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By Doug Cunningham

United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard is on a tour of more than 30 cities to drive home the point that manufacturing and the U.S. auto industry are vital to America. Gerard says the Obama administration must reverse trade policies that are eviscerating domestic manufacturing. Gerard says exporting jobs and closing auto plants with U.S. tax dollars is NOT the way to save the U.S. auto industry. And workers, he said, must fight back against it.

[Gerard]: “We're not gonna stand around while Wall Street and incompetent management in the car industry destroy our kids' future. We're not gonna stand a round and let it happen without a fight. You've gotta be prepared to fight, you gotta be prepared to go in the streets, you gotta be prepared to drive to Washington, you gotta be prepared to block roads, you gotta be prepared to occupy plants."

Gerard says 7.2 million U.S. jobs depend on the domestic auto industry. Since NAFTA passed, Gerard says, the U.S. has accumulated a trade deficit of $6.5 trillion.

[Gerard 2]: “Somebody needs to tell me why that's good for America, and why our government tolerates it."

The United Steelworkers union wants to see an industrial trade policy focused on domestic production and U.S. jobs creation.