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Steelworkers Don’t Like Scrapple

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As it happens, I was hanging out with some steelworkers earlier this month. Among other things, we were talking about the field trip they’re planning for us blogger types during Netroots Nation to a spangly new steel factory in Pittsburgh. I suggested that the Senate race might be a really good way to focus some attention on the plight of American manufacturing.

At the time, they thought the presumed senate race between Arlen "Used to be Haggis but is now Scrapple" Specter and Joe Sestak wouldn’t be that big a deal–that Scrapple would embrace labor friendly policies to make sure it wasn’t. 

I guess not.

PA-Sen: Sestak Cheered By Steelworkers, Specter Disinvited

By Chris Bowers

At first glance, Joe Sestak reiterating that he is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act while speaking at a United Steelworkers conference doesn’t seem like much of a news story. As the title of this post implies, however, there is something that made it very interesting:

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak keeps increasing the likelihood that he’ll challenge Sen. Arlen Specter for the Democratic Senate nomination next year.

On Sunday, he told the United States Steelworkers Legislative Conference in Atlantic City that he backs the Employee Free Choice Act, the proposed law that would make it easier for unions to organize.

The catch is that Senator Arlen Specter did not speak at this event. In fact, he was disinvited.

Here is the full story, courtesy of an email exchange with Jim Savage, who is President of a Steelworkers local here in Philadelphia:

  • "The Senator [Arlen Specter] was invited & confirmed as the keynote speaker."
  • "There was quite an uproar when we found out. He was uninvited because of the rank-and-file reaction."
  • "Also, it’s worth noting that the Senator was none too happy about it."
  • At that point, Sestak was then invited. Before he spoke, he was "introduced to the delegates as "our next Senator" to a rousing ovation."
  • The general sentiment toward Specter was "fuck’m." [my emphasis]

See? We’re not the only ones who can’t stomach Scrapple. Read more →