A conversation with Bob Rombeiro, Chief Steward, UE Local 212

Thinking about the grandkids

We called up Bob Rombeiro to talk about his 28th Amendment organizing. His members have an immediate reason to want a guaranteed job at a living wage.

I hear your plant is closing. What's the story?

Well, the facility where I work is in Dalton, Massachusetts - it's called Beloit Pulping. We make paper machinery - machinery that paper companies use to make paper and pulp.

They're consolidating. Back in '96, they took out our engineering and sales people, about 70 people, and moved that up to Nashua, New Hampshire. And from that point on, they've been sinking us. They say they have too many assets and too many facilities for the amount of work. There's not enough work to fill the factories.

We still have around 230 people working here. But now they've announced they're going to shut the whole plant down as of October 31.

Is there anything you can do about it?

We're fighting it, and trying to get the politicians involved. Matter of fact, we just had a meeting with the mayor of Pittsfield. We're looking at trying to seize the plant under the eminent domain law. It's a long shot.

Right now we're still there, and we know what the future holds, and it's kind of depressing. You know, if you go through a contract battle, when it's over you go back to work. But after this, there's no going back.

What's the employment situation like in your area?

At one time there was a lot of industry around here. General Electric was here, and they moved out. At one time, Beloit was probably one of the lowest-paying facilities around. But now that everyone's moved out, they're actually not too bad by comparison. Basically there's nothing left except little job shops here and there that don't pay but $7 or $8 an hour, and you can't live on that. I don't know how people survive on that.

Of the 70 people who have been laid off so far, some people have found other work and some haven't. Some people have moved out of the area. Springfield and Albany are the nearest bigger cities, but that's a long commute.

How long have you worked at the plant?

Eleven years. I'm a welder. But I'm thinking about going into a whole different line of work. Because there's nothing I can do around here, as far as welding goes. I'm thinking about tractor-trailer hauling. You know, there are UE truckers.

How long have you been involved with the Labor Party?

I didn't get involved till about a year after the founding convention. I do as much as time allows. Our local has endorsed the Labor Party, and we have 40 Labor Party members in the local.

And I heard you are largely responsible for signing those people up.

Well, that's what people say.

Well what do you say?

Yeah, I say I am. But I'm not taking credit for it. I'd say the government is doing it for me. Because they're doing such a poor job. People are looking for something and the Labor Party is there.

There just aren't too many politicians left that actually represent the working people. And more and more problems arise in the shop, like farming out work. When a company takes our work and farms it out to a job shop with low wages, they get away with it, and our government totally goes along with it. There's nothing we can do about it as a union. These are the things that really bother us.

They're pitting workers against workers and factories against factories. And that's how they keep the wages down low, and the politicians know that. They're not all bad, but most of them aren't doing anything about it.

How did you actually get people to sign up?

Well, someone comes to me and starts complaining about our daily issues we deal with here. They're the same kinds of problems we're dealing with as a society, only in a smaller way. And of course the people that come to me want results and ask me what we can do as a union. Or even, what can we do period.

And I say, as far as seeking out someone politically, there's really not much we can do. But there is hope at the end of the tunnel, and that's a new political party that's for us. It's our only hope at all of ever getting working people back on the agenda as far as things like living wages and health insurance.

There's a lot of people who are interested in the shop, but it scares them too, at the same time. Because change is scary, and they're so used to the Democrats and Republicans. But when they hear more about it, it's not so frightening.

A lot of workers ask me, 'Well, what am I going to benefit from it?' And I say, 'Probably nothing. But if you think about your grandkids, and if you want them to be in the same situation you're in today, you've got to do something.

And that's what I'm thinking about - I'm thinking about my grandkids. I have five of them.

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