If you look at the picture above, you will see THE hell hole that I go to 6 days a week. The fact that this is my off day and I have to look at this picture makes me sick.

BUT I am willing to put myself through said tormentation because I wrote another piece for the IUN Phoenix about why unions (specifically United Steel Workers) should really be voting Republican. Here it is, originally published in the IUN Phoenix, October 14th, 2009.

I am a capitalist, conservative, Republican…union member. I know what you’re all thinking: the locker room conversations must get pretty heated and awkward. And yes, sometimes they do. But more often than not my union brothers and I are on the same page. The United Steel Workers (USW) vote overwhelmingly Democrat. That is a fact. I know this first hand, since I am a USW worker, and the large amount of contributions that unions give to Democratic candidates helps to give even more credence to my observations. However, since I work with union members on a daily basis and am involved with politics, I have a good chance to talk with many of them about exactly why they vote Democrat; and my conversations combined with different legislations leads me to believe that actually, union workers should be voting Republican.

First of all, the USW members quickly forget that it was George W. Bush that imposed steel tariffs in 2002. My own feelings about this action (and all of the actions to be named in this piece) aside, the tariffs were designed to stop China from dumping cheaper steel into the American market. Many union members loved Bill Clinton, however under the Clinton administration the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA), which a lot of union members were displeased with because they felt that it would hurt American workers, was passed. More recently, President Obama neglected to include a “Buy American” provision in the stimulus bill that was passed, which would have ensured that the steel being used for the infrastructure repairs and new governmental building proposed would have been strictly American steel. 

Legislation differences aside, a major concern of union workers is illegal workers taking American jobs. Union members are more likely to be in favor of background checks and showing proof of American citizenship than the normal Democratic voter, and if you sit down to talk to union members they will tell you that they support deportation and are opposed to amnesty. Union members (especially in Gary, Indiana, where I work) are very family oriented, supporting of our troops overseas, and socially conservative. Of course these three topics are not only Republican views, but they are held higher in priority than many further left politicians, and are typically viewed to be more important by Republicans as a whole. One of the big reasons that Gary, Indiana steel mills identify with these three topics particularly is because of the high concentration of African American workers, who are as a whole very religious and family oriented people who believe in hard work and earning your way in this world.

The only reason than union members vote Democrat is because of special interest. Democrats make a point of pushing pro-union legislation that doesn’t necessarily help the worker or those working in a union, but helps the union bosses themselves to expand. For example, the latest card check legislation that is being pushed would eliminate the secret vote that was at one point in time used to keep the company from strong arming the decision. Now, the unions have become powerful enough that they want to use this strong arm tactic for themselves and are supporting the 180 degree turn around of this tradition for their own gains.

All in all, if it wasn’t for politicians making special interest deals to secure union donations and union bosses encouraging workers to vote for one candidate over the other so that the union boss can further his own agenda, union workers (especially USW workers) would be voting straight Republican tickets at the booths.

Archived Comments

Travis Gearhart
One correction to this article. Apparently the "Buy American" provision was in fact included (even though he told Canada that it wouldn't be) HOWEVER the provision is still useless because of the terms defined: "the Buy American requirement can be waived when: (1) application would be "inconsistent with the public interest"; (2) the iron, steel or manufactured goods are "not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality"; or (3) application of the requirement would increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent. In addition, ARRA requires that the Buy American provision be applied "in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements."
Knowing the steel mills as I do, the odds are that sooner rather than later some (if not all) of these provisions will come into play. But in regard to the article, the fact that the provisions are as strict as they are still proves my point and shows Bush in a better light with the steel unions.