USW Women of Steel Lobby Day

USW Women of Steel Lobby Day
Women of Steel engage legislators to discuss road funding in Michigan.

On May 20, 2014 women from the United Steel Workers Union assembled in Lansing to meet with legislators

Women of Steel

to discuss road funding in Michigan. The day began with an informative training to prepare the women to speak with elected officials. The group of about ten steel workers were greeted by State Representative Dian Slavens where she informed them of how imperative it is to fix the roads in Michigan.

“I want make sure we’re investing in our roads. So many folks are losing tires and having to pay a lot more on their cars,” Slavens said. “In addition, the safety issue is huge with the number of accidents due to these potholes. So we need to make sure that we’re investing in our roads, that $1.8 billion per year, and not just putting a band-aid on the problem.”

Later in the day the activist headed over to the state capital building to sit down with their state representatives. The Steel Workers wanted to let the representatives to know that road funding needs to be a priority.

“I’m here today to talk to our representatives about our infrastructure and fixing our roads. The roads are really bad where I live,” said Jackie Anklam of USW Local 9899. “There are roads blocked off because you can’t get through them, bridges being shut down, and people have to re-route to get to work meaning it takes longer to get to work. So we’re here today hoping they’ll listen to us, and pass the funding to get our roads fixed and put our people back to work,” Anklam added.
Through the course of the visit the women of steel got an opportunity to speak with legislators including: