5 November, 2015IndustriALL base metals steering committee met in Pittsburgh on 3 and 4 November, and adopted a declaration calling on governments to take action against industrial destruction of the base metal sector.
16 steel producing unions from ten countries met on 4 November in Pittsburgh, USA, to discuss an action plan and strategic goals for the sector.
Steel is the world's second largest industry with a turnover of US$900 billion and is projected to increase by 50 per cent by 2050. Yet the current conditions faced by the industry are the worst in a generation. Despite an increase in average steel use over the last decade, overcapacity is a serious threat to the long-term future of the industry.
The participating unions called for urgent action to protect jobs and communities from the current wave of industrial destruction that is wiping out industrial jobs on a global scale and systematically eroding workers' rights and working conditions.
IndustriALL Global Union assistant general secretary Fernando Lopes says that the steel industry is an important contributor to economies and society as a whole:
As unions we will take action to save the global steel industry and the jobs it creates. We will aim to develop an environment that enables the global steel industry to flourish and steelworkers along with it.
The IndustriALL base metals steering committee decided to nominate Thomas Conway from United Steelworkers and Sanjyot Vadhavkar from Smefi as co-chairs of the sector.
The base metal world conference will be held in Germany on 15 – 17 November, 2016.