Conway played a key role in the creation of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. He spent his entire career fighting for workers.
When you ask people to describe United Steelworkers International President Tom Conway, who died at his home in Pittsburgh on Monday at the age of 71, you get what at first seems like contradictory answers.
On the one hand, Conway was tough. He had a formidable presence, one that could control a room. He was always ready for a fight — and he wasn’t the type to back down from one, either.
On the other hand, Conway was incredibly kind. He was a devoted leader and friend. And he sure was funny.
But really, Conway’s life wasn’t contradictory at all. Tom Conway fought to make things better for workers everywhere, and he cared about people immensely. That meant he wasn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with those in power, whether they were across the negotiating table or in the halls of Congress.
And it isn’t hyperbole to say that without Tom Conway’s leadership over the past several decades, the recent progress we’ve seen in both growing domestic manufacturing and strengthening the labor movement may not have happened.
“His values and ideas — putting workers first, scrapping flawed free trade deals, boosting manufacturing, investing in our nation — are now front and center in American politics,” AAM President Scott Paul said this week. “And it isn’t an accident.”
Born in 1952 and raised in New Jersey, Conway served in the Air Force before he went to work at Burns Harbor Works, then owned by Bethlehem Steel. He joined USW Local 6787 in 1978, serving as a griever for plant-wide maintenance and a member of the safety and contracting-out committees.
Conway joined the union’s international staff in 1987, a time when both American manufacturing and the labor movement were struggling. The passage of NAFTA in 1994 and permanent normal trade relations for China in 2001 made things worse, leading to the closure of tens of thousands of factories and millions of lost jobs.
Conventional wisdom held that factory jobs weren’t coming back, and many called unions a relic of the past. And the truth was that many in the manufacturing and labor world were “hunkering down and playing defense,” as one of my colleagues put it.
But Conway and his colleagues at the USW did something different — they went on offense. The New York Times noted in its obituary for Conway:
Mr. Conway made his name as a pugnacious but pragmatic negotiator, sitting down with management as partners in problem solving and not opponents. While prioritizing wages, jobs and benefits, he also understood that the long-term health of the industry was in everyone’s interest.
In the late 1990s, as a result of the Asian economic downturn, millions of tons of cheap steel flooded into the United States, leading to a wave of steel-mill bankruptcies. Mr. Conway helped negotiate a series of corporate loans and consolidations, which helped stabilize the industry and ensure its growth.
“He was very keen on mastering and being able to help shape the future rather than being shaped by the decisions that others were making,” Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a trade organization, said in a phone interview.
Conway wasn’t afraid to get creative and try new things, either.
Indeed, the creation of AAM is one example of Conway’s hard work (he was a founding director), as it provided a new place where industry and workers could come together to fight for better public policy that served to strengthen domestic production rather than discourage it.
Conway also helped launch the Blue Green Alliance (BGA), which brought labor and the environmental movement together on shared issues. Conway was even instrumental in the National College Players Association (NCPA), which advocates for college athletes whose labor is exploited by universities and the NCAA, and its efforts that eventually led to compensation for players, showcasing labor’s relevance for young people.
Conway “relentlessly advocated for fair trade, demanding that the government enforce trade laws to prevent importation of illegally subsidized and dumped products that damage domestic industries and destroy good-paying jobs,” the USW noted.
“Conway worked not just to save jobs but to create them, finding new ways to engage both companies and elected officials to expand manufacturing, secure domestic supply chains and invest in healthy, flourishing communities,” the union remembered.
All the while, however, Conway was an affable man, quick with a joke and kindhearted. He was the sort of person who remembered your name, no matter whether you were the president — more on him in a bit — or a low level staffer, as AAM’s Scott Boos recalled.
“I remember meeting Tom Conway when I was a junior staffer working in the U.S. Senate. I was a relative nobody standing on the sidelines of an ITC hearing room filled with senators, CEOs, and other bigwigs, but yet he took the time to talk to me,” Boos said. “Tom’s wit and humor made him stand out in a room and his grasp of complex issues and determination put him a step ahead of anyone who dared underestimated him. But Tom’s generosity and kindness leaves an exceptional legacy for anyone who got to know him.”
As the New York Times noted, Conway also worked to uphold the USW’s legacy of being “among the most progressive industrial unions, going back to its lobbying efforts in support of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” The Times continued:
“Mr. Conway continued that tradition, telling his members at the union’s 2022 convention that their future lay in building a more diverse and inclusive work force.
“’Corporations try to exploit our differences,’ he said. ‘But what they get instead is relentless, unwavering solidarity.'”
When Conway became USW International President in 2019, he became a leading advocate for many of the industrial policies that have advanced over the three few years. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Conway rode the train from Ohio to Pittsburgh with Joe Biden, outlining to the future president some of the policies he thought could help American workers, including infrastructure investment.
And the union advocated strongly for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which passed in 2021. Conway also helped lead efforts in support of the CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act.
President Biden noted that with “Tom Conway’s passing, American workers have lost an extraordinary champion, and I’ve lost a great friend.” He continued:
“Tom was someone I confided in. He had my absolute trust. I knew that if I was doing a good job, he’d tell me – and if I needed to do better, he’d tell me that, too. And no one knew more about the challenges that workers face. He knew the politics. He knew the ins and outs of policy. And he never lost sight of his values – dignity, respect, fairness, equality.
“As president of the United Steelworkers, Tom got up every day and fought to protect workers’ wages, pensions, and safety, and to make sure working people got a fair shot at a middle-class life. Because he grew up in a union household, he knew exactly what unions mean to workers and everyone who depends on them. And he put every ounce of his energy and intellect toward making sure American workers got the best possible deal, every time.
“No one out-worked him. No one out-bargained him. And while he was deeply kind and generous, he also never backed down from a fight.”
While Conway had a reputation as a tough negotiator, he also earned the respect of many of the companies whose workers the USW represents, including U.S. Steel President Dave Burritt and Cleveland-Cliffs President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves, who remarked:
“I came to regard Tom Conway as a personal friend and trusted business partner, with whom I shared a steadfast belief in the bright future of the American industry. Tom recognized that good paying, union jobs are at the core of America’s strength, and was a tireless advocate for the men and women of the United Steelworkers. He fought for policies that preserve and grow the middle class. While Cleveland-Cliffs’ close partnership with the USW will continue, I will miss Tom Conway greatly.”
Several lawmakers offered tributes to Conway as well. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) called Conway “was “a warrior for working people. Whether on a picket line or sitting across from a steel executive, his values and his commitment to workers never wavered.” Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey (D) said that “Tom dedicated his career to protecting jobs here at home and advancing labor rights. He got up every day and fought to improve the lives of workers and their families.”
Indiana Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) remembered Conway as “a stalwart champion for working men and women” whose “leadership and steady voice for the value of organized labor and good-paying union jobs was always front and center at Congressional Steel Caucus hearings and in union halls throughout our region.”
“We are all going to miss Tom Conway, but none of us will ever forget him. Tom had a brilliant strategic mind, a great sense of humor in the face of adversity, and I always knew he had our backs,” said Brian Lombardozzi, AAM’s vice president for state governmental affairs. “While we mourn Tom’s passing, we all will continue to fight like hell for the living to honor his memory.”
Please consider making a donation to St. Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital in memory of Tom Conway. Conway’s memorial service will be held on Tuesday and can be streamed live via the USW website.