I worked at No. 19 rolling mill for the Jones and Laughlin Steel Co. in 1971. The United SteelWorkers contract specified the number of workers to cover each shift, and I remember some shifts I was assigned to sweeping floors. Sweeping a steel mill floor is like vacuuming a coal mine. I continued working there for a year or two after graduation from Pitt. Then the jobs disappeared. The Japanese were competing with us, and mill floor sweeping was not in their playbook.
We are in a similar competition with China. Today, we see most union jobs in the government and education sectors. Performance is not often measured in those jobs and, like the steelworkers, they are protected by unions. Union membership in Pennsylvania jobs has declined from 38% in 1970 to under 13% by 2019; in Michigan it has dropped from 45% to 15%.
Joe Biden was almost universally the choice for union workers, because he has protected them for over 45 years despite a lack of performance. Long-term politicians in both parties are cruising on the same ship. Elected officials’ careers were not designed to be lifelong rides.
Ed Klein
Shanksville