U.S. Steel employees represented by United Steelworkers (USW) voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike authorization, Sept. 7. USW has been negotiating a master agreement with U.S. Steel that covers more than 16,000 workers around the country. The vote would grant the negotiating committee the power to call a strike against the company.

Hoover, AL – In solidarity with the over 15,000 Goodyear Tire and Rubber workers who have been on strike since Oct. 5, demonstrations were held on Dec. 2 at Goodyear retail stores across the country. In Birmingham, over 100 workers and their supporters rallied at the retail store, while in Hoover, Alabama, a similar rally was held to protest the company’s unfair contract proposals, as well as to warn consumers of the risk involved in buying tires manufactured by strikebreakers.

Gadsden, AL – Despite the heavy rains and the passing weeks, workers at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant here are holding the picket line, demanding job security and better health and insurance benefits. All 1250 workers at the Gadsden plant have been on strike since Oct. 5, leaving the plant idle and plant supervisors scrambling to make tires on their own. The United Steelworkers of America, who organized the strike, represents eleven other plants in America and two in Canada, a total of 15,000 workers, all of whom are participating in the strike.

Miami, FL – Bush and the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement suffered a setback in Miami, Nov. 16 – 21. The Bush administration’s trade representative Robert Zoellick closed the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA) meeting a day early with only a partial outline, not an agreement.