Greetings from the Hawkeye State!
The last time we wrote, we were visiting with the Iowa GOP.
But there are Democrats in Iowa, too, and they recently hosted their 2014 Democratic Convention in Des Moines.
But while this year’s convention, like many others, focused heavily on winning elections, not all of the focus was on that topic. There was a wide range of support among the 500 delegates in attendance for things like improving America’s transportation system; negotiating trade agreements that provided a living wage for American workers; ensuring sound environmental and humane working conditions overseas; greater Congressional trade negotiation oversight; and, trade regulation enforcement … all topics that the Alliance for America Manufacturing (AAM) considers important.
Iowa may be one of the smaller states in the country by population, but the Hawkeye state has more than 200,000 people working in manufacturing – no small number. Iowa’s unemployment rate is 4.3 percent. And although that’s less than the national jobless rate, it could be even lower if Washington tackled global currency manipulation.
While in Iowa, AAM field coordinators Rachel Bennett Steury and Michael Mitchell shook a lot of hands (that's them in the picture with Bruce Braley), and shared information about a then-undecided trade case regarding the illegal dumping of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) –- the steel pipe and tube that are used in energy exploration. Rachel and Mike explained to attendees that a surge of OCTG imports has flooded the U.S. market, and asked them to sign petitions calling on the U.S. Department of Commerce to fully enforce America's trade laws.
And those petitions paid off: Commerce sided with U.S. steelworkers just last Friday!
This post written by AAM Field Coordinator Mike Mitchell.