Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once home to the second-largest steel corporation in the United States before it shut its doors for good at the turn of the century. Ex-workers who remember Bethlehem in its manufacturing heyday say they worry about the future of workers’ rights and outsourcing of jobs; issues that could swing their vote, even across party lines.
Pennsylvania’s Men of Steel Seek Pro-Union Candidate
![Former Bethlehem Steel plant, the second largest steel manufacturer in the United States, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 22, 2016.](https://gdb.voanews.com/15cd8ad2-1b7f-402f-94a3-1f88a7a2b713_cx3_cy0_cw92_w1024_q10_r1_s.jpg)
1
Former Bethlehem Steel plant, the second largest steel manufacturer in the United States, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 22, 2016.
![Retired steelworker Richard Check rests outside his home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 22, 2016.](https://gdb.voanews.com/76f549f3-042c-4843-a7ba-b4636d55ded2_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
2
Retired steelworker Richard Check rests outside his home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 22, 2016.
![Richard Check labored for 43 years, five months, and 15 days as a rigger in eastern Pennsylvania’s Bethlehem Steel, formerly the second-largest steel corporation in the United States.](https://gdb.voanews.com/473ae2f8-1d50-4917-8e98-2ed2585079a9_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
3
Richard Check labored for 43 years, five months, and 15 days as a rigger in eastern Pennsylvania’s Bethlehem Steel, formerly the second-largest steel corporation in the United States.
![Lester Clore, a 33-year veteran of the Bethlehem Steel plant.](https://gdb.voanews.com/472a7e60-17ce-4ddd-9a1e-f2e2c680768c_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
4
Lester Clore, a 33-year veteran of the Bethlehem Steel plant.