Candidate visits with Eramet’s workers

Marietta Times

Congressman Sherrod Brown, D-13th District, visited Eramet workers who say they have been locked out of the ferroalloys plant along Ohio 7 between Marietta and Belpre.

...Brown, who talked with workers for about an hour, asked questions such as how many workers had been locked out, how much new employees hired by the company were being paid, and how long the union workers had worked for the company.

"Anything I can do?" Brown asked the workers.

The workers expressed gratitude for Brown’s attention.

"It does a lot for us coming down here," said Dencil Brown, who lives in West Virginia. "We appreciate it. We need more people who want to work for the working class."

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09/25/2006 / Permalink / Jobs, Trade, (all tags)

Forget the war in Iraq: it’s the workers, stupid

Times of London

The smell of burning rubber from the plant mingled with the aroma of strong coffee as the men and women gathered last week with Sherrod Brown, the Democratic candidate for the Ohio Senate seat in November’s election — the man they hope will help to end years of Republican domination of American politics. Still in his early 50s, Mr Brown has been in Ohio politics for 30 years, the last 14 as a member of the House of Representatives. Stooped slightly, as though he carries the weight of all Ohio’s economic hardships on his shoulders, he works the workers and their families, and shaking his head at tales of the follies of global capitalism.

He is scathing about the economic damage he says has been done to his state. Republicans have got rich, he says, while they have shipped jobs overseas. His opponent, Mike De Wine, the incumbent senator, has taken campaign money from companies that are destroying American jobs. “Why should we reward companies that move offshore to avoid US taxes?” Mr Brown asks. “We need fair trade, not free trade.”

This autumn Ohio is again the central battleground of US politics. It was the state that gave President Bush his narrow victory over John Kerry in 2004. Now it is one of half a dozen states that Democrats need to win on November 7 to take control of the Senate and pave the way, they hope, for an era of Democratic control.

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09/21/2006 / Permalink / Jobs, Trade, (all tags)

DeWine Supported NAFTA - And He’s Campaigning On It Too

Senator Mike DeWine is at it again, trying to distort his record on the North American Free Trade Agreement - the unfair trade agreement that eliminated 52,000 Ohio jobs.  He enthusiastically supported the trade agreement, and now, he is campaigning on it.     

Just last Friday in Cincinnati, Mike DeWine appeared with former U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to extol NAFTA's virtues - how it had boosted U.S. exports.  DeWine knows it really boosted multinational profits, boosted the trade imbalance, flooded our market with cheap imports, and led steel mills and auto plants in Ohio to close.  At the same event, DeWine noted that he didn't vote for NAFTA because he wasn't in Congress at the time.  He supported it (and continues to).  Talk about using smoke and mirrors in an attempt to hide his record.

Sherrod Brown's stand against job-killing trade agreements couldn't be clearer:  he stood up to President Bill Clinton and opposed and voted against NAFTA.  He opposed and voted against granting Permanent Normalized Trade Relations with China.  He led a bi-partisan coalition in opposition to CAFTA - and guess what, he voted against it too!

09/18/2006 / Permalink / Trade, (all tags)

DeWine supports deal that threatens port security, Ohio jobs

Brown introduces legislation to ensure trade deals do not jeopardize U.S. security
 
AMHERST, OH -- The U.S. Senate is slated to begin debate today over the ratification of the Oman Free Trade Agreement, which U.S. Senator Mike DeWine supported earlier this year.  The Oman FTA would threaten the security of the United States by authorizing any company that has a subsidiary in Oman, including Dubai Ports World, to operate at U.S. port terminals.  Senator DeWine voted to ratify the Oman FTA earlier this year, and refused to take a stand when the state-owned Dubai Ports World corporation attempted to acquire major port terminal operations across the United States.
 
"Senator DeWine voted for job-killing trade deals that rewarded multinational corporations but jeopardized our national security," said U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  "The U.S. government should never give the keys to our national security away to a foreign country or corporation.  This is Dubai Ports World all over again, and Mike DeWine has failed to put our security first."
 

09/18/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, Trade, (all tags)

New TV Spot: “Cost”

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09/15/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, Jobs, Trade, Video, (all tags)

DeWine and “Bush’s Man” Portman Share Record of Outsourcing Ohio Jobs

CINCINNATI, OH - Incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine and former U.S. Trade Representative and current Bush administration budget director Rob Portman were expected to hold a joint press conference today.  DeWine and Portman share a record of supporting job-killing unfair trade agreements that have hurt Ohio workers.  During Portman's one-year tenure as USTR, the trade deficit with China increased by $40 billion and thousands of Ohioans lost their jobs due to unfair trade deals.  Senator Mike DeWine has accepted more than $1 million from companies that outsourced U.S. jobs, and he supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and voted for the CAFTA and to grant Permanent Normalized Trade Relations with China.
 
"Job loss is nothing to celebrate," said U.S. Representative Brown.  "Director Portman and Senator DeWine teamed up in support of job-killing trade agreements that have made jobs one of Ohio's largest exports.  I stood up to presidents of both parties against unfair trade deals and have led the fight in Congress for fair trade agreements that put American workers and businesses first."

09/15/2006 / Permalink / Jobs, Trade, (all tags)

Youngstown TV Covers Sherrod at Denman Tire

09/13/2006 / Permalink / Jobs, Northeast Ohio, Trade, Video, (all tags)

With Denman Tire as His Backdrop, Brown Calls for Review of Trade Pacts

The Business Journal

Worse-than-expected trade deficit numbers appeared to bolster U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown’s argument that Congress should revisit trade treaties, trade agreements that he argues are costing Ohioans jobs.

The trade numbers came the day after Brown’s campaign began airing a commercial targeting U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine’s support of international trade agreements he says have hurt workers in Ohio. Brown, a Democrat who represents Ohio’s 13th Congressional District and is running to unseat DeWine, met with about 40 workers late Tuesday morning at Denman Tire Co.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit in July was a record $68 billion, with imports reaching an all-time high of $188 billion – in part the result of the rise in oil prices -- and exports declining to $120 billion. Part of that decline was attributed to a drop in sales of civilian aircraft, computers and industrial machinery. The July trade deficit, 5% above the June numbers -- was higher than analysts expected and broke the monthly record of $66.6 billion set last October.

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09/13/2006 / Permalink / Jobs, Northeast Ohio, Trade, (all tags)