The ‘mama’ bear’ of Keetac

Gustafson is vice president of USW Local 2660 at United States Steel Corp.’s Keetac taconite plant in Keewatin.

She was elected vice president in 2020.

Since then, Gustafson has been the top assistant to USW Local 2660 President Jake Friend.

“I couldn’t do the job without her,” Friend said. “She’s my right-hand person. It would be pretty tough without a person of her caliber.”

Together, Friend and Gustafson represent and respond to the needs of hundreds of USW-represented miners at Keetac.

Friend was also elected in 2020.

“When we decided to run, we pretty much had the same passions, ideas and outlook,” Gustafson said. “We talked a lot before we decided to run for these positions and knew we would work pretty well together.”

Gustafson grew up in Bear River and graduated from Cook High School in 2001.

She went on to college at Bemidji State University.

After a year in college, she chose to join the Army National Guard where she served in an infantry unit.

After leaving the National Guard, Gustafson started a family, but returned to college to finish a degree in psychology.

She also studied drug and alcohol counseling.

Gustafson began working at Keetac in 2013.

“I suppose it was to make a good living, have good benefits and be able to raise a family,” Gustafson said of going to work at Keetac . “Even in psychology or as a drug counselor I wouldn’t have been able to make the money and have the benefits I do now.”

She’s worked as a truck driver, a crusher attendant and is currently a trainer.

A big part of her job as vice president is keeping workers safe.

“On an everyday basis we take phone calls every single day,” Gustafson said. “A lot it are safety phone calls to make sure our guys are safe. We make sure if a piece of equipment is unsafe, we push back, we call management and make sure they’re safe. I would say that’s one of my main goals here to make sure everyone goes home the same way they came. So, if I don’t do anything else except that, I think we won.”

It didn’t take long for Gustafson to become active in the union.

In 2016, she took a trustee job, went on to serve as recording secretary and then ran for election as vice president.

She also served on a benefits committee during a layoff.

“I knew people needed help when they got laid off,” Gustafson said. “That was kind of my calling – psychology – helping people.”

Beyond everyday issues, Gustafson said she turns to her educational background and her motherly instinct to help others at the plant as needed.

Assisting others comes natural for her, Gustafson said.

“I’m kind of like a ‘mama bear,’ out there,” Gustafson. “I don’t just fix the issue at work, I make sure they’re okay. I think that’s kind of a woman’s instinct.”

The relationship of miners at Keetac are like brothers and sisters, she said.

To a person, all of her fellow workers support her, Gustafson said.

“I think of all my brothers,” Gustafson said. “They’re literally like my big brothers. That’s literally how they treat me. I could pretty much pick up my phone, call any 400 of them and they’d be at my side in a heartbeat.”

Gustafson goes out of her way to help others, Friend said.

“She’s really devoted most of her life to helping others with Women of Steel and our human rights committee,” Friend said. “We have a pretty good team as far as our e-board. It’s a team effort, but Tawnya does a lot. She kind of takes the reins on planning and follows through.”

Gustafson has in a short time proven herself, John Arbogast, USW District 11 staff representative said.

“She’s a great leader,” Arbogast said. “She’s involved as the vice president, in grievances and safety and is involved in Women of Steel.”

Gustafson has two high school-age daughters who are active in sports.

Gustafson said her daughters appreciate her leadership role at Keetac.

“I think it even my daughters think it’s cool,” Gustafson said. “They don’t understand the job per se, but the leadership role of it makes them feel empowered.”

Gustafson also manages to find time for community work outside of Keetac.,

Beyond her daughter’s sporting events, she’s also involved in a number of charities including food shelf and all-terrain vehicle events, Precious Paws, Boys and Girls Clubs, and packing Buddy Backpacks to help students in need of food on weekends.

Gustafson also travels to area schools to educate young woman about mining careers.

“She goes to Rock Ridge (High School) and talks with young women about careers in mining,” Arbogast said. “She does a lot of work in letting young women know there is a place for them in mining.”

A $150 million DR-grade pellet project at Keetac is exciting for everyone, she said.

The project will produce a new higher-grade pellet at Keetac which can be used to make feed for electric arc furnaces.

After being idled several times in recent years during industry downturns, it’s hoped the DR-grade pellet will stabilize Keetac operations.

“We’re super excited about it,” Gustafson said. “We’re usually, if you call us a swing operation, the first one to go and the last to come back. With this expansion we might not be that anymore, in our hopes. I think everyone on the property is pretty pumped up about it.”

As a mine, union official and Iron Ranger, Gustafson said she also wants people to better understand mining.

“I can tell you that anyone that doesn’t support mining doesn’t make any sense to me because they are probably driving cars, using washing machines or building a house,” Gustafson said. “That part of mining I never understood about people that are anti-mining because they’re using everything that mining does. It’s a political battle. Another thing I’ve learned is environment. They have very strict environmental rules they have to follow here. If people think it’s an un-environmental place to work, it’s not.”

Having Gustafson as vice president is a big plus in representing and connecting with women miners, Arbogast said.

“It’s nice that we have a woman in a leadership position like that because if there’s an issue in the mine for women miners, it’s nice to have a woman there,” Arbogast said. “That is very helpful.”