Aluminum dumping an issue

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is touting a victory that he says will help Ohio workers.

In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Brown said the U.S. trade representative has heeded a call to launch a World Trade Organization case against China, cracking down on flooding the market through aluminum dumping.

Brown said that he and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, had been working on the case for some time before the November presidential election.

“Thousands have already lost jobs because China has flooded the market with unfairly subsidized aluminum. It’s past time we get tough on these violations before more Ohio workers lose their jobs,” Brown said. “These are important steps to creating a level playing field for Ohio workers in all industries. But we can’t let up. We need a complete reset of our trade relationship with China, to make it clear they can no longer get away with this cheating – whether it’s in the aluminum or steel or any other industry.”

Brown was joined on the conference call by Donnie Blatt, who worked for Ormet’s southeast Ohio plant, which closed in 2014. He now serves as the United Steelworkers District 1 sub district director.

Blatt said the flooding of the market played a major part in the shutdown of the plant, which employed 1,200 workers and indirectly affected 3,100.

“China’s reckless aluminum production, government subsidization and global overcapacity have decimated the U.S. domestic aluminum market,” Blatt said. “I have witnessed firsthand as an employee in the aluminum industry and as a staff representative of the United Steelworkers, the devastation the closing of an aluminum producer can have on the worker, her or his family and the community where they live.”

Blatt said, prior to the closing, the average wage of a worker at the Monroe County facility was $61,000 per year.

“I worked at Ormet, for more than 22 years collecting a living wage, healthcare benefits for myself and my family and building a defined benefit pension for the future,” Blatt said.  “When Ormet permanently closed its doors, more than 1,200 hourly and salaried American workers lost their incomes, healthcare and pensions. More than 16 surrounding communities, local school systems and public services also lost as well.”

Brown said that he has reached out to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, and outlined what he says needs to be done to create fair trade conditions for U.S. and Ohio workers, such as renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and instituting a “Buy American” policy for the federal government.

He said Trump has responded with a personal note, pledging to work with him on those issues.