A recent court ruling regarding imported
tires from China is being assailed by the
United Steelworkers union (USW).
A U.S. Court of Appeals has declared that
the U.S. Commerce Department’s imposition
of countervailing duties on Chinese-made
off-the-road (OTR) and agricultural tires
in 2008 was illegal under American
law.
The court held that the U.S. anti-subsidy
law – also known as a countervailing duty,
or “CVD” – cannot apply to Chinese imports
while “China is a non-market
economy.”
“The court’s decision undermines the
integrity of our trade laws and the ability
to address Chinese unfair and predatory
trade practices,” says USW International
President Leo W. Gerard.
“The court dropped a lump of coal into the
stocking of every worker who is working
hard, playing by the rules and just hoping
for a fair chance to compete against
China’s manufacturing and export
juggernaut. The sounds of applause coming
from Tiananmen Square greeted the court’s
decision to legalize its cheating,” he
asserts.
“China’s trade practices, according to the
Economic Policy Institute, have cost
America 2.8 million jobs since that country
joined the World Trade Organization in
2001,” according to Gerard.
“The USW has been forced to file numerous
trade cases to combat China’s unfair trade
practices in the fight for our members’
jobs,” he says. “That’s a fight we don’t
plan on giving up. We will work with the
administration and call on Congress to
either overturn the court’s decision or
amend the law. Tens of thousands of jobs
are at stake.”
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In addition, the union attracted thousands
of supporters to a Dec. 17 solidarity rally
on behalf of the 1,051 members of Local
207L who have been locked out of Cooper’s
Findlay, Ohio tire plant since Nov.
28.
“Management at Cooper Tire needs to stop
holding our jobs and this community
hostage, end this unfair lockout, join us
at the table and bargain in good faith,”
says USW Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson,
who heads the USW’s tire industry
bargaining efforts.
“Our union knows its strength lies in
numbers and the power of unity,” says USW
District 1 Director Dave McCall, adding
that they will continue to ramp up pressure
on the tire maker.
“Cooper Tire’s outrageous, unnecessary and
unprovoked attack on the loyal, productive
and highly skilled workers in Findlay
within days of the Thanksgiving holiday
speaks for itself,” says Ohio AFL-CIO
President Tim Burga.
USW Local 207L President Rodney Nelson
contends that “the current management has
lost touch with the principles that built
Cooper in Findlay and lack respect for the
history of the company in Findlay and the
surrounding areas.”
The descendants of Cooper founders Claude
Hart and John Schaefer have expressed their
support for the union workers in a letter-
to-the-editor sent to a local newspaper:
“Locking out employees who helped the
company during hard times and hiring scab
workers to replace them subverts the
purpose of collective bargaining, is
contrary to good faith practices and is
un-American at the core,” they
wrote.
Executives at Cooper have yet to respond to
the latest salvo.
For more information, visit www.usw.org and www.coopertire.com.