McWane, Inc., based in
Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800 The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates,...
, is a manufacturer of
cast ironCast iron usually refers to grey iron, but also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys, which solidify with a eutectic. The colour of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due to its carbide impurities which...
pipeA pipe is round tubular section or hollow cylinder used mainly to convey media. It can also be used for structural applications. In layman's terms the appelations pipe and tube are almost interchangeable, but in industry and engineering discipline the terms are uniquely defined...
s and is one of America’s largest privately owned companies, employing over 7,500 people. The company was founded in 1921 by J. R. McWane. The company's operating revenues are estimated to be somewhere around $1.75 billion, although other sources estimate it closer to $2 billion US dollars a year. Along with the company's US operations it also has operations in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
- Ductile Iron Pipe Division
- McWane Cast Iron Pipe Company
- Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company
- Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Company
- Clow Water Systems Company
- Canada Pipe Company Ltd.
- Waterworks Valves and Fire Hydrants Division
- M&H Valve Company
- Clow Valve Company
- Kennedy Valve
- Clow Canada
- Soil Pipe, Soil Fittings, and Utility Fittings Division
- Union Foundry Company
- Tyler Pipe Company
- Bibby-Ste-Croix
- Anaco
- AB&I Foundry
- International Sales
- McWane International
- McWane Global
- Big Dog Foundry
- Propane and Compressed Air Division
- Manchester Tank and Equipment Company, Inc.
- Fire Extinguisher Division
- Coal
McWane Inc.
McWane, Inc., based in
Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800 The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates,...
, is a manufacturer of
cast ironCast iron usually refers to grey iron, but also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys, which solidify with a eutectic. The colour of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due to its carbide impurities which...
pipeA pipe is round tubular section or hollow cylinder used mainly to convey media. It can also be used for structural applications. In layman's terms the appelations pipe and tube are almost interchangeable, but in industry and engineering discipline the terms are uniquely defined...
s and is one of America’s largest privately owned companies, employing over 7,500 people. The company was founded in 1921 by J. R. McWane. The company's operating revenues are estimated to be somewhere around $1.75 billion, although other sources estimate it closer to $2 billion US dollars a year. Along with the company's US operations it also has operations in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
Subsidiaries of McWane
- Ductile Iron Pipe Division
- McWane Cast Iron Pipe Company
- Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company
- Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Company
- Clow Water Systems Company
- Canada Pipe Company Ltd.
- Waterworks Valves and Fire Hydrants Division
- M&H Valve Company
- Clow Valve Company
- Kennedy Valve
- Clow Canada
- Soil Pipe, Soil Fittings, and Utility Fittings Division
- Union Foundry Company
- Tyler Pipe Company
- Bibby-Ste-Croix
- Anaco
- AB&I Foundry
- International Sales
- McWane International
- McWane Global
- Big Dog Foundry
- Propane and Compressed Air Division
- Manchester Tank and Equipment Company, Inc.
- Fire Extinguisher Division
- Coal
Unsafe practices criticisms
McWane Inc. has been criticised for its unsafe practices cited by number of media articles. In 2003
PBS Frontline in cooperation with the
New York Times and the
Canadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...
investigated the company, calling McWane one of the most dangerous work places in America as a contributor to multiple deaths at its numerous foundries. The documentary is called
A Dangerous Business. The writers claim that McWane has ignored worker and environmental safety to focus on production and profitability.
In the U.S., between 1995 and 2003, McWane has been found in violation of U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationThe United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
(OSHA) regulations more than four hundred times. In the same time period, 4,600 workers have been injured in McWane's foundries.
McWane has acknowledged that "our standards have not always been met" but that the company has taken action to improve its record. The company's Health and Safety website states that "McWane values the well-being of our employees, for they are the heart and soul of our company."
Safety upgrades
In recent years the company has upgraded many of its facilities to meet federal safety standards. The company's Union Foundry has won several safety awards from local and state officials.
PBS Frontline aired an updated version of "A Dangerous Business", entitled "A Dangerous Business Revisited", on February 5, 2008 on most PBS stations throughout the U.S. Included in this version was additional reporting regarding federal prosecutions against McWane, Inc. since the original airing, as well as checking the OSHA data to verify whether McWane, Inc.'s new safety standards have made working conditions truly safer for its foundry employees.
See also
- Labor rights
Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers, usually obtained under labor and employment law. In general, these rights' debates have to do with negotiating workers' pay, benefits, and safe...
- United States labor law
United States labor law is a heterogeneous collection of state and federal laws. Federal law not only sets the standards that govern workers' rights to organize in the private sector, but overrides most state and local laws that attempt to regulate this area. Federal law also provides more limited...
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
- Cast iron
Cast iron usually refers to grey iron, but also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys, which solidify with a eutectic. The colour of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due to its carbide impurities which...
- Sand casting
A sand casting or a sand molded casting is a cast part produced by forming a mold from a sand mixture and pouring molten liquid metal into the cavity in the mold. The mold is then cooled until the metal has solidified. In the last stage the casting is separated from the mold...
- Cast-iron architecture
Cast-iron architecture is a form of architecture where cast iron plays a prominent role. It was a prominent style in the Industrial Revolution era when cast iron was relatively cheap and modern steel had not yet been developed.-Structural use:...
External links