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Cascade Steel cuts another 17 jobs

Submitted by Joe on January 6, 2010 - 5:25pm.

cross-posted by NewsRegister.com Staff Report

McMinnville's Cascade Steel Rolling Mills is about to embark on its fifth round of layoffs in a little more than a year, President Jeff Dyck confirmed Tuesday in response to a union press release.

Management at the mill, one of the largest employers in Yamhill County, notified the United Steelworkers that it plans to lay off an additional 17 union workers Sunday.

Joe Munger, president of Local 8378, said that will bring the number of union workers who have been laid off since December 2008, and not called back, to 103. He added they lose their recall rights once a full year has passed...More here

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NW Labor Press (receives an A+ for this)

One thing I will add about the News Register story, is I did not say that dumping was the cause for our Plants situation.  It is difficult to know if we are eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance like we were early last decade.  The Steelworkers, however, are promoting the passage of the current TRADE Act before congress.  Sooner or later we will fall victim to this again. Overall the current trade policies have a negative impact on all sectors domestically.  Here is some points:

* SUPPORT: 
The TRADE Act is supported by the United Steelworkers, the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, the Sierra Club, the National Family Farm Coalition and hundreds of other organizations.  More than half of the House Democratic Caucus has already cosponsored the bill, including Congressmen Wu and Defazio and each of the chairs of the committees Congressman Schrader serves on (Small Business Committee, Agriculture Committee and the Budget Committee).  Sen. Merkley, who beat Sen. Smith on a "fair trade" platform, is also on the Senate bill.  

* THE BILL:
The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act -- or TRADE Act (HR.3012) -- enacts many of the trade reforms promised by President Obama and in the Democratic Party Platform on labor, the environment and other issues.  It sets mandatory standards for future trade agreements and establishes a process for reviewing and renegotiating existing trade agreements.  It also includes a Sense of the Congress resolution that "fast track" should be replaced.  

* WHY THIS MATTERS:
Trade policies like NAFTA and free trade with China have cost tens of thousands of Oregonians their jobs by forcing local businesses to compete with companies that take advantage of sweatshop labor and lax environmental standards overseas.  Job losses in the manufacturing, forest products and agricultural sectors have been high, and we're increasingly seeing high-tech jobs move abroad -- as evidenced by job losses at InFocus, Sumco and TTM Technologies in Congressman Schrader's district (not a co-sponsor/ call him at 503-588-9100).  The TRADE Act provides a commonsense way forward on trade policy that allows trade to expand, while ensuring it does a better job of helping working people in Oregon and beyond.

* THE POLITICS:
Public opinion polls show that, by a six-to-one margin, voters believe that free trade agreements are job-killers rather than job-creators.  "Fair trade" was a winning issue in dozens of races in the last election.  In Oregon, trade and the offshoring of jobs was the top-mentioned issue in Jeff Merkley's TV ads and was the messaging point that enabled him to defeat Senator Smith.