From Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, activists stood side-by-side with immigrant organizations to declare that all workers deserve respect and dignity on the job, and that in the union, everyone is in.

Jessica Ríos Viner, member of USW Local 3657, serves as president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), a constituency group within the AFL-CIO.

Each year, she organizes the Pittsburgh May Day rally and march through the busy downtown area with help from the Thomas Merton Center, Casa San José, and the Pittsburgh chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA).

“No matter the color of the hands covered in dirt of the people working next to you, you have way more in common with them than you have with your boss,” Viner told the crowd of nearly 400, which included a horn section, university and library workers, grad students, baristas, striking journalists, families, and children.

For Viner, who proudly hails from Puerto Rico, the saying “We’re stronger together” is about the kind of solidarity that extends even beyond the labor movement.

“We’re all one human family,” said Viner. “All across the world people have the same needs: job security, living wages, safe workplaces, healthcare, and respect. We have to have each other’s backs.”

Sabrina Liu, who works in the USW Strategic Campaigns department, leads the Pittsburgh chapter of APALA and helps organize the annual march. She noted that May Day is also the first day of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

“Our struggle is interconnected, and it takes all of us standing together to make our communities better,” said Liu, who migrated to the United States from Taiwan.

Xochitl Cobarruvias, chief of staff of Local 675 and active member of LCLAA in Los Angeles, also joined a diverse coalition in Hollywood to honor workers around the world on May 1.

“This day is a day of pride,” said Cobarruvias. “A day that we, as workers, immigrants and the community, should be proud of.”

The May Day holiday began to commemorate the fight for the eight-hour day in the 1880s as well as the lives of the campaign’s organizers who were executed in the wake of the 1886 Haymarket Affair.

Click here to learn more about LCLAA and how you can get involved.

The following article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of USW@Work.

---

Before Courtney Melvin was a member of Local 1025 in 2016, she worked in sales at a Best Buy store. The low pay and scant benefits at the non-union job made it difficult for the single mother to provide a good life for herself and her family.

“It took three years just to obtain benefits,” said Melvin, who now works at the Corning optical fiber plant in Wilmington, N.C.

“At Corning,” she said, “I got benefits on day one.”

Those benefits improved the well-being of her family, while her USW contract delivered strong wages, health and safety protections, and other life-changing improvements that union membership provides. 

“In other industries, those were things that were non-negotiable,” said Melvin, who is part of the ongoing effort to encourage more workers to become USW members. “I definitely wanted to be a part of it so we could keep it going.”

Cutting-Edge Future

As Corning seeks to grow its business in the fiber optic and solar energy markets, the union hopes to follow suit, working to organize new members at those facilities, particularly in the notoriously non-union southern United States.

In Corning’s most recent annual report, CEO Wendell Weeks detailed recent declines in traditional sectors such as automobiles, televisions, smart phones and computers, while celebrating growth in the optical fiber and solar markets.

It’s that shift that drove the USW effort to organize at non-union Corning facilities focused on cutting-edge technology.

“If we want to have success as a union now and into the future, we have to go where workers are and build power with them, from the ground up,” said International Secretary-Treasurer John Shinn, who oversees bargaining for the USW’s Corning locals, including three in New York state, one in Virginia, one in North Carolina, one in Kentucky, and one in New Jersey.

Founded 173 years ago as a glass and ceramics company, Corning has consistently focused on research and development in an effort to diversify its product lines and grow its business. Over the years, the company spun off many consumer product lines into separate companies and, beginning in the 1970s, began focusing on specialty glass and materials used in industrial and scientific applications.

In 2007, for example, Corning developed and began manufacturing Gorilla Glass, an ultra-strong, ultra-thin glass used on iPhones, iPads and other touch-screen devices.

More recently, as smartphone and tablet sales declined and automotive production remained constrained, Corning shifted focus to the solar energy and fiber optic markets, particularly at non-union plants.

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration’s 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $65 billion to deliver high-speed internet to the 24 million U.S. households that lack it, a major boost for exactly the kind of fiber optic cable Corning makes in Wilmington and elsewhere.

In addition, industry statistics show that solar energy accounted for nearly half of all new electricity-generating capacity in the United States in the first three quarters of 2023. And U.S. solar capacity is expected to more than double over the next four years.

“These transitions provide us with an opportunity to grow our union, to ensure that the jobs that are created in these emerging industries are good, community-sustaining jobs that provide a long-term future for working families,” Shinn said.

Corning’s Shift

Still, as its business continues to grow, Corning has in recent years begun a noticeable shift. Despite a long and productive relationship with the USW at locations across the eastern United States, the company has begun to move production of some of its most in-demand products to non-union shops, while stepping up its anti-union rhetoric.

Corning has seven locations in North Carolina, with only one of those – Wilmington – represented by the USW. Local 1025 President Donneta Williams is approaching 30 years at the facility and knows first-hand what the USW could do for workers at Corning’s non-union sites.

“I knew it made a difference,” Williams said. “When I came in, my income tripled.”

Besides the obvious financial benefits, she said, the USW shines a spotlight on health and safety issues, one that does not exist at non-union facilities.

“You have to hold the company accountable, and you have to hold your facility accountable to keep workers safe,” Williams said. “It’s very important to be at the table, to have a voice, and to make a change.”

Organizing Drive

It’s that desire to have a voice that is leading other Corning workers, in North Carolina and elsewhere, to challenge the status quo and push to join the USW.

Union drives are under way at Corning facilities in Concord and Hickory which also produce optical fiber, as well as a site in Durham that opened in 2018, where workers manufacture glass for pharmaceutical packaging, as well as other locations.

In addition to her role as local president, Williams serves as a vice president with the state AFL-CIO, and has seen an uptick in interest in unions from workers across the economy.

“We are wide open with activity,” Williams said of organizing activity in her state.

While North Carolina and most other southern U.S. states have so-called “right to work” laws designed to cripple unions, Williams, who comes from a family where both parents were union members, said the key to winning in an anti-union environment is educating workers.

“In the South, a lot of people have a negative view of unions,” she said. “They don’t understand that it’s a privilege to have a union to guide you, to stand with you, to fight for you. We try to convey that to new people.”

Organizing the South

Williams credited her predecessor at Wilmington’s Local 1025, Wilhelmenia Hardy, with prioritizing the education of new members and inspiring her to take on a leadership role.

After more than 20 years at Corning, Hardy took her leadership experience there and used it to launch a second career as a USW organizer. Now she helps workers throughout the South to understand the power of a union and to advocate for themselves through collective action.

Among the campaigns Hardy helped to lead was the successful effort last spring by 1,500 workers at Blue Bird Bus Co. in Georgia to join the USW. The victory gained national attention for its overwhelming success in the anti-union South.

The vote at Blue Bird was the largest union organizing win at a manufacturing plant in the region in 15 years, and provided inspiration for other workers throughout the South who are hungry for the benefits of union membership.

Still, Hardy said, organizing in the South, or anywhere, can be a difficult task when companies and anti-union political leaders gang up to intimidate workers.

“They have to want it. You can’t force it on any worker. They have to want change,” Hardy said. “So many workers are afraid, afraid they might lose their jobs if they even speak the word ‘union.’”

As Williams and Hardy agreed, getting workers past that fear means making sure they know what their employers are allowed – or not allowed – to do.

“Educating workers on their legal rights is a must,” Hardy said.

Eyes on the Future

As Corning moves more production work to non-union sites, the urgency of organizing those facilities grows. In addition, Williams said, members must continue to organize internally to ensure that workers in Wilmington and elsewhere buy into the importance of their membership in the USW.

“It’s challenging, but it’s important,” Williams said. “We can do more together.”

Melvin spearheads her local’s internal organizing work with entry-level employees. To help members learn about their rights and benefits, she created a Google Classroom page where members can read their contract and other documents and answer questions about what they learned.

“There is power in numbers. In order to ensure that we keep what we have now, we want to make sure that our numbers remain high,” Melvin said.

While working hard at the local level to build solidarity, Williams also collaborates with Shinn and leaders at other Corning facilities with USW contracts. Though there is not a master agreement for all Corning locations, council members coordinate bargaining and mobilization as much as they can, and members have volunteered in union organizing efforts.

“The solidarity is there,” Williams said. “We are there for our brothers and sisters.”

Building strength and unity among existing members, and recruiting those rank-and-file workers to organize others, will help potential members see the benefits of the union and inspire them to join the movement, Hardy said.

“If we have all the facilities in North Carolina, and if we all came together, it would be a win-win for everybody,” she said. “For the company, and for the workers.”

The following article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of USW@Work.

---

Tom Forker has worked at the Owens-Illinois glass factory in Zanesville, Ohio, for 48 years.

Over those nearly five decades, the 355 members of the four USW locals who work at the plant have become like family to him. And, in turn, six of his own family members, both children and grandchildren, have joined the work force at the plant.

The reason for Forker’s long-term dedication to his job is simple and succinct: “I care,” he says.

It’s a sentiment that members of the four USW locals share across all corners of the 750,000-square-foot O-I facility as they put in the hard work needed to turn out 365 million clear glass bottles each year.

‘Highest Quality’

“Customers pay for quality,” said Plant Manager Ben Valis. “Everybody knows that what we make here is the highest quality.”

The bottles that O-I workers make ultimately are sent out the door to be filled with some of the world’s most popular wines and spirits. Those products can be found on the shelves of grocery stores, wine and spirit shops, bars and restaurants, and ultimately, in the homes of millions of consumers.

The unique, high-quality products at O-I are part of the reason the Zanesville plant is looking forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary this August, and why the USW members there take such pride in the work they do.

“For the customer to get a good bottle on the shelf, quality involves everybody in the plant,” said storeroom leader Teresa Ziemer, who pointed out during a recent USW@Work visit to the plant that she was considering retirement after 45 years at the plant. 

“I feel very lucky,” Ziemer said, noting the strong wages and benefits that USW leaders negotiate for the work force. “I’ve always been proud to work here.”

Complex Process

For 5,000 years, the process of making glass has involved two basic elements: Sand and heat. Over the past 100 years, workers in Zanesville have perfected that craft with some help from modern technology.

Raw materials – silica sand, soda ash and limestone – arrive at the factory by rail and truck. Recycled glass is added to the mix, which is melted down in furnaces with temperatures topping 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

From computer screens in his control room perch, USW member Shawn Bonifield carefully monitors the process to ensure the correct temperature and consistency as molten glass is formed into bottles.

“I make the glass right here,” Bonifield said. “I keep a close eye on everything.”

Gobs of red-hot glass are fed into molds, where machines blow a precise amount of air into each piece to expand their interiors to specific sizes and shapes, some simple and others ornate.

From there, the bottles undergo a complex cooling process that ensures their durability. Once the bottles are cooled, members inspect and test them for quality, shape, color and other potential imperfections.

Trade Pressures

Owens-Illinois has been an innovator in the glass industry since 1903 when company founder Michael Owens unveiled the first bottle-making machine, which led to mass production of glass bottles, said Claude Beaudin, chair of the USW’s GMP Council.

Despite the continued shift toward automation, USW members are still involved in every aspect of the glassmaking process, from the start – known as the “hot end” – to the finish, called the “cold end.”

About 15 members of Local 121T make the glass molds, while about 45 members of Local 172M work to produce the hot glass. On the cold end, 250 members of Local 178M inspect the bottles and pack them for shipping. About 45 members of Local 105M work in maintenance across the facility to ensure the entire process keeps running smoothly.

Despite their dedication to making the best glass bottles in the world, USW glassmakers in Zanesville and elsewhere still face pressure from overseas trade.

Late last year, the U.S. Glass Producers Coalition, a group of bottle manufacturers and workers, filed petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to curb unfairly traded imports from China, Mexico and Chile.

“As a union, the USW is committed to combating unfair trade practices in glass and other industries,” Beaudin said. “These practices are designed to distort the market and destroy good jobs. American workers are the best in the world, as long as they are able to compete on a level playing field.”

Economic Boost

In addition to making world-class bottles as they face down unfairly traded competition from abroad, USW members in Zanesville are united in their fight for fair wages and benefits at home, an effort that pays dividends for them and their families, as well as for the surrounding community, said District 1 Director Donnie Blatt.

“The success of Owens-Illinois and its dedicated union work force does more than just support a few hundred USW families in Zanesville,” Blatt said. “Thanks to the USW, this factory provides an economic ripple effect to the entire region of central Ohio. These workers should be proud of the products they make, and of their contribution to the economy of the Buckeye State.”

Safety a Priority

The intense heat and other potential hazards that exist at the factory make health and safety another top priority for USW members in Zanesville and across the industry.

Crew leader Bill Hollingshead said that the ability to stop work to prevent incidents is an important part of keeping members safe.

“We can shut things down if it doesn’t feel right,” he said. “It has to be an organized team effort.”

Hollingshead, who has worked for more than 35 years at O-I and done “every job in the plant,” considers himself something of a mentor to the younger union workers, making sure they have the tools and knowledge they need to carry on a century-long tradition, and to do so safely.

As a growing number of workers near retirement age and more younger workers join the work force, that becomes even more important, he said.

“I’m able to help them to coordinate their future, so to speak,” Hollingshead said of younger members of the work force. “The biggest part of my job is keeping everything running.”

‘It’s a Mindset’

Keeping the plant running smoothly, safely and efficiently takes the support of every worker on the plant floor, said Kyle Makin, who said it’s important to have co-workers who look out not only for the quality of the product but also for the well-being of their colleagues.

“An extra set of eyes is always best,” Makin said. “It takes a lot of patience. It’s not just a skill set. Some of it is a mindset.”

At its core, the mindset of the USW members in Zanesville is rooted in union solidarity, and in the belief that each person’s job is an essential part of the whole.

“We’re all part of a team,” Hollingshead said. “Everybody wants to work together and to do quality work.”

Continuing to turn out those top-of-the-line products is the key to the future for USW glassmakers, Hollingshead said.

“I want these guys to have the same things I had, and more,” he said. “We will if we continue to push quality out.”

The following article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of USW@Work.

---

The USW led a coalition of five unions this March in filing a petition calling on the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to initiate an investigation of Chinese shipbuilding.

Over the past two decades, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has employed a number of predatory, non-market practices to massively expand its shipbuilding capacity and dominate global transportation and logistics networks. Those efforts decimated China’s competitors around the world, destroying thousands of good U.S. jobs in the process.

“The United States once had nearly 30 major shipyards; now we’re down to just a handful,” said USW International President David McCall. “That correlates with more than 70,000 lost shipbuilding jobs, not to mention all the secondary jobs the industry supports.”

Good USW Jobs

Many of those jobs are in industries where USW members work. One commercial ship can require approximately 13,000 tons of structural steel, 60,000 gallons of paint, 130 miles of electrical cable, as well as aluminum, glass and numerous other union-made products.

“If we do not act quickly, we will soon be dependent on China not only for the products their vessels bring into our ports but also for the ships themselves,” McCall said.

That dependence would have implications that go beyond the economic effects of lost jobs and shuttered facilities. Critical supply chains, as well as U.S. national security are at stake, McCall said.

“China has surpassed the United States and now operates the world’s largest navy,” he said. “Rebuilding our Merchant Marine is not only essential to increasing our nation’s sealift capability, it will help shore up the critical supply chains our military and commercial shipbuilding industries share, making us safer and more resilient.”

Potential Ripple Effects

Charles Spivey, president of Local 8888, observed the demise of the commercial shipbuilding industry firsthand. Spivey joined the Newport News, Va., shipyard in the late 1970s when it was still producing tankers for companies like El Paso Natural Gas Co. and U.S. Trust Co.

But that work ended when the U.S.T. Pacific, an ultra large crude carrier built for U.S. Trust, sailed out of the shipyard in 1979. Since then, except for a brief period in the 1990s when it produced commercial ships for overseas customers, the shipyard has focused exclusively on work for the U.S. military.

Today, about 12,000 Local 8888 members make aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines for the Navy. But Spivey said they would like to resume the commercial shipbuilding work and that they have the capacity for it.

James Crawford and his co-workers at Hunt Valve in Salem, Ohio, still make valves and actuators for commercial ships along with parts for military vessels, but they’ve seen demand for commercial ship components fall over the years.

Crawford, unit president for Local 3372-07, said the trade has the potential to create new, good-paying jobs while helping to boost the nation’s security.

“You can’t go somewhere to fight if you’re weak at home,” said Crawford part of the delegation of USW members who gathered at the U.S. Capitol in March to announce the filing of the case. “Nobody wants China to be taking our jobs. We need to be able to rely on American-made products.”

Revitalization of the shipbuilding industry would provide new opportunities for tens of thousands of USW members across numerous supply chains.

“It would help us tremendously,” said Steve Townsend, unit chair of USW Local 3261-01 at Rochester Metal Products in Rochester, Ind. “We can make just about anything having to do with iron castings. We’re very versatile,” said Townsend, citing hooks, brackets, water pumps and engine components as just a handful of the items he and other members of Local 3261-01 have the capacity to provide.

Chinese Dominance

Katherine Tai, who has served in the cabinet-level position of USTR since 2021, will review the petition and determine whether her office will launch an investigation of Chinese shipbuilding. She said she looked forward to that process, but that it was clear China has already harmed U.S. workers with its non-market policies, which include currency manipulation, dumping of low-priced goods, and unfair subsidization of Chinese industry.

“We have seen the PRC create dependencies and vulnerabilities in multiple sectors, like steel, aluminum, solar, batteries, and critical minerals,” Tai said.

As recently as the mid-1970s, U.S. shipbuilders employed more than 180,000 and launched 75 ships each year, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM). Beginning with the Reagan administration, the government began to slash funding for shipbuilding, giving foreign competitors an edge and devastating the U.S. industry.

In 2023, McCall pointed out, China built more than 1,000 ships in 2023, while U.S. shipbuilders produced less than 10. Today, China controls about half of the world’s shipbuilding capacity, a level 232 times greater than that of the United States.

Union Coalition

Joining the USW in filing the petition were the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Maritime Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. The unions filed the petition under Section 301of the Trade Act of 1974, which provides the USTR with the authority to respond to unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce.

U.S. lawmakers also took up the cause, with U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Bob Casey sending a letter to President Joe Biden in support of the petition. Casey called China a “predatory regime.”

“We have to crack down hard on this regime and hold this regime and particularly President Xi Jinping accountable for what his regime does,” he said.

International Vice President Roxanne Brown said the Biden administration has already demonstrated its commitment to strengthening American manufacturing, creating good jobs and stopping unfair trade, and that rebuilding U.S. shipbuilding capacity is the next logical step.

“Labor unions and the Biden administration have worked together to establish a worker-centered trade policy and ramp up domestic manufacturing capacity through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act,” said Brown. “Reviving our nation’s shipbuilding industry will enable us to expand those investments, ensure a steady supply of goods, and grow the middle class.”

Strong Support

The USW petition is asking the U.S. to force China to pay a fee each time a Chinese-built vessel enters a U.S. port. Those revenues would, in turn, be used to support American shipbuilders, creating jobs and revitalizing the industry.

American voters agree with the USW that shipbuilding must be a priority. A recent poll found 82 percent said they were concerned that the United States builds so few ships, and 74 percent supported government investments to rebuild the industry.

Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a non-profit partnership of unions and employers, said that allowing China to continue to dominate the shipbuilding industry would have “disastrous repercussions.”

“Strong measures in response to this petition are an essential first step to rebuilding America’s maritime independence, and it’s an urgent one,” Paul said. “The Biden administration must act now to level the playing field for our shipbuilders.”

This article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of USW@Work.

---

A fervent spirit of the union swept through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh in early March as hundreds of fresh United Steelworkers activists convened at the second-ever international Next Generation conference.

The group spent four days working to amplify their engagement in the union and to share their passion for the labor movement with all who could hear.

The NextGen conference, held March 3 to 7, gave young and new union activists a chance to pump each other up and gain new skills as they served on panels, learned from USW staff and member trainers in workshops, rallied in the streets to show solidarity with other unionizing workers, and gave back to the community through various service projects.

The early-morning wake-up call on the conference’s first day didn’t deter the crowd of rowdy Steelworkers from shaking the room to life with the sounds of cheers, applause and hit music – provided by a live DJ – at the opening ceremony.

A handful of talented young USW members served as emcees to the program, including Noah Ledesma of Local 12-52, Ashley Seabrook of Local 8888, and Montrell Steib of Local 5702. The emcees brought energy to the stage each day of the conference, while still maintaining the spirit and purpose of all large USW gatherings – to learn, engage, and gather useful information to build solidarity with the rest of their union siblings.

District 10 Director Bernie Hall, who began his union leadership career as a founding member of the USW’s NextGen committee and served as the first NextGen coordinator of his district, kicked off the conference by welcoming the new members and inspiring them to take action.

“When NextGen took off, I was 30 years old and this union put their faith in me to go and speak – not just for this union, but for the entire labor movement,” said Hall, who is the first person elected to the USW International Executive Board to rise from the ranks of the NextGen arm of the union. 

“The labor movement isn’t a sprint – it’s a marathon,” said Hall. “Take your first steps now, and you’ll do things beyond your wildest imagination.”

Activism Through Art

International NextGen Conference Coordinator Trisha Garcia of Local 8599 delivered the conference’s keynote address, speaking on the power of ideas and the important role creativity can play in the labor movement. 

Garcia highlighted the work of Julian Hernandez of Local 183, a health care worker and NextGen member who designed and painted a colorful backdrop mural for the conference at Pittsburgh’s historic Carrie Furnace on a freezing, snowy day in February. 

“The idea was to use this concept of creating to tap into the vibrancy that is street art, to convey the newness and energy of NextGen,” said Garcia. 

Unexpectedly cold temperatures and winds created challenging conditions for Hernandez – who hails from Southern California – to use his paint cans and brushes, but Garcia and other USW staff helped Hernandez complete the project over the course of two days. 

The artwork utilizes colorful, street art-style techniques and features diverse caricatures of workers in a variety of USW industries.

“It’s truly been an honor being able to merge my art and activism for this conference. It’s a dream come true,” said Hernandez. “This piece feels like the heart and soul of what we’re going to do this week.”

NextGen conference-goers took photos in front of the backdrop over the course of the week.

Learning the Ropes

Throughout the week, USW staff and member trainers provided nearly 60 workshops for conference attendees to hone their activism skills. Workshops focused on history and labor education, labor law, bargaining and enforcing contracts, health and safety, organizing, legislative and political strategies, social justice activism, communications and more. 

Paige Cisco and Andria Tipton, both members of Local 689 who work at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, led a course in “Community Service Safety and Health,” which highlighted the potential health and safety hazards to consider when planning community service activities for members.

Many of the principles of the course seemed simple – wear rubber gloves when picking up trash, wash your hands well, don’t mix ammonia and bleach. But the room came to life with hands-on demonstrations that engaged members and drew upon Cisco and Tipton’s experience with handling potentially radioactive material at the Ohio nuclear site where they work.

In one activity, Cisco poured fake blood over each participant’s gloved hands to demonstrate how to safely remove rubber gloves and about the importance of properly fitting PPE. In another, participants drew images on a page with a Q-tip dipped in baking soda and water. Blackberries were then smudged across the page, and the acidity in the berries reacted with the baking soda to reveal the images. 

“Even if you can’t see something, it could still be a present hazard,” explained Cisco, who began working at the Portsmouth plant as a janitor just a few years ago and is now a process operator and full-time safety representative. 

In another unconventional workshop, members of the Pittsburgh Labor Choir taught people how to use union chants and music to manage attention, build morale and direct collective action. With drums, shakers and tambourines, members of the class took turns leading chants and learning the most effective ways to use music to pump up the picket line. 

Bridging the Gap

The NextGen conference provided an opportunity for longtime USW leaders and retirees, along with the newest generation of members, to build relationships and learn from each other.

Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) President Bill Pienta began his USW career in 1966 as an electrician at a steel mill. Before taking on his leadership role in SOAR, he served as president of Local 2693 and later on the international executive board as director of District 4.

Pienta said that the NextGen conference provided connections between younger members and more seasoned activists, both of whom have much to learn from each other.

“As I get older, I learn how much I don’t know,” Pienta said. “We have to move forward, and we have to do it together.”

Conference-goers participated in a day of service on the final morning of the conference, branching out all over the city to volunteer at nearly a dozen sites that included churches, community centers, food banks and other non-profit organizations. 

While washing windows at the Kingsley Association, a community center in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood, Precious Pittman, a member of Local 8888 who helps to build submarines at the Newport News, Va. shipbuilding facility, said she came to NextGen with nearly a dozen other members of her local.

“I’m excited to see how we’re bridging the gap between the older generation and the newer generation, and it’s only getting better with time,” said Pittman. 

Zack Mainhart, co-chair of the NextGen committee for Local 1557 at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, said he was glad to be able to build connections with some of the union’s most experienced leaders, who have demonstrated that, through solidarity, workers can overcome any obstacles in their path.

“For us to be able to understand our struggles,” he said, “we need to learn from them and how they navigated those situations.”

Lifetime of Activism

The final night of the conference honored AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond, who formerly served as the USW International Vice President, with the Lifetime of Activism Award to acknowledge his investment in and support of the NextGen group of activists. 

“There’s nobody better to receive this award than the godfather of NextGen, Fred Redmond,” said E.J. Jenkins, a NextGen activist from Local 1014 in Gary, Ind., who was honored with the Legend Award for his contributions to the labor movement that same night.

In his address to the ballroom full of young activists, Redmond highlighted their “electrifying” nature and the important role they have in organizing new workers. 

“Future generations of workers are depending on you to make sure that our union remains the fighting union that we are,” Redmond said.

International Vice President Roxanne Brown said she believes that fighting spirit will continue for generations to come.

“Seeing the enthusiasm in the eyes of our young activists, I know this union will be in good hands,” she said.

International President Dave McCall ended the conference with closing remarks to the room full of bright-eyed activists, who left energized and ready to take their newfound knowledge back to their workplaces.

“When you go home, share what you learned this week, talk to our members in the workplace about the power of our solidarity – to have a voice, to be able to succeed in protecting our members and their families,” said McCall.

“There is no greater power,” he said, “than what we can do together on behalf of our members and on behalf of their families.”

---

Click below to listen to a USW Solidarity Works podcast episode about Next Gen.

Labor runs in the District 8 Sub-District Director’s blood. His great-uncle worked at Bethlehem Steel in Maryland when it was first organized with the USW in 1941, while his grandfather finished his career as a longshoreman.

Before Lewis joined the USW as staff in 2014, he, like his great-uncle, worked at the Sparrow’s Point (formerly Bethlehem Steel) mill right out of high school until it shut down in 2012.

“I’ve been a Steelworker all my working life,” said Lewis.

During his time at his local, he served in a variety of roles, including grievance rep, safety rep, and financial secretary. As the years went on, however, he realized his biggest passion was civil rights.

Although Lewis recognizes that not every worker understands why labor unions get involved in fights surrounding racism and LGBTQ+ rights, he believes it’s vital to keep the conversations going.

He refers to a quote by President John F. Kennedy to explain it: “Our labor unions…have raised wages, shortened hours and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor. But their work goes beyond their own jobs, and even beyond our borders.”

“I always start my presentations with this quote,” said Lewis, “because the struggle is not over. If we aren’t part of the solution, we’re part of the problem.”

Lewis knows that discussions regarding race and justice can be difficult, but that leaders in this space merely need to meet people where they are. At a recent training with over 90 USW members at Wheeling-Nippon Steel in West Virginia, he prompted a conversation about Colin Kaepernick’s fight for freedom of speech in the NFL.

“I spoke about how Colin used his labor rights and his union representation to file a grievance on his behalf like other unions do for their members,” Lewis said. “When you apply these issues to workers’ lives, they understand it.”

Lewis said District 8 Director Larry Ray has been a big proponent of the civil and human rights trainings and the value they bring to the movement.

Lewis is currently preparing to attend the USW Civil and Human Rights Conference in Detroit this June, the first since 2019. “It’s been too long,” Lewis. “I’m really looking forward to the fellowship.”

Click here to learn more and register for the Civil and Human Rights Conference.

Leaders with the USW traveled to Argentina this month to attend the SOEPU (United Petrochemical Workers and Employees Union) Congress and forge relationships with chemical workers in South America.

USW attendees included International Secretary-Treasurer John Shinn, Carolyn Kazdin (retired from Strategic Campaigns Department), and Local 12075 President and Dow-Dupont North American Labor Council Chair (DNALC) Kent Holsing.

On the first day of the conference, April 8, Shinn was able to provide a report on the state of the chemical sector in North America while Holsing spoke on the DNALC. Activists from Argentina presented reports on the negative effect of President Milei's recent decree on labor law, which will potentially devastate working families, unions, and the country as a whole.

“It is incumbent on all of us to educate our members not just on the situation we experience at home but also about the experiences of workers around the world,” said Shinn. “Corporations have gone global, therefore our movement must be global as well.”

The second day of the conference provided an opportunity for the USW attendees and others to meet with municipal and provincial leaders. They were also presented with a proclamation recognizing the USW’s participation and the importance of the SOEPU and its Congress.

The SOEPU Congress closed with Secretary General Mauricio Brizuela urging delegates to understand the history and importance of labor's struggle, and the fight that is forthcoming to ensure the wellbeing of the union's members and their families.

“This conference was a ringing success for the SOEPU and solidified the importance of solidarity across borders,” said Holsing. “The struggle and challenges that are faced in one country and its unions will be felt and experienced by another country and its unions.”

Renee Hough has been a member of USW Local 1557 at U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works in southwestern Pennsylvania for 27 years. She works as a utility technician, or loader; it’s a job that Hough loves and that came along at the right time, and saved her life.

As Hough prepares to retire in less than two years, she finds herself looking back on her decision to leave an abusive marriage more than two decades ago. At the time, she knew she needed a good-paying job that would provide her the resources to leave and take her kids with her, and her job then as a cook at Denny’s wasn’t cutting it.

Then she saw an advertisement announcing that U.S. Steel was hiring in Clairton. It seemed like it was written in the stars, as getting the job would make her a fourth-generation union member.

“I needed better pay and security so I could remove myself from that situation,” Hough said.

A LIFE-CHANGING PROCESS

She got the job and began saving money. Seven months in, she was well on her way when her husband beat her so badly she had to spend a night in the hospital. Hough’s mother convinced her that this incident was a turning point she could not ignore. The next day, Renee moved in with her mother and began the process of divorcing her husband.

“I wouldn’t have been able to leave if I didn’t have my job to fall back on,” Hough said. “I owe both the union and my mother so much for that.”

What followed was a pain-staking year involving lots of counseling, court hearings, and other appointments. Hough believes unions can and should use their bargaining power to add language into contracts that allows time off for survivors of domestic violence for this reason.

Some local unions in recent years have done exactly this, including Local 2699 in Ontario, Canada. The USW’s Raising the Bar on Women’s Health and Safety action guide can be a resource for other locals looking to do the same thing.

Hough, who serves as chair of her local’s Women of Steel Committee, believes that this topic needs to be discussed more because of the shame and stigma that can go along with it, especially for men. She also wants other survivors to know they aren’t alone.

“If my story helps just one person, then it’s worth it,” Hough said.

When she isn’t working, Hough loves to bowl and spend time with her family, especially her three grandchildren.

---

If you or a loved one are experiencing domestic violence in the United States, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE, or 7233. Additionally, teen survivors of domestic abuse can call Love Is Respect, a dedicated hotline for minors, at 1-866-331-9474.

You can also reach out to USW District 1 Assistant to the Director Teresa Cassady, who has offered to be a safe and nonjudgmental ear for members experiencing abuse, at tcassady@usw.org.  

SOAR has identified its purpose as threefold. Per the SOAR constitution, one of the three reasons for our existence is "to engage in political and legislative action." The USW has given us a number of ways to do this. One of the ways SOAR members can be involved is by participating in an online membership survey currently accessible on the uswvoices.org website. Information on how to access this survey is available in the beginning of this newsletter. This survey asks you to identify priorities regarding important issues facing working and retired Americans today.

As you know, the USW endorses candidates, not parties. Therefore, candidates must commit to supporting the core issues deemed important by our members. In April, the USW will begin holding town hall meetings to hear from our members so they can weigh in on the matters we consider most important to us. I encourage SOAR members to participate in these meetings when scheduled in your area.

In May, the SOAR Executive Board will meet in Washington, D.C., and then participate in the USW Rapid Response, Legislative and Policy Conference.

One of the tools SOAR representatives will be armed with when meeting with our elected representatives to discuss the issues our union has identified as a priority is their voting record compiled by the Alliance for Retired Americans, whose mission is "to protect and expand retirement security for all Americans." 

The Alliance publishes all U.S. senators’ and representatives’ annual and lifetime voting records on key retirement security issues. Learn more about the 2023 Congressional Voting Record on page 11 of this newsletter.

SOAR Chapters will soon be asked to get involved in helping to elect candidates whose values best align with ours as a union and who support our position on issues determined to be important by our members. SOAR members can volunteer by attending rallies, making phone calls, helping to write postcards to our members, and writing letters to the editor to ensure our members understand who stands with us on our issues and who does not.

The link for signing up to volunteer to write postcards is already active on the uswvoices.org website.

Whether taking the survey, participating in a town hall meeting, or writing postcards, SOAR members have plenty of opportunities to engage in political and legislative action.

-Bill Pienta, SOAR President

Based on the cover of this newsletter, you've likely concluded that our union is embarking upon another round of the Your Union, Your Voice campaign.   

Our union first launched Your Union, Your Voice in 2020 to ensure USW members' and retirees' opinions were reflected at every level of our union's work.  

We circulated a union-wide membership survey and held dozens of town hall meetings, providing valuable opportunities for our district directors, other elected union leaders and staff to hear what was on our members' and retirees' minds. 

Because this feedback proved so vital in shaping our union’s work, we repeated this effort in 2022 (see the results on page 9 of this newsletter), and it continues to inform our efforts as we head into 2024.   

Beginning in April, USW districts will again hold town hall meetings in locations across the United States. All USW members, retirees, and families are welcome to attend and participate in these important discussions.  

Additionally, our union has launched another membership survey to gauge our members' and retirees' views on some of the biggest issues facing working and retired Americans today.

You can access the survey here. Town hall meetings will be posted on this website, publicized through our social media channels, and shared by USW districts.

Our common values, such as fair pay, safe workplaces, a secure retirement, and vibrant communities, connect us as union members. 

Please take the time to attend a town hall meeting, participate in this survey, and share this information widely throughout your SOAR chapters and fellow USW retirees and families. 

As of late February, they are also now all members of the USW after a years-long campaign that reveals the power of persistence.

Howard and several other workers first began exploring joining the USW in 2020. The group was forced to run a mail-in vote due to COVID restrictions and endured a heavy anti-union campaign by the employer. As a result, they lost their election by one vote.

While the months passed, working conditions worsened. “Everyone quickly realized we had to try again,” Howard said.

The workers had stayed in touch with their USW-appointed staff representative and organizer, and decided to hold another union election in February 2024. This time, the victory was unanimous.

“We’re going to teach management how to treat us,” Howard said, noting that accountability is what he’s looking forward to the most with a collective bargaining agreement. “No more chaotic schedules and extreme vacation policies.”

The new members are in the midst of bargaining committee elections and are enthusiastic about the opportunity to get involved with the union.

We Want to Hear from You

Please Take our Survey

The work we do in Rapid Response always has been and always will be centered around the issues that impact us at the bargaining table and in our workplaces.

The legisation and policies we work to push back on or advocate for, center around our union's core issues; collective bargaining, safety and health, job security and trade, domestic economic issues, health care, and retirement security.

We know these are our core issues because we know that one hundred percent of our members can agree on them.

In 2020, we launched Your Union Your Voice to hear about the issues that matter most to you and share some of our union’s work to impact government decisions.

The feedback we have received from these efforts have helped make sure your priorities are reflected in our union’s work. This year, we’re doing it again, and it starts with hearing directly from you. 

 Please take a moment to take our online survey to tell us what issues matter the most to you HERE. 

We do our best advocating when we arm ourselves with your priorities. This helps us in our work to be better advocates for the issues that all our members agree can make an impact on their working lives. Please take a quick moment to fill out our survey.

Thank you for all the work you do each day to make Rapid Response the best grassroots legislative program in the labor movement. 

 We Couldn’t be Prouder of Our Virginia Veterans

Virginia becomes the fifth state to pass our Veterans Bill. 

Our nation is home to nearly 16 million veterans of the Armed Forces. Many have come home and entered the civilian workforce in a variety of occupations and industries. We’re extra proud of those who are USW members and retirees. 

That’s why in early 2023, Rapid Response partnered with our union’s Vets of Steel program to continue the good work that began in New York, working with state legislators across the country to author and introduce legislation that would require a standardized workplace posting.

This posting includes basic information about veterans’ benefits and a way for veterans to learn more about the resources they are entitled to. These resources help to ease the transition back into civilian life and ensure that families and communities are supported after giving selflessly for our country. 

We are so excited to pass along that Virginia has unanimously passed the bill in both chambers and it is onto the Governor to be signed into law.

It is extremely rare for a bill to pass without any opposition, so we know we are working in the right direction to give our veterans the resources they need. 

Thank you to each and every person that lobbied their legislator to make this happen. We did this together and will continue to work until this law has been passed in every state in the Nation. Well done, Virginia Steelworkers! 

Honoring these courageous individuals should happen not only while they are actively serving, but also when they return home. Within our union, the “Veterans of Steel” program honors military service and identifies ways to assist veterans and their families in Steelworker-represented workplaces. If you are a veteran, and would like to join Veterans of Steel, click HERE.  

 Larry R. Ray, Director District 8 

For additional questions about this issue or ways to get involved in Rapid Response, contact Chad Conley,

USW District 8 Rapid Response Coordinator, at (606) 465-6862 or cconley@usw.org. 

  West Virginia Unemployment Benefits are Once Again Under Attack

The bill passed the House; Help us stop it in the Senate! 

For the last two years, our union and our allies have fought diligently to defeat a harmful piece of legislation that makes drastic changes to Unemployment Insurance and threatens the security of every worker in the state. 

Decades ago, workers fought for, and won, benefits which provide some financial stability during times of unemployment. In a state like West Virginia, that has had historically high unemployment numbers due to extenuating circumstances affecting the state’s main industries, cuts to unemployment compensation are especially harmful. 

In addition to the Cleveland Cliffs closure we mentioned last week, Appalachian Wood Products has announced it will close. That’s 1,800 jobs lost in less than a week! 

 “It is simply unimaginable that state lawmakers would consider legislation to reduce the amount of unemployment benefits workers could qualify for, especially considering the devastating news that 1,000 West Virginia workers at Cleveland-Cliffs in Weirton are losing their jobs on top of recent plant and mine closures elsewhere in West Virginia. Legislators should be seeking to help rather than hurt these workers and their families.” - District 8 Director, Larry Ray 

Currently, West Virginia does not have a maximum duration of time that a person is eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Instead, it uses a maximum benefit amount to determine how much a worker can receive per year. These current pieces of legislation SB 840 (usw.to/4xf) and SB 841 (usw.to/4xg) would limit and restrict benefits, make 20 weeks the maximum duration of benefits and more to those eligible. West Virginia lawmakers need to do better by these workers. 

 We have to act fast! 

A vote could come as soon as Wednesday. Click HERE (usw.to/3Li) to find your senator and place a call today. 

Tell your senator to oppose any legislative push to cut and/or index unemployment benefits. 

Tell them to reject SB 840 (usw.to/4xf) and SB 841.(usw.to/4xg) 

 Larry R. Ray, Director District 8

For additional questions about this issue or ways to get involved in Rapid Response, contact Chad Conley,

USW District 8 Rapid Response Coordinator, at (606)465-6862 or cconley@usw.org. 

 We Did It Again! 

So-called Right to Work has been defeated in New Hampshire. 

Yesterday, with Steelworkers and our allies once again stationed in the gallery, the New Hampshire House soundly killed the latest attempt by state and national proponents to pass so-called right-to-work legislation (HB 1377) by a bipartisan vote of 212 to 168.

The measure has been buried with an indefinite postponement vote which means it cannot be resurrected until 2026. 

For nearly two decades anti-worker legislators have been pushing to usher so-called right to work into the state. And each time, New Hampshire workers have stood their ground and used their voices to push back and defeat it.

We could not be prouder of the efforts that went into this defeat, and we thank each and every worker who made yesterday possible 

 “We are so proud of our members from across New Hampshire who showed up at the District meetings, rallies, and the Statehouse. They knew what a disastrous policy Right to Work is to the standard of living and they let their voices be heard loud and clear. They are why we are able to defeat legislation like this time after time. We have them to thank.” – District 4 Director, Dave Wasiura 

How Did Your House Member Vote?

Click HERE (http://usw.to/4xb) to see the Roll Call. (Search Bill No HB1377) 

This good work never gets done without you. Thank you! 

Keep Up the Pressure, Georgia Steelworkers

For the last few weeks, we have been diligently pressuring Georgia legislators (http://usw.to/4wn) to oppose S.B. 362 (http://usw.to/4wi), a bill that would prohibit Georgia businesses receiving state economic subsidies from voluntarily recognizing a union in their workplace.

This bill is clearly illegal because the federal government already protects this right. If passed it will deplete taxpayer dollars on costly legal fees and is nothing but a waste of time and resources that could be used to craft policies that are beneficial to Georgia families and communities. 

They knew we were coming. 

Yesterday, working people showed up at the statehouse in solidarity to urge lawmakers to oppose the bill in an anticipated vote in the House. Those efforts made a critical impact and the vote has been postponed until likely next week. 

We can’t stop now! 

We know better and we see right through this. When Steelworkers organize, we win! (http://usw.to/4x9) The new era of the Georgia labor movement is here and S.B. 362 is evidence that anti-union legislators funded by corporations are scared of workers getting their fair share. So, we must keep the pressure on!  

We Need You Now More than Ever! 

It's time to take action and reach every state representative. (http://usw.to/4x8)

S.B. 362 is a bill that prevents employers in Georgia from receiving state incentives if they recognize union representation without first holding a secret ballot election. Private businesses would also be prohibited from receiving such subsidies if they share the contact information of employees with a union. These practices are legal under federal law and help workers get the unions they want. Let's stand together against S.B. 362 and safeguard the rights of workers and businesses in Georgia. 

Please take a moment to click HERE (http://usw.to/4x8) to send a prewritten email to your Georgia representative urging them to OPPOSE S.B. 362. It just takes a minute and makes a real impact! 

Through education, inclusivity, and programs like Women of Steel we uplift women’s voices from the shop floor to the bargaining table, to the board room and beyond. Women of Steel know our power and we aren’t afraid to use it. 

On February 15, 2024, Megan Salrin, a legislative representative with the USW based in our Washington, D.C., Legislative and Policy Department, testified before the United States House Transportation and Infrastructure, Highways and Transit Subcommittee regarding the implementation of Buy America Provisions under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

A proud Woman of Steel, Megan understands the significance of worker voices, especially those of women and other marginalized groups, in shaping legislative and regulatory frameworks.

In her capacity, Salrin plays a vital role in researching and assessing legislation and regulations affecting USW members, their employment, and our communities.

The subcommittee hearing, chaired by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AZ), focused on how the Buy America provisions of the IIJA affect U.S. workers, employers, and our economy.

Effective enforcement of these provisions not only stimulates demand for goods and services produced by our members but also highlights gaps in the supply chain, encouraging investment in North American facilities.

As the sole woman on the panel of witnesses, Salrin spoke with confidence and conviction, advocating for steelworker jobs and facilities.

She cautioned against loopholes and blanket waivers, warning against their potential exploitation by profit-driven corporations, which could undermine the law to prioritize their bottom line, leaving workers, the economy, and the environment behind. 

As an international union with members across the United States and Canada, the USW advocates for domestic procurement provisions in legislation in both countries. While this presents unique challenges, we advocate for collaboration between our governments on trade and procurement policies.

As our union engages with legislators in North America and beyond to develop equitable solutions that safeguard our members' jobs and livelihoods, irrespective of their geographic location, Women of Steel like Megan are integral to ensuring that workers voices are heard.

Want to learn more about Megan and her experience testifying before Congress?  See below for Seven Questions with Megan Salrin, a video from the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

For more information on the USW’s U.S. based legislative and policy work, and to learn how you can get involved go to uswrr.org and sign up for Rapid Response emails at usw.to/4sT today!

Have questions? Email us at wos@usw.org.

The 40 new members work at Edgewood Healthcare Sierra Hills in a variety of positions, including Registered Nurses (RN), Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA), dietary aides, housekeepers, bus drivers, and more.

Taylor Ewig, who has worked as a CNA at the facility for nine years, said the most important issues that she and her co-workers hope to address are staffing levels and wages.

“During night shift, there are only two CNAs taking care of 80 patients,” Ewig said. “We also have a number of hospice patients who require a higher level of care.”

This is one of the many reasons why the group reached out to the AFL-CIO last December and were connected to the USW. Within just three days, they were able to collect enough cards to file for a union election.

District 11 Staff Representative William Wilkinson, who worked with Ewing during the drive, said this excitement reveals what he’s known for a while—that Wyoming is ripe for organizing.

“These deeply red states pay sub-par wages and safety is not prioritized,” said Wilkinson. “They’re also changing expectations regularly. That alone is driving a lot of organizing there right now.”

Ewig said she looks forward to getting to the table and being able to talk honestly with management about how to improve conditions.

“I’m just so proud of all my co-workers for coming together and doing this,” Ewig said. “We’ve never been so close.”

USW leaders and lawmakers across the political spectrum were united in voicing their disapproval when U.S. Steel announced in December that Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. was planning to purchase the iconic American company for $15 billion.

“To say we’re disappointed in the announced deal between U.S. Steel and Nippon is an understatement,” International President David McCall said when the bid was announced on Dec. 18. “It demonstrates the same greedy, shortsighted attitude that has guided U.S. Steel for far too long.”

Fighting for Jobs, Benefits

While the union voiced its strong objections to the planned acquisition, McCall assured members and retirees that the union would fight with every tool at its disposal to protect good jobs, benefits and retirement plans.

“Our union intends to exercise the full measure of our contract to ensure that whatever happens next with U.S. Steel, we protect the good, family-sustaining jobs we bargained,” McCall said. “We also will urge government regulators to carefully scrutinize this acquisition.”

Nippon Steel is Japan’s largest, and the world’s fourth-largest, steel company, with an annual output of more than 44 million metric tons. By comparison, U.S. Steel’s output in 2022 was about 14.5 million metric tons. 

Supporting Cliffs Bid

McCall pointed out that U.S. Steel management failed to consult with USW members before moving ahead with its plans.

“Neither U.S. Steel nor Nippon reached out to our union regarding the deal, which is in itself a violation of our partnership agreement that requires U.S. Steel to notify us of a change in control or business conditions,” McCall said. “We remained open throughout this process to working with U.S. Steel to keep this iconic American company domestically owned and operated, but instead, it chose to push aside the concerns of its dedicated work force and sell to a foreign-owned company.”

In January, less than a month after U.S. Steel announced the planned sale, the USW filed grievances against the company, in part because of management’s failure to live up to its obligation to notify the union.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio agreed and said that if U.S. Steel must be sold, the winning bid should go to Ohio-based Cleveland Cliffs, which announced an effort, with the strong support of the USW, to purchase U.S. Steel after the 123-year-old company announced in August that it was on the market.

“Nippon and U.S. Steel have insulted American steelworkers by refusing to give them a seat at the table and raised grave concerns about their commitment to the future of the American steel industry,” Brown said.

In a letter to members at U.S. Steel, McCall and District 7 Director Mike Millsap noted that the company has a history of broken commitments, including shutting down steelmaking and other operations at Great Lakes and Granite City. U.S. Steel also broke a promise of more than $1 billion in new and updated technology in Western Pennsylvania, and instead purchased Big River Steel. 

USS has shut down the East Chicago Tin Mill, the UPI Tin Mill and idled tin operations at the Gary plant. In addition, the company shut down Lone Star Steel, the Lorain, Ohio, plant and coke batteries in Clairton, Pa.

Rather than changing course, Nippon intends to follow the current U.S. Steel business plan, McCall said.

National Security Concerns

In addition to the issue of jobs, shifting ownership of U.S. Steel, once the world’s most valuable company, outside the United States raises national security concerns, given the need for steel in infrastructure, military and defense applications.

For their part, many government officials reacted with similar skepticism when they learned of U.S. Steel’s plans, echoing the USW’s concerns about jobs as well as economic and national security.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a longtime USW ally whose home sits across the street from the entrance to U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock, Pa., said he would work vigorously to prevent the sale.

“It’s absolutely outrageous that U.S. Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company. Steel is always about security — both our national security and the economic security of our steel communities,” Fetterman said. “I am committed to doing anything I can do, using my platform and my position, to block this foreign sale.”

Fetterman’s fellow Pennsylvanian, Sen. Bob Casey, also voiced strong objections to the sale, as did a group of Republican lawmakers who wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asking her to actively oppose the acquisition.

The government “can and should block the acquisition of U.S. Steel by NSC, a company whose allegiances clearly lie with a foreign state and whose record in the United States is deeply flawed,” a group of three conservative Republican senators wrote to Yellen.

Dan Simmons, president of Local 1899 at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works in Illinois, said he initially hoped the potential sale would bring a “fresh vision” to the company, but the Nippon acquisition did not present that opportunity.

“This entire process was not conducted as it should have been, but rather in typical USS fashion of keeping the union in the dark,” Simmons said. “We now find ourselves facing a new owner with the same USS leadership and business plan that, frankly, got us here in the first place.”

In addition, McCall said, trusting an iconic U.S. company to overseas control raises concerns about fair trade. The United States currently imposes 12 different anti-dumping tariffs on Japanese steel, McCall said. 

U.S. Steel, he said, “has been an active participant in these anti-dumping cases. We should question if Nippon Steel gets control of U.S. Steel, it could use its status as a ‘domestic producer’ to work against the trade cases from the inside,” he said. “Nippon Steel could order U.S. Steel to change its longstanding position.”

Regulatory Review

Still, the agreement between U.S. Steel and Nippon is not yet a done deal. Federal regulators, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which includes leaders from the Departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security and Justice, will review the bid, as will President Joe Biden.

Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said the president “believes the purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign entity — even one from a close ally — appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability.”

Regardless of what the future holds for the company, McCall vowed that the USW will continue to fight to make sure that its owners live up to their obligations to workers and retirees.

“This includes not just the day-to-day commitments of our labor agreement but also significant obligations to fund pension and retiree insurance benefits that are the most extensive in the domestic steel industry,” he said. “No union has actively engaged in more acquisitions in its core industries than the USW, and rest assured, our union will hold management at U.S. Steel accountable to every letter of our collective bargaining and other existing agreements.”