During the week, the Illawarra Mercury launched a call to arms with the campaign Save Our Steelworks.

It's a call on the politicians of this region, who represent us and to whom we pay good money, to fight the good fight in the halls of power in Sydney and Canberra on behalf of the steelworkers of Port Kembla and their families.

Yet, it is not only the workers.

The list of companies and contractors in this region that benefit from, or supply to, BlueScope is an inch thick.

Sure, the steelworks does not employ the workforce it used to, but a total closure would rumble right through the community.

This is an industry that has founded this region. It deserves more respect.

It has earned a right to more attention from our representatives.

Various groups in this community are calling for different levels of government procurement of Australian steel. The Illawarra Mercury's campaign is a community based campaign. We're not calling for anything other than action from our representatives and a reaction from our community.

What's most galling is politicians saying there is nothing that can be done.

Politicians make it a habit of changing the ballpark all the time, and the naval contracts for South Australia were a perfect example.

If a politician says they can't change something, it simply means they haven't been put under enough pressure for it to be important to them.

Today's edition contains a Save Our Steelworks campaign poster. Display it proudly.

Show your support and join in the conversation in social media using the #saveoursteelworks hashtag.

It's time for the Illawarra to make its voice heard.