Posts tagged tariffs
Trump’s tariffs hurt the working class. Why are some unions on board?
April 28, 2025 // “In truth, our trade deals were not really trade deals; they were investment deals. Their goal was not to promote America’s exports — it was to make it easier for global corporations to move capital offshore and ship goods back to America,” Richard Trumka, the former president of AFL-CIO, said in 2015. “The logical outcome was trade deficits and falling wages, and that’s exactly what we got.” For unions, tariffs were a part of the answer to failures of free trade along with other protectionist policies. But to free trade proponents, tariffs represent a break from consensus and threaten to break down trade relations across the globe.
‘Federal employee unions’ likely behind Trump protests: Geraldo
April 8, 2025 // NewsNation correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera and progressive YouTuber Bryan Tyler Cohen join “CUOMO” to discuss Stephen A. Smith’s possible run for the presidency in 2028 and if the “Hands Off” protests will have any tangible impact.
Face The Nation UAW president Shawn Fain says “tariffs are a tool in the toolbox” in helping auto workers
April 1, 2025 // "Tariffs are a tool in the toolbox to get these companies to do the right thing, and the intent behind it is to bring jobs back here, and, you know, invest in the American workers," Fain told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview that aired Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." Mr. Trump announced the 25% tariffs last week, which he said will take effect on April 2, escalating his administration's effort to boost domestic manufacturers through aggressive trade measures. Fain, who leads the 400,000-member union that went on a 46-day strike in 2023, called the tariffs a "motivator,"
United Auto Workers Union Praises Trump’s Tariffs on Canada, Mexico
March 5, 2025 // The UAW is blaming corporate America for the potential price hikes brought by Trump’s tariffs on a range of Mexican and Canadian goods including electronics, agricultural products, vehicles, and auto parts. Markets reacted negatively to the onset of Trump’s tariffs Tuesday as many economists expect prices to increase because of them. The labor union is hoping to work with the Trump administration on the auto tariffs Trump has promised for next month.
With Port Strike Averted, Dockworkers Draw New Curbs on Automation
January 12, 2025 // The pact would allow operators of automated equipment at ports in New Jersey and Virginia, where multiple machines are managed by a single dockworker at a time, to continue to use the semiautonomous cranes, according to people familiar with the matter. But the agreement says that companies that add semiautonomous equipment must hire one dockworker for each new crane added, the people said. That means that a gateway such as the Port of Virginia, which operates 116 semiautonomous cranes, will have to hire one extra dockworker for each of 36 new semiautonomous cranes it plans to add over the next few years. “That’s a pretty significant gain,” said a shipping industry official familiar with the contract talks.
Opinion: How Biden betrayed union workers by giving them what they wanted
January 7, 2025 // This would hurt the blue-collar American workers whom Biden prioritizes, many of whom wanted the deal to go through. But what’s good for rank-and-file members and what ego-sensitive union leaders want are not always aligned. United Steelworkers leaders were apparently peeved that Nippon had not sought the union’s blessing before making a takeover bid, as other prospective buyers had. (Those other suitors, however, had not offered nearly as generous terms and, in at least one case, blocked U.S. Steel from conducting due diligence on the offer.)
US Steel Boss: Biden’s Block of Sale Shameful, Corrupt
January 5, 2025 // Pres. Trump Sees China as #1 Threat, See More Here Home | Newsfront Tags: bien | steel | sale | corruption US Steel Boss: Biden's Block of Sale Shameful, Corrupt By Michael Katz | Friday, 03 January 2025 07:51 PM EST facebook sharing buttontwitter sharing buttonlinkedin sharing button Comment|Print| A A David Burritt, the president and CEO of U.S. Steel, said Friday that President Joe Biden’s decision to block the company’s sale to a Japanese rival was “shameful” and “corrupt.” Biden’s long-awaited decision on the deal came in a presidential order posted Friday on the White House website, declaring Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for the U.S. steelmaker “prohibited.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden was acting on a recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that the acquisition “would place one of America’s largest steel producers under foreign control and create a risk for our national security and our critical supply chains.” “President Biden’s action today is shameful and corrupt,” Burritt said in a news release. “He gave a political payback to a union boss out of touch with his members while harming our company’s future, our workers, and our national security.”
Commentary: New Hampshire could boost manufacturing jobs with one simple trick: becoming a right-to-work state
December 17, 2024 // Policymakers hoping to help specific industries tend to suggest protectionist measures (such as tariffs). But with manufacturing, as with the economy as a whole, recent research shows that enhancing individual freedom by repealing protectionist regulations is a more effective way to stimulate significant job growth. To create a surge in domestic manufacturing jobs, all a state has to do is pass a right-to-work law.
Trump backs dockworkers in fight against automation. The move risks higher prices, experts say
December 14, 2024 // The U.S. Maritime Alliance, or USMX, the organization representing shipping firms in negotiations, said on Thursday that such automation would improve efficiency and increase capacity. Those enhancements would benefit U.S. companies and consumers that depend on goods from abroad, the group added. “We need modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains,” USMX said in a statement.
With trucking at a crossroads, ATA’s Spear reminds industry what’s at stake
October 21, 2024 // The leader of trucking’s largest trade group says the industry won’t ‘roll over’ to ‘union thuggery’ and unrealistic politicians’ attempts to tear down the industry that drives the U.S. economy.