Tuesday, March 31, 2009

details rally eastside

This is the information on the rally in Illinois. I plan to be there as will Ralph after townhall with senator:

Rally to Restore American Manufacturing

Join the United Steelworkers as they Rally against the miles of steel pipe made in India for the Keystone pipeline being unloaded in the shadow of the idled Granite City Steel Works. Rally in Solidarity to demand from Congress that our government begin to restore our manufacturing base by insisting all stimulus projects use products Made in America.
The Rally starts at The River's Edge (Granite City Army Depot) Highway 3 and Niedringhaus Avenue, Granite City, IL.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

New Demonstration Eastside




On Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 11 AM there will be a worker's demonstration on the Eastside. Part of the demonstration will be about those "Indian pipe" imports reported earlier on the news and here. Some will be about the "closed down" industries in the area: steel and autos.


We shall go over early details next Soar meeting. Ralph and I have made plans to attend and hope others will also join in. Further details will be posted here and other places.


This is excellent opportunity to stand up and be counted. Believe it or not, most politicans are not like Mr. Bush and do keep an eye on the media and check poll numbers. Showing up at a demonstration is a lot better than writing a letter or sending e-mail for political matters. Hell, if nothing else drive by and honk horns in support.


If you cannot attend, we need folks to check news outlets during the demonstration and after. Media committee does fine work, but they like everyone else in labor cannot do all it it alone.

Group in the past has done fine work following stories.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

steelworker "Put America back to work" additional vids

This is some additional footage of Steelworker organized walk in Granite City. Put America Back to Work was the theme of the Feb 10th, 2009 march. Update on Granite City--still laid off most of the folks and hopes to get back to work before insurance runs out.



On the political front: fearless leaders still "talking about" recovery. Buy American resolutions in St. Louis city and county: both pending and I suspect awaiting local elections before actions.



Folks a word of advice: Do not hold breath waiting for folks to act. Keep pressure up on the fearless leaders is my advice.

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------march itself

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-------skits after the march

for those whom missed the India Pipe story

Sorry the lateness of this post. This is the KMOV broadcast of the India steelpipe story. This will be a topic of discussion our next meeting. Trick question for next meeting: Does anyone know the origin of most of the Steel for the "Bush wall" being constructed to keep out illegials in Texas and South? Is it India, China, Brazil or US?

This should actually shock none for it is the current trent in American business--buy and import anything and everything you can to make a dime, outsource and offshore Hell with American workers who should pull up their bootstraps and become internationally competative.


Thursday, March 19, 2009

Billionaire Indian "Woman of Steel"

No doubt most of the steelworkers did not get an invitation to this event. This is the marriage of the daughter of the Indian steel billionaire. In 07, folks were calling her the "woman of steel".

I tend to think the women of steel are those steelworking woman and women married to steelworkers, but I did not get a "silver invitation" to this event. Some might find this amusing and other possibly not:


Another steelpipe billionaire Alexander Lebedev






Although I think Forbes dropped this guy from the billionaire listing, he is another steel lad to keep track. Here is his bio and is a guy to watch.:


Biography

Early life and education


Alexander Lebedev was born to a family which was part of the Moscow intelligentsia. His father, Evgeny Nikolaevich Lebedev was a Professor at Bauman Moscow Highest Technical School and a retired athlete, a former member of the Soviet National Water polo team. Alexander's mother, Maria Sergeyevna, after graduating from Moscow Pedagogic Institute worked in a rural Sakhalin school, then taught English in a Moscow tertiary school.


In 1977, Alexander Lebedev entered the Department of Economics at Moscow State Institute of International Relations. After he graduated in 1982, Lebedev started work at the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System doing research for his Kandidat (equal to Ph.D.) dissertation The problems of debt and the challenges of globalization.
However he soon transferred to the First Chief Directorate (Foreign Intelligence) of KGB. He worked there and at its successor Foreign Intelligence Service until 1992.[4] In London he had the diplomatic cover of an economics attaché.[5] According to Lebedev's personal site his assignments included fighting capital flight from the Russian Federation.[4] The Sunday Express stated that he “spent more time studying finance and the City than British secrets”.[2]
Lebedev continues his research in Economics, obtaining his Kandidat (Ph.D.) degree for his dissertation Problems of the Russian Foreign Debt (Global and Regional Aspects) (2000) and his Dr. Sci degree for the dissertation Financial Globalization in the context of the Global, Regional and National (Russian) development.[4]

Business career

Lebedev with then President of Russia Vladimir Putin on 7 May 2002.
After retirement as Lieutenant Colonel Lebedev created his first company: the Russian Investment-Finance Company (Русская инвестиционно-финансовая компания). In 1995, the company bought a small and troubled bank named National Reserve Bank that soon grew to become one of the largest Russian banks.[4] The National Reserve Bank and Alfa Bank were the only two out of the ten largest Russian banks that survived the 1998 Russian financial crisis and following this it went on to become one of the largest banks in Russia.
Among bank's assets are:
30% of the main Russian national airline Aeroflot (the largest private stock holder);
44% of the Ilyushin Finance Co, that owns a significant share of Russian aircraft-building industry;
significant parts of Sberbank, Gazprom, Unified Energy System.
The bank is the core of the National Reserve Corporation, that according to Lebedev's personal site owns around US$2 billion of assets.[4] Forbes estimates Lebedev's fortune higher as US$3.5 billion.[1]
The National Reserve Corporation included National Meat Company, National Mortgage Company (Национальная Ипотечная Компания), construction companies as well as daughter structures in textiles, telecommunications, trams and trolleybuses, electrical power, chemical and tourist industries. They own a large tourist hotel network in the Crimea (Ukraine) and plan to create the National Reserve Park that will manage diverse tourist enterprises in Russia, Ukraine and France. According to his website Lebedev was one of the first prominent businessmen with interests in Russian technology and socially-oriented business rather than the simple exploitation of the country's natural resources.
In 21 January, 2009, Lebedev and his company Evening Press, part of Lebedev Holdings, brought approximately a 75.1% of share in the Evening Standard newspaper for £1. The previous owners, the Daily Mail and General Trust, continue to hold 24.9% in the company in the new firm, named Evening Standard Ltd. Lebedev has he will not interfere with the editorial running of the paper. Lebedev commented that during his time as a spy in London, he used the Evening Standard to find information.[3] Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard at the time of the sale said: "It's a very sad day for the paper, it's a very sad day for the Rothermeres. We are very sorry that it leaked out, we had no control over that. Everyone's been working very hard and there's a lot of hope for the future of the Evening Standard."[6]

Political career
In 2003, Lebedev stood as a candidate for elections to the Mayoralty of Moscow and the State Duma. He received 13% in the Mayoral elections, losing to the incumbent Yuriy Luzhkov, but won a seat in the State Duma on the Rodina party list (he was actually number one on the Moscow regional list of the party). In Duma, he initially moved from conservative "Rodina" to the pro-Government United Russia fraction, but after Rodina was merged into the larger socialist coalition Fair Russia, he made his return and now is one of the party leaders.
Lebedev was formerly the Vice-Chairman of Duma's committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States; the coordinator of Duma's group on interactions with Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the coordinator of the State Duma group dealing with the city.[4]
Lebedev, together with the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is the owner of 49% of Novaya Gazeta, one of the most vocal newspapers critical of the current Russian Government.[7]
After the assassination of a prominent Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya Lebedev wrote an article praising the talents of Politkovskaya and suggesting that the assassins were actually trying to target the good names of her opponents.[8] He pledged 25 million Russian rubles (around US$1mln) for the information leading to catching the assassins.[8] This is largely due to his moderate political views.
Lebedev is a founder and the President of the National Investment Council, a non-political and non-Government organization working to improve the investment sentiments in Russia, protecting interests of the Russian business abroad and fighting the negative sentiments towards Russian business.[4]
In September 2008, Russian politician Mikhail Gorbachev has announced he is going to make a comeback to Russian politics along with Alexander Lebedev.[9] Their party will be called the Independent Democratic Party of Russia.
In March 2009 Lebedev announced that he would be running for mayor of Sochi, the city that will host the 2014 Olympics

India steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal


Lakshmi Mittal

Here is the guy whom built the pipes (I believe) that launched firestorm. Here is his bio from Forbes. I would laugh too, being number 8 on the richest folks listings of Forbes (2009).
Like some of the politicans, man appearently believes bringing home the bacon and in this case it is India.

AP Photo
Net Worth:$19.3 bilFortune:inherited and growing
Source:steel Age:58 Country Of Citizenship:India Residence:London Industry:Steel
Education:St Xavier's College Calcutta, Bachelor of Arts / Science, Marital Status:married, 2 children
Indian immigrant heads world's largest steel company; ArcelorMittal was formed via hostile takeover 3 years ago. Stock in company makes up bulk of his fortune; shares at a 4-year low with steel prices down 75% since last summer. Company forced to pay heavy fines after a French antitrust investigation found 10 companies guilty of price-fixing in European steel markets.
Arcelor posted $2.6 billion loss in most recent quarter; announced plans to slow acquisitions, cut capital expenditures, pay down debt. Started in family steel business in the 1970s, branched out on his own in 1994. Initially bought up steel mills on the cheap in Eastern Europe.
Company bought 19.9% stake in Australia's Macarthur Coal last year. Also owns pieces of Mumbai's Indiabulls Group, London's RAB Capital; owns stake in, sits on board of Goldman Sachs. Holds substantial cash; owns 12-bedroom mansion in London's posh Kensington neighborhood.

India pipe story

Some in the group are following the story of the India Pipes being shipped around the nation. Our friend, Jeff Rains, discovered this and his photos are circulating around. Jeff is the president of the eastside SOAR and works very hard.

Kmov had story as did other papers. This is another

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3131429#

Source: The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.))By Dennis Grubaugh, The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.
Mar. 19--ROXANA -- A bunch of made-in-America steelworkers are irritated at plans to use made-in-India pipeline to route Canadian crude into the ConocoPhillips refinery expansion project.
The pipe is being shipped into the area by railroad and stored at a site near the former Army depot grounds in Granite City.
A member of United Steelworkers Local 1899 got close enough to shoot photos of markings inside the pipe, which clearly show a "Made in India" stamp and foreign language markings, said Dave Dowling, the director of District 7, Sub District 2 of the Steelworkers union.
The pipe is being used for the line needed to bring sandy crude from Alberta, Canada, down to Wood River, where the oil will flow into the refinery, which is being revamped to process the material. Billions of dollars are being spent on the plant's expansion.
The pipeline work is being done under the auspices of TransCanada, a developer of a wide range of energy infrastructure projects, which is constructing what's called the Keystone Pipeline in cooperation with ConocoPhillips.
However, the decision to use mostly Indian steel fell to TransCanada, which bid out the work almost two years ago, at a time when U.S. steelmakers were unable to do it, TransCanada spokesman Jim Prescott said.
In terms of price, quantity, quality, delivery dates to meet construction schedules and the specifications on the steel, most U.S. firms could not meet the criteria, he said.
"When the bids went out, it was clear that steel manufacturers in the United States were maxed out," Prescott said. Bids went out among U.S., Canadian and overseas makers, he said.
"The steel industry is very much a global industry today," he said.
The situation is particularly grating to steelworkers who, since late last year, have been laid off by the thousands in the Metro East because their employers have too much inventory and not enough customers.
"The irony of seeing this pipe stored literally in the shadows of the (Granite City) steel mill is pretty hard to take," Dowling said.
Steelworkers began noticing the pipe, painted a dull green, on tractor-trailers heading north on Illinois Route 3.
"Then, we started seeing it in on railroad cars. Hundreds of them are parked around the Granite City depot, waiting to be unloaded. One of our guys walked up to it, looked at it and took pictures," Dowling said.
He first heard about the situation roughly two weeks ago, and since that time has been inundated with calls from members and retirees asking questions.
So, is the pipeline the sort that American steelworkers could have made? Both Prescott and Dowling said they are not sure.
"We gave U.S. Steel dimensions of the pipe (around 50 feet long and 30 inches in diameter). We asked them if we could have produced it, by rolling it at Granite City and shipping for processing to the U.S. Steel Lone Star plant in Texas," Dowling said.
"They haven't responded yet," he said.
Melissa Erker, a spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips, said she was not in a position to comment about TransCanada's decisions.
"ConocoPhillips has a minority interest in the pipeline, but we are not the owner, operator or the builder of it," she said.
As of the third quarter of this year, ConocoPhillips will hold a 20.01 percent stake in the pipeline.
According to its Web site, Keystone Pipeline is building a 2,148-mile line that will transport crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to U.S. Midwest markets at Wood River and Patoka, Ill., and to Cushing, Okla. The Canadian portion of the project involves the conversion of approximately 537 miles of existing Canadian Mainline pipeline from natural gas to crude oil transmission service and construction of approximately 232 miles of pipeline, pump stations and terminal facilities at Hardisty.
The U.S. portion of the project includes construction of approximately 1,379 miles of pipeline and pump stations.
The Keystone Pipeline will have an initial nominal capacity of 435,000 barrels per day in late 2009 and will be expanded to a nominal capacity of 590,000 barrels per day in late 2010. Keystone has contracts with shippers totaling 495,000 barrels per day with an average term of 18 years.
TransCanada is the largest developer of oil pipelines in North America.
Dowling said the union still is trying to get information from the pipeline builder and others.
"Our international union folks in Pittsburgh are trying to get information, as we are locally," he said.
If there is any good news for American steelmakers, it is that TransCanada plans to eventually double the length of the pipeline, if it can get regulatory approval from the U.S. State Department. That would mean a new round of bidding that U.S. steelmakers could enter, Prescott said.
"At some point in the future, TransCanada will need to order another 2,000 miles in pipe, and once again, it will be competitively bid to manufacturers in the United States, Canada and globally," he said.
He also noted that the stretch of pipeline from Canada to Wood River is being built by union members.
dennis_grubaugh@thetelegraph.com
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