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We met again yesterday with Nippon and the mayors from the Mon Valley and Gary. We share the mayors’ commitment to maintaining the viability of our plants, and we appreciate that they are now interested in hearing our perspective.
Our union has been carefully considering Nippon’s proposed deal to acquire U.S. Steel (USS) for a full year. Our concerns today are the same as they were on day one: job security, benefit security, supply chain integrity and America’s national defense.
The USW has taken the lead over the years in fighting dumped foreign steel, and we’ve seen firsthand that Nippon has been the perpetrator in many of these cases. When we first met with Nippon last year, we raised the alarm about its predatory actions in the global steel market. Given the scope of the problem, these concerns obviously persist today.
Nippon pitched another offer at the meeting, but the bottom line is we still do not have iron clad commitments for the Mon Valley, Gary or the other plants. And we still don’t have any checks on Nippon’s ability to take our work to Big River. What’s worse, despite the clarity and forcefulness of our opposition to the deal, Nippon now asks us to be neutral!
As Steelworkers we cannot be neutral, not when it comes to our members’ job security and not when it comes to American national and industrial security.
In the coming days you are going to hear a lot of rhetoric from Nippon and USS. Understand why: they will say anything to maintain their ability to sell out and cash in at our expense. But through it all, please remember, for USS and Nippon this deal is nothing but an opportunity to further line their pockets; our security and our future will always be an after-thought.
Mike Millsap
District 7 Director & Chairman of the Negotiating Committee
David McCall
International President