USW Lauds Appointment of Tina Smith to U.S. Senate

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today praised the appointment of Lt. Gov. Tina Smith to the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Al Franken. Last week, Franken announced his intention to resign. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton this morning stated that Smith will replace Franken in the Senate.

"This is an outstanding selection," said USW District 11 Director Emil Ramirez. "The lieutenant governor is a great advocate for working families no matter the sector: steel, mining, health care, you name it.

"She supports health care workers' efforts to establish safe staffing levels in long term care facilities as well as in clinics and hospitals.

"In addition, Smith has worked hard to support fair trade policies in the steel industry and for safer conditions in the mining industry. She has also been at the front lines in supporting workers' retraining initiatives to meet the future needs of advanced manufacturing in our state."

Smith has indicated that she will also run in the November 2018 election to fill the remaining two years of the term, and the USW has promised to provide strong support to her campaign.

USW District 11 represents thousands of workers in Minnesota as well as Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Overall, the USW represents 850,000 workers in North America and the Caribbean employed in the industries of metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service sector. For more information: www.usw.org/.

CONTACT:
Emil Ramirez (612) 623-8045
[email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)