Union workers build better lives and communities

Donneta Williams

A union contract delivers good wages, affordable health care and retirement security for my co-workers and me at the Corning plant in Wilmington.

We’re proud of successfully fighting for these essentials, which anchor our families in the middle class, but it’s important to understand that our membership in the United Steelworkers also lifts us up in other ways that are just as powerful.

The union affords us a voice on the job. Our solidarity earns us respectful treatment from management, ensures equitable opportunities for all, and fuels our commitment to activism outside the plant gate.

We’re building better lives and stronger communities through our union, and that’s why we’re excited to see workers at other Corning plants joining us.

About 50 workers at the plant in Blacksburg, Va., recently voted to join the USW, and our colleagues at facilities in Winston-Salem, Concord, Durham, Hickory and other locations in North Carolina are organizing now.

We held a rally outside Corning’s headquarters in Charlotte last month to highlight these efforts and to urge management to halt its union-busting tactics. Workers need to be free to exercise their rights and choose what’s best for them.

USW members from Wilmington have talked with some of the workers from Blacksburg, Durham and the other locations. We understand the challenges they face. We’re certain we can help.

It’s no surprise that public support for unions jumped to record levels in recent years. Growing numbers of workers across the country are learning what I did long ago—that a union contract provides much-needed stability and protection in an uncertain economy like the one we’re facing right now.

After landing a job at Corning three decades ago, I immediately tripled my income and became active in the USW. Over the years, my co-workers and I successfully fought for further improvements in wages and benefits, winning compensation exceeding those of our colleagues at Corning’s nonunion facilities.

We also won industry-leading health, safety and environmental safeguards, along with a strong grievance procedure and other language protecting us from favoritism, discrimination and retaliation.

This is our union, and we set the agenda, from electing our leaders to voting on contracts. By valuing everyone, by empowering everyone, we make Corning a profitable company and good place to work.
We’re effective advocates outside the plant as well.

We give back to our communities through backpack drives, sock collections and other projects, and we fight for legislation aimed at creating jobs and expanding the economy. I was honored to speak at the White House four years ago when then-President Joe Biden signed a law releasing $1.2 trillion for job-boosting infrastructure projects, including expansion of the critical broadband systems we support at the Wilmington plant.

None of this is easy. Companies never give workers an extra penny, let alone a seat at the table, unless they’re forced to do so.

But with workers in Blacksburg and other locations in our ranks, we’ll be even stronger when a new round of negotiations with Corning begins next year.

Right now, the USW represents thousands of workers at Corning plants all over the country. We make a variety of products for a variety of industries, from optical fiber in Wilmington to specialty glass for the semiconductor industry at a plant in Canton, N.Y.

Our colleagues at the company’s nonunion locations serve a variety of important markets as well.

This is a critical time for all of us, no matter what we produce or where we work.

As Corning expands its footprint in the optical fiber and solar industry, we need to grow our worker power as well.  

That’s the only way to ensure we receive a fair share of the wealth that our labor creates for the company. It’s also key to maintaining a voice in evolving sectors of the economy and holding the company accountable.

The path forward is ours.

My co-workers and I look forward to welcoming more colleagues into the USW. Together, we’ll leverage the union difference to build a brighter future for all.

Donneta Williams is a fiber maker at Corning’s Wilmington, N.C., facility and president of USW Local 1025, representing about 600 workers at the facility.

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