USWA changes name following merger

April 13, 2005

The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has changed its name following its merger with the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE) International Union.

The new union will be called the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, or the USW for short.

"This merger rings in a new day for the labor movement in the U.S. and Canada," says Leo Gerard, president of the Steelworkers. "Our members' hands will be greatly strengthened in bargaining with multinational employers, and politically we'll have considerably more clout in combating the assault on workers' rights that is threatening to undermine decades of social and economic progress in both countries -- especially among the thousands of unrepresented workers we're determined to organize in both countries."

The combined union will have more than 850,000 active members in more than 8,000 bargaining units in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It will be the largest industrial union in North America, and will be the dominant union in paper, forestry products, steel, aluminum, tire and rubber, mining, glass, chemicals, petroleum and other basic resource industries.

Gerard will be the president of the USW. Former PACE President Boyd Young will be the executive vice president.

Under the merger agreement, PACE will continue to have an office in Nashville, Tenn., for the next 10 years.