Unions across state rally, urge ‘Buy American’-WEB ONLY

Union members who took part in weekend rallies across Indiana mixed complaints about the nation’s recent job losses with calls for consumers to “Buy American.”

The workers rallied Saturday as part of union-sponsored “Rebuild America” events that came one day after Congress passed a $787 billion economic stimulus package that includes a “Buy American” clause.

In Lafayette, about 30 union members and their families staged a downtown rally, calling on elected officials to invest tax dollars in American products and American jobs. They also urged consumer to “Buy American.”

“Every time you turn around you see ‘made in China’ and stuff getting imported here. We’re losing jobs,” said Gregory Jones of Lafayette.

The workers, who carried signs with slogans such as “The system is broken” and “No CEO Bailouts,” marched down Lafayette’s Main Street and around the Tippecanoe County Courthouse.

The Lafayette rally was organized by United Steelworkers Local 115A, which represents workers at Lafayette Alcoa.

“We’re here to have our voices heard. It’s time American workers take a stand,” said Jerry Misner, president of USW Local 115A, who cited the nation’s growing job losses.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, nearly 600,000 jobs were lost in January as the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent.

Organizers asked participants to sign a petition asking local lawmakers to adopt resolutions to spend economic recovery funds on American products and to create and keep American jobs.

President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus bill that passed Congress on Friday includes a “Buy American” provision that many people will argue about in the coming weeks, said Wayne Dale, a regional United Steelworkers official.

But he said the U.S. government is not telling Americans that other countries “like Japan, like Brazil, like France, like South Korea, like India, they all have more restrictive policies themselves.”

In Fort Wayne, more than 35 members of United Steelworkers Local 903 marched around the Allen County Courthouse Saturday amid swirling snowflakes, stopping periodically to sound off.

The crowd included 83-year-old Max Brickley, who has attended many such rallies in the 50 years he’s supported the labor movement.

Brickley, former president of the Fort Wayne Union Label and Service Traders Council, was among those who called on people to buy U.S.-made products.
“Because we’ve got to have a good standard of living,” he said.

After growing up during the Great Depression, Brickley said he sees similarities between the dire economic straits of the 1930s and current events.

“Everybody’s out of work, and the banks, I’d say, are in deep trouble,” Brickley said.

He said he was 12 in 1937 when the United Auto Workers went on strike against Ford Motor Co. – an event Brickley said was followed by years of economic growth that didn’t stall until recently.

“People in this country need work, the average person,” he said. “Big-business people are only protecting big business.”