United Steelworkers President David McCall is making a final push ahead of November’s election to stress to members why union leadership opposes a Japanese takeover of United States Steel Corp. — even as some rank-and-file members openly challenge his stance.
Mr. McCall said he has met with many members in recent weeks to underscore his concerns with Nippon Steel Corp.’s $14.1 billion offer, and he vowed to spend the next 13 days reinforcing the message to steelworkers. There’s no clear guarantee the Japanese producer will keep union jobs years down the line, he said, and its promised investments may not be all they’re cracked up to be.
The USW, which has backed Kamala Harris, is viewed as an influential voice in a key battleground state. Mr. McCall’s opposition to the Nippon Steel deal has become a defining issue for much of his 13-month tenure, and his last-minute push to convince members shows how contentious the debate has become.
In a sign of how the deal has gained more vocal support from some steelworkers in Pennsylvania, a group of union members recently spoke to a Fox News morning show to publicly say they support Nippon Steel’s takeover, even as Mr. McCall has been steadfast in his opposition since the deal was announced in December.
Last month, hundreds of U.S. Steel employees rallied in Downtown Pittsburgh to show their support for the sale, the same day that the Pittsburgh steelmaking icon warned that local jobs would be lost if the deal falls through — and that the company may move its headquarters out of Pittsburgh.
“In addition to moving away from integrated steelmaking, the lack of a deal with Nippon Steel raises serious questions about U.S. Steel remaining headquartered in Pittsburgh,” David Burritt, U.S. Steel’s president and chief executive officer, said at the time. “... We want elected leaders and other key decision makers to recognize the benefits of the deal as well as the unavoidable consequences if the deal fails.”
The union called the rally a “pathetic attempt” to save a “merger on life support." On Friday, Mr. McCall said he would spend the last 13 days before the election rallying opposition to the sale among his rank and file.
“I’ve met with them in the office and told them what the problems are,” Mr. McCall said. “I’m meeting with ... a lot of our members.”
The deal has been at a standstill for more than a month, since the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, granted the companies an extension. That pushed the fate of the politically contentious transaction past the election. Republican nominee Donald Trump has promised to kill the deal if elected, while Vice President Harris has stopped short of such a pledge, though she said U.S. Steel should remain domestically owned.
The steelworkers can’t block the deal themselves, but they hold a significant amount of political sway.
President Joe Biden had publicly vowed to kill Nippon Steel’s takeover when it lands on his desk, though the latest CFIUS move keeps the proposed transaction alive.
Mr. McCall revealed he met Mr. Biden last month to discuss his concerns that included the future of U.S. Steel’s blast furnace operations, Nippon Steel’s commitments and national defense concerns under Japanese ownership. Mr. Biden listened and understood, he said, calling it a “good informal dialog between him and me and a couple other people.”
Mr. McCall said he was dismayed by the CFIUS extension, which came after his meeting with the president.
“I was taken off guard by it and disappointed,” said Mr. McCall.
He said he hasn’t spoken to anyone in the Biden administration recently about the deal, and he’s never spoken with CFIUS.
Nippon Steel plans to spend $2.7 billion fixing up steel plants, including at least $1 billion in the Mon Valley, as part of the acquisition. Nippon also pledged no layoffs and no plant closures due to the transaction.
“Nippon Steel plans to ensure Mon Valley Works operates for decades to come and will undertake the necessary investments so that it remains viable and provides jobs for future generations of steelworkers in Pennsylvania,” the company said when it announced the planned investments in August. Nippon said it will also spend about $300 million to revamp a blast furnace at U.S. Steel’s Gary Works in Indiana, an improvement it said would extend the facility's operational life by up to 20 years.
Mr. McCall said he will continue trying to convince members why Ms. Harris is better for the Steelworkers than Trump, especially given that the Biden administration’s policies have helped U.S. labor.
Ms. Harris “has come out and said she’ll support these policies that are generational, transformational policies that have been put into place,” said Mr. McCall, who questions those steelworkers who support Trump and his stand on tariffs. “Tariffs by themselves aren’t the answer.”
Post-Gazette reporter Evan Robinson-Johnson contributed.
First Published: October 25, 2024, 6:20 p.m.
Updated: October 28, 2024, 4:30 p.m.