From Akron Beacon Journal

CANTON, OHIO — Real America — including the leader of a union for Timken steelworkers facing more than 1,000 job losses and plant shutdowns — spoke to the Democratic National Convention on Monday.

“Our community has been decimated with plant closings and job losses…. There is a great human price being paid,” Bill Wright told Democrats via satellite from the United Steelworkers of America Local 1123 hall in Canton, Ohio.

Wright, vice president of Local 1123, said “jobs are being sold to the lowest bidder.” And “the only way we can change that is to support the Kerry-Edwards ticket.”

He was one of about two dozen Steelworkers, family members and labor activists who came to participate in a national town hall of sorts from four spots across the U.S. Wright spoke for about a minute, shortly after former Vice President Al Gore spoke.

Wright, 49, with more than 29 years of service at Timken, said he is one of the “lucky few” who probably will be eligible to begin receiving a full pension before the Timken bearing plant where he works in Stark County, Ohio, is shut down. The Canton Steelworkers union represents about 2,800 hourly workers in Timken’s area steel and bearing operations; about 1,150 unionized bearing workers may lose their jobs.

Bearing plant worker Scott Albertson, who is 41 and has 23 years of service, said if he loses his job he would struggle to find employment in a county where there is a steadily decreasing number of jobs that pay “a good family living wage.”

In May, Timken announced that it would close the bearing plants over the next two years. The announcement is one in a recent string about plant closings in Stark; presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has frequently cited the loss of manufacturing jobs under the Bush administration.

Kerry visited Perry Township, Ohio, in June and has been endorsed by many labor groups.

The Canton Steelworkers and company have since entered early formal negotiations on a new contract that could save some jobs in the bearing division and increase job security at Timken’s steel operations.

Albertson, of Perry Township, and the other Steelworkers and supporters appeared at the convention briefly via satellite. Prior to that, a Kerry-Edwards campaign worker coached them to smile broadly and wave heartily to the Democratic conventioners and those watching the television broadcast.

Wright said he believes more of the local’s members will vote Democratic this presidential election year because of Timken’s announcement and other job cuts — some already made and some planned.

He said that in 2000 some members voted Republican because they liked George W. Bush’s stance on single issues such as gun control.

The Republicans, too, have been paying lots of attention to Stark County and Ohio — considered a battleground state with a relatively large number of swing voters.

President Bush will speak at a rally in Canton on Saturday. Kerry will speak in Zanesville, Ohio, on Saturday.

“I think the wrong message is being sent about Stark County. This has always been a county that has pulled together to help each other,” said Stark County GOP Chairman Curt Braden. He said hundreds of jobs created in the area under the Bush administration have not been adequately reported.

“What has been reported gives people the impression that Canton is a Rust Belt city or that Stark County is a Rust Belt area,” Braden added.

Copyright 2004 Akron Beacon Journal. All Rights Reserved.

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