Steelworkers president calls U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel deal void for violating collective bargaining agreement
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — In his first local television interview since the announced sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, the president of the United Steelworkers International Union calls the deal bad for America and bad for steelworkers.
As KDKA-TV money editor Jon Delano explains, the union believes the deal is null and void.
David McCall, president of the United Steelworkers Union, says U.S. Steel failed to notify the union of this proposed sale to Nippon Steel, which violates the terms of their collective bargaining agreement.
Delano: "If they violated the collective bargaining agreement, does that make their deal null and void?"
McCall: "We think so, and through this process, we'll continue to delve into that situation. And if they're legal issues we have to take up, we'll do that as well."
McCall says the first the union heard that a Japanese steelmaker was buying U.S. Steel was just minutes before the public announcement Monday morning when he received a call from U.S. Steel CEO Dave Burritt.
"Dave Burritt called me 6 o'clock yesterday morning while I was in the shower to read the press release to me, and that's the first time he talked about this issue with us at all," McCall said.
In addition to its claim that U.S. Steel violated union agreements, McCall says the union has lots of other concerns, too.
"We're concerned more than anything else about all of a sudden this being a foreign-owned company. There are national security issues," McCall said.
"There's domestic supply chain issues that we've all got to be concerned about. We're concerned about our pension plans and how they're going to be guaranteed and whether or not our retiree health care is going to be secure," he noted.
McCall says he also worries about the future of the Mon Valley blast furnaces since both U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have focused on the new Big River Steel and Big River Two electric arc furnace facilities in Arkansas.
Delano: "Sounds to me that you're really concerned that this deal could mean the closure of Edgar Thomson, the Irvin Works and perhaps the Clairton Coke Works as well."
McCall: "I am concerned about that."
"If they're going on a plan of transferring work from our current facilities into Big River, does that mean they're going to eventually shut down blast furnace operations here in the U.S?" McCall said.
"And now there's an opportunity for imports coming in from Japan from their facilities there," he added.
McCall says the union appreciates all the support they are getting from elected officials and the public, and he says the union and its lawyers will be working over the holidays.
Delano: "Legally, is there anything you can do to stop this deal?"
McCall: "We believe so."
No lawsuits yet but stay tuned. KDKA-TV reached out to Burritt at U.S. Steel, but he was not available.
