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Support the Jones Act!

The Jones Act ensures a strong and vibrant maritime industry, which helps ensure the United States maintains its expertise in shipbuilding and waterborne transportation. Without American maritime, the U.S. would be dependent on foreign-owned and flagged vessels for the transport of waterborne commerce in and around the country.

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USW Local 5000

Based out of Cleveland, Ohio, United Steelworkers Local 5000 (often just called Local 5') represents over three hundred members who are the unlicensed crew aboard nineteen Great Lakes freighters, employed by Central Marine Logistics, The Interlake Steamship Company, and Key Lakes Inc. (Great Lakes Fleet). We have one land-based unit with twenty members who service the steel industry employed by Sisco. 

Rapid Response News

Rapid Response, our union’s nonpartisan grassroots activist program, provides an opportunity for every USW member to weigh in on legislation concerning labor and work-related issues. By joining together, we encourage government actions that will positively impact our families, contracts and communities. Learn more!

Rapid Response News

Union Plus Benefits

Did you know your USW membership entitles you to discounts on wireless, car rentals, movie tickets, car insurance and more? Visit the Union Plus website to view current discounts and programs.

Union Plus Benefits

Support Enbridge Straits Line 5 Replacement Segment Project

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A project critical to protecting the environment and the longterm viability of Enbridge Line 5, a crude oil pipeline that supplies refineries throughout the midwest, is in jeopardy.

The Enbridge Straits Line 5 Replacement Segment Project would allow for the current pipeline that runs through the Straits of Mackinac to be rerouted through a tunnel in the bedrock beneath the Straits, protecting the waterway and the Great Lakes.

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What is a Union?

A union is a group of people working together to advance their interests in the workplace through collective action and collective bargaining.

Bargaining Basis

Bargaining Basics

Information on what it means to collectively bargain and how your involvement can help win fair contracts.

The Difference

The Union Difference

Unions allow us to speak with one voice to address the things most important to us on the job and build power for working people.

Know Your Rights

Know Your Rights

Most private sector employees have the right to organize under the National Labor Relations Act.

USW National News

  • Rapid Response Info Alert: Indiana Redistricting Session Threatens Fair Elections

    Click here to download this Info Alert as a PDF. Indiana faces a critical moment as Governor Mike Braun considers calling a special legislative session to consider redrawing voting districts before th... —

  • It’s Better in a Union

    USW Hosts AFL-CIO Bus Tour Promoting Unions, Fighting Trump USW members helped the AFL-CIO kick off a pro-union bus tour in July with rallies in Pittsburgh and Newport News, Va., denouncing the Trump... —

  • Job-Killing Cuts – Trump Administration Claws Back Funding, Stunting Growth

    USW members at the Libbey Glass plant in Toledo, Ohio, celebrated last year when President Joe Biden’s administration awarded the company up to $45.1 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to... —

  • ‘Women of Steel Make Us Stronger’

    20 Years Have Passed Since Members Approved WOS Constitutional Amendment Bonnie Carey has been a Woman of Steel since 1978, when she went to work at the massive aluminum mill in Davenport, Iowa. In a... —

  • Safety Agencies in Danger

    Scheme to Gut Federal Watchdogs Puts Workers at Risk When an explosion at the BP-Husky refinery in Oregon, Ohio, took the lives of Max and Ben Morrissey – siblings by blood and USW membership – in Sep... —

Get Involved!

As USW members, advocacy is at the heart of everything we do. We push for pro-worker policies, and we give back to our communities. We keep each other safe, and we lift up each other’s voices. So whether you’re a seasoned veteran or an emerging activist, there’s a place for you to get more involved.

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