When Mr. Bush drove through Pennsylvania's industrial heartland recently, Senator Arlen Specter spent 40 minutes with him discussing the plight of local steelworkers and U.S. Steel.

Once upon a time, a strike by local steelworkers would send economic desperation rippling through this city, the Pittsburgh of the West.

It was designed for the local steelworkers and became successful in its local area, becoming one of Sheffield's best known products.

She often saw her father open the family grocery store early so local steelworkers could buy lunch before the morning shift.

His father, James Balanoff, Jr., was the president of the largest steelworker's local in the country (Local 1010 based in East Chicago, Ind.).

As a child growing up in East Baltimore, I often watched my father open the doors to his grocery store early for local steelworkers to buy their lunches before the morning shift.

But the local steelworkers' union, based in this Cleveland suburb, sees it differently.

Three years later the club developed an affiliation with the local steelworkers and came to be known as BSG Stahl Riesa.

"I think the majority of people are ready for a change," John Russo, president of a steelworkers local in Canton, said.

Mr. Holcomb, the president of a steelworkers' local in nearby Alliance, was chosen as a coordinator after going through a week of training last summer at the union's educational headquarters near Pittsburgh.