|
"I've walked picket lines, I've been on strike, I've been laid off for two years, I've had my pay cut in half, pension frozen," Cravaack said in an interview. There are some signs that the union support Oberstar has always counted on could be slipping a little. Steve Biondich, a 29-year-old maintenance mechanic at the ArcelorMittal Minorca Mine near Aurora, said the United Steelworkers local usually endorses Oberstar as a routine matter. It did again this year, but the August vote was closer than expected after Cravaack visited the mine. "That was shocking in itself," Biondich said. Local 6115 President Ray Pierce downplayed the tally, saying some of Oberstar's supporters weren't paying attention. "I don't know what we would ever do without him," Pierce said. "... We'd have to start all over again." Oberstar says he reads this year's mood as "more unease than anger." He rattles off the benefits to his district of the economic stimulus: $212 million for giant St. Louis County alone, demand for 1.9 million tons of new steel requiring iron ore from the Iron Range's taconite mines, and highway upgrades across the district. "We deserve a little, too, and I'm chairman of the committee," he told about 100 people at a union rally in Duluth on Sunday, drawing applause and roars of approval. That has endeared Oberstar to many. "As long as he can physically and mentally do that job, I'll support him," said Phil Reeves, a retired highway maintenance worker who lives outside McGregor. "He loves it and so do a lot of people that vote for him. Results. It's results."
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor