By Tom Conway USW International President The young man in Cleveland Clinic Akron General’s behavioral crisis intervention unit hadn’t communicated much during his hospitalization, but he showed no signs of violence until Brian Eckley tried to draw his blood early one morning. The patient stood up, sat back down, rose…

By Tom Conway USW International President Early in the school year, a kindergartner on Joni Meyer’s school bus got motion sickness and threw up all over himself — and his brother, his cousin and his laptop. Meyer pulled over, soothed the anguished child, cleaned everybody up as best she could…

By Tom Conway USW International President Montrell Steib recalls the young electrician rattling off his expertise in the latest technology and systems, hoping to make a good impression during his job interview at Atlantic Alumina in Gramercy, La. But a supervisor took the wind out of the worker’s sails, saying…

By Tom Conway USW International President The single mom appeared at the church in Davenport, Iowa, where Vera Kelly volunteered and asked for some food to share with her children. But not just any food, Kelly recalled, noting the woman only wanted items she could keep in the car where…

By Tom Conway USW International President Jim Key’s blood ran cold a few years ago as he listened to a former worker at Chernobyl recount the explosion, fires and panic that swept through the power plant as the world’s worst nuclear disaster unfolded in April 1986. The most wrenching part…

By Tom Conway USW International President Terry Bohuslawsky spoke Ukrainian before he ever learned English, attended Ukrainian schools in Cleveland and, along with his classmates, looked forward each year to decorating the elaborate Easter eggs known as pysanky. Bohuslawsky, whose parents emigrated from Ukraine, continued to honor his heritage in…

By Tom Conway USW International President The guard shacks, razor-wire fences and gun-toting soldiers struck fear into Cynthia Overby when she traveled with an American university group behind the Iron Curtain in 1971. Even worse was the utter despair she witnessed in people living under the weight of authoritarianism, a…

By Tom Conway USW International President What Tom O’Shei remembers most about his visit to Mexico in 2019 is the determination he glimpsed in the hundreds of Mexican workers who paraded through the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas and stopped to pray at a monument honoring a pair of murdered…

By Tom Conway USW International President The newcomer to Bob Garrou’s high school wrestling program had won his first match, and was growing in confidence, when he abruptly quit the team. It sickened Garrou to learn why. A local store summarily fired the teen when he balked at working more…