[PRCo] Re: Demise of Steel industry in Pittsburgh

[Howard Andrews]

Growing up in the 'burg with a Dad who worked for Wheelabrator the mills
were part of my life from day one. 

I worked summers in the Mills (USW) and when I graduated college I went to
Wheeling Pittsburgh as a plant engineer.  After a while there I move to the
Auto Industry... well I though it was a good move...

So, you all now know my bias...  

While Unions and Management all share the 'blame' for the failure of the
steel industry (and now the auto industry) the real guilty party is
government.  Our taxing policies and the idea of Free trade stack the deck
against US industry and US workers. 

Today the Auto Industry is competing with foreign companies that get tax
subsidies (ie, VAT exemptions), health care breaks, manipulation of currency
exchange and on and on.  The same thing happened to the Steel industry - and
our politicians refuse to do the hard thing - protect our industry.  

China is the next nation we need to watch... so the only hope is they will
bury Japan before the US.

Howard  

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of John
Swindler
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 7:35 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Demise of Steel industry in Pittsburgh



I worked the summer of 1966 as a grinder in Homestead Works.  First night, 
two of us started grinding out imperfections in steel plates.  After about 
45 min. and about five plates, an old timer came over and told us:  "you 
boys need to take a break for the rest of the night.  You'll be back in 
school in the fall, and we don't need them changing the incentive for this 
job."

In retrospect, I'd now presume that both US Steel and the USW thought they 
had a monopoly.  Guess what:  they didn't.

What also happened is that a lot of steel production moved south, frequently

to small specialty steel companies.  And there has been tremendous 
productivity increases.  There is no longer a need for a sea of workers to 
produce a ton of steel.

John



>From: robert simpson <bobs at pacbell.net>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>Subject: [PRCo] Re: Demise of Steel industry in Pittsburgh
>Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:18:25 -0700 (PDT)
>
>John;
>
>   I remember working in Munhall in 1960, and frequently crossed the 
>Homestead Bridge.  I couldn't help but notice a new building being erected 
>directly across the street from the U. S. Steel Homstead plant and each 
>steel girder was prominently marked "Made in Japan".  How, I wondered, 
>could they manufacture steel in Japan, ship it to America, and transport it

>cross-country for less than simply buying it from across the street?  I 
>sensed a feeling of doom for our once thriving steel industry.  The steel 
>industry has gone the same route as our beloved streetcars and exist only 
>in our memories.
>
>   Robert Simpson
>   from Krazy California
>
>   On Tue, 11 Sep 2007, John Swindler wrote:
>"> Wasn't there a downturn in the steel industry in 1958/59????? Did it 
>have
> > anything to do with auto production???
>
>116 day steel strike in 1959. July, i think, it started
>
>This matters to me as I am researching something which is going to involve
>going over newspapers from when Oliver Iron & Steel closed.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

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