East. Preparations for the activities in Washington DC from April 9 to 16 are continuing. If you couldn’t go to Seattle, but wish you had, you still have a chance to be in DC for that period. For those of you who cannot be in Washington DC with us that week, we urge you to participate in one of a number of candle light vigils which are being planned for Thursday April 13 to correspond with our vigil in Lafayette Park in DC that night. The vigils are our way of showing support for exploited workers around the world. Information on the regional vigils will be posted soon.