David McCall

David McCall is the United Steelworkers’ ninth International President representing 850,000 active and retired members. The USW is the largest industrial union in North America.

McCall, a fourth-generation Steelworker, was born and raised in Gary, Ind. He was 18 when he joined USW Local 6787 and went to work as a millwright at Bethlehem Steel’s Burns Harbor Works in Northwest Indiana. McCall was elected as a grievance committeeman in 1971, then elected grievance committee chair in 1975 and Local 6787 vice president in 1985. 

While working shifts in the mill, he was able to attend and graduate from Indiana University NW with a degree in Labor Studies in 1975, he also graduated from the Harvard Trade Union Program in 1989.

He joined the USW staff in 1986, serving first as a Staff Representative and then as Sub-District Director in Gary, Ind., from 1989 until his appointment as Assistant Director of District 7 in 1997.  In January of 1999 he became the District 1 Director and was elected to five consecutive terms. In 2019 he was elected as International Vice President (Administration).

McCall is currently a member of Local 979 in Cleveland, Ohio, the Chairman of the Steelworkers Health and Welfare Fund and a Trustee for the Steelworker Pension Trust. He is a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, Co-chair of the Blue Green Alliance and the Chairman of the Labor Advisory Council for the President of the United States.

Over his career, McCall has led negotiations that delivered wage increases, stronger job security and other gains for tens of thousands of workers in steel, tire, paper, oil, glass and other key industries.  

McCall’s reputation as an ardent advocate for USW members and tough negotiator has enabled him to work collaboratively with willing employers to save jobs and protect benefits whenever possible while also tirelessly fighting those who dared to exploit workers. His steady, innovative leadership preserved thousands of jobs during the steel industry bankruptcies and import crisis in the early 2000’s, and he continues to fight for the fair-trade policies, infrastructure upgrades and capital investments needed to ensure American workers compete on a level playing field.