US workers protest India-made steel

[ChromeFoundry]

Source: Rediff India

April 09, 2009 10:50 IST

Hundreds of steelworkers in Illinois, the home state of US President Barack Obama, have protested against the use of India-made steel in an oil pipeline project connecting the US region with Canada. The workers were demanding the adoption of the 'buy American' policy by the authorities.

While voices have been raised against Chinese products in the US in the recent past, this is probably for the first time that a 'Made in India' brand has been targeted.

The rally, which took place in Granite City, Illinois, on Wednesday, was organised by the United Steel Workers.

Held against the backdrop of a huge pile of steel pipes with 'Made in India' marks, it attracted some 1,000 protesters in near freezing temperatures. These steel pipes have been imported from India to build a 2,000-mile oil pipeline from Canada to this part of the US.

Carrying banners and posters of 'Buy American' and 'Rebuild American Manufacturing,' the slogan-shouting protesters demanded that these 'Made in India' steel pipes be replaced by those manufactured in the US.



Read more: http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/apr/09/bcrisis-us-workers-protest-india-made-steel.htm

[aquart]

1. Damn straight.

I wonder if India steel is as good as Chinese drywall.

[Kalyan]

11. nope .. slightly worse ...

In India, we use under-age workers, pay them in meals, have ankle chains, no rights to form employee unions in the steel industry. In addition, the companies collude with the government in setting artificially low prices, ensure low quality so that we can sell more, dump steel in western & third world countries.

hope that makes you happy!

[OhioChick]

2. Good for the United Steel Workers!

:applause:

[anonymous171]

3. Good! nt

[spag68]

4. Imported steel

I have thought long and hard about these imports and I am no closer to understanding then I was 20 years ago. I understand how cheap handmade toys and other crap can be shipped here and make a profit in China, India, or Bangladesh, but steel pipes are heavy and bulky. How can they be made in India that has no natural resources and then shipped here and still be profitable. The only thing I have so far is they are operating at a loss to drive out our industry and then will strangle us with increased prices. Anyone have anything, I'm still thinking. Ok OK I know, you smell something burning.

[PSPS]

7. India's non-union low-wage shops, plus lax environmental standards

[cosmicone]

20. India has tougher labor laws and far stronger labor unions

than the US. These laws are actually coming in the way of India's progress and competitiveness so there is a movement to reform the labor laws.

[TheCoxwain]

21. The manager who tries to fuck with a worker will have his balls in his mouth

I wish the unions here were 1/10th as powerful as those in India.


Some stories just to show how powerful the unions are in India



http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/HLL_workers_strike_at_Kolkata_factory___-nid-18915.html
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2323/stories/20061201002503300.htm

[PSPS]

24. Thanks for edifying me!

I had no idea the union movement was strong in India.

[Kalyan]

13. data for your use ..

IRON ORE:
Estimated iron ore production in million metric tons for 2006 according to U.S. Geological Survey<2>
Country & Production: China - 520; Brazil - 300; Australia - 270; India - 150; Russia - 105; Ukraine - 73; United States - 54

COAL (MN TONNES) 2006:
China - 2380; USA - 1053; India - 447; Australia - 373; Russia - 309

BAUXITE - AL (MN TONNES) 2008:
US - ?; Australia - 63; China - 32; Brazil - 25; India - 20

COPPER (MN TONNES) 2006:
Chile 5.3 mn; US - ?; Peru; Zaire; Zambia
-----------------------------

So, as you see from the data above, India doesn't lack natural resources. What it lacks is politicians with integrity. Most of India's natural resources are present in Eastern India and incidentally that is also one of India's most backward area. The area was traditionally forest region occupied by tribals. While industrialization lined many politician pockets, the lack of education meant that most of the tribals live in extreme poverty.

[Enthusiast]

14. Spag, you have the answer.

U.S. trade policies are apparently designed to destroy our domestic industry. I can't fathom why someone felt this is a good idea.

[cosmicone]

19. India has no natural resources?

Indian steel is made from iron ore mined in India and using coal also mined in India.

In case you didn't know, all the steel for the Beijing "Bird's nest" stadium and other olympic structures was imported from India by the Chinese.

[babylonsister]

5. Rec'd-good job! nt

[ihavenobias]

6. K & R n/t

[tomreedtoon]

8. You mean ex-steelworkers, right?

There is no more steel made in the United States. They just left a big slag pile from Pittsburg all the way down to Indiana and went to India and Japan.

[pampango]

12. Third largest steel producing country in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_production_by_country

[tomreedtoon]

22. With about one-fifth the production of China.

1...People's Republic of China...489.0
—...European Union...210.3
2...Japan...120.2
3...United States...97.2
4...Russia...72.2

In other words, we're losers. No wonder they're closing American steel mills.

[greengestalt]

9. The analogy of the dam

What should really get people rioting mad is that it actually isn't cheaper to make things in other countries...

Simply put, the cost of transport alone makes up the difference in price. That on top of all sorts of things, from piracy to bribery, make it cost more in most cases even for cheap plastic toys.

But these manufacturers not only do not face tariffs, they get "Tax breaks and subsidies" and actually get paid by the taxpayer to send jobs overseas. This was true in the 90s and sure is more true today.


I liken it to a Dam.
The dam represents the results of a lot of vision, investment, labor and is the wealth of our society. However, someone who lives in a mansion on the upper part resents that he has to pay for electricity like everyone else even though he can afford it the most. "Am I not entitled to the sweat of my brow!?" So he has his toadies rapple down the side of the dam and use tools to punch a small hole in the middle. A stream of water shoots out and they attach a flywheel over it connected to a motor to generate "Free" electricity for his mansion. Since he's powerful enough to do this without instantly being jailed, he can also have the media refuse to report this or when forced present his side defending his actions and pretend it is 'fair and balanced'. However, each unit of "Free" electricity he gets costs nine parts of potential the real generator can use.


Of course one doesn't have to be an engineer to realize that it is not a good idea to punch a hole in the middle of a dam. The whole system is threatened with collapse and in the meantime the draining he and his contemporaries cause is threatening to shut down the generator. Yes, once he does it without being jailed, his fellow elites start punching their own holes in the dam. On top of that, the lake in front of their mansions starts going down due to the draining, making yachting less fun. So they scream for another massive spending of tax money to divert other rivers or just pump groundwater to cause the water level to go higher. They don't care in the least the dam itself is weakened due to their own theft and if the water pressure is higher the cracks they caused will grow faster.

[JDPriestly]

10. Excellent explanation, greengestalt

[fasttense]

15. Welcome greengestalt. I like the way you think and write. n/t

[Kalyan]

16. agree

amazingly put ... couldn't have agreed more with the "dam" example

[ardvark]

23. another analogy of the dam

a county builds a dam, and upon it's competion, begins to fill in the new lake.

it's a huge area, and it's going to take a long time to fill it

a commission is formed to monitor the filling of it, and the first few meetings are pretty straightforward - lake is empty, proceed to fill it

but after a few years, the lake is partly usable, and some members of the commission are concerned about the rate of inflow

but, they're shouted down the the majority who proclaims 'we're a commission of lake fillers', that it really is the tradition of the commission to fill in the lake at maximum flow

yet, some members wonder if the lake is getting full, and if past policies are still relevant

do you all know what i'm getting at?

[Azlady]

17. K&R

[Javaman]

18. Back in the late 90's I was working construction...

a buddy of mine at the time was a welder on the jobs sites I worked.

I asked him about welding, learning how, etc...

Well, he went on to extrapolate about the quality of steel.

He would go on and on about how truly crappy it was. It was garbage that was being sold back to us from various nations around the world. He called it slag shit steel, made from old drive shafts and brake drums. He had been welding for many many years. He had started off in the Navy using US made steel. He said that stuff was like butter. It was so wonderful to weld. This new stuff would pop and spit all the time. Big chunks of under smelted metal that would cause eventual fatal flaws in the final product.