By ELIZABETH DONALD
Illinois Correspondent
Granite City, IL – United Steelworkers (USW) sent a letter to U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt alleging that the steel conglomerate has violated multiple provisions of its Labor agreement, including its failure to inform the union about its process for selling the company to Nippon Steel and the bids received. The grievances were formally filed on Jan. 12.
“We know talk is cheap, especially coming from greedy corporations,” read a statement issued by USW to its members.
Four locals joined the national and international union in filing grievances against U.S. Steel over the sale, including Local 1899 in Granite City.
VIOLATED SUCCESSORSHIP CLAUSES
The grievances allege that U.S. Steel violated the successorship clauses of the contract, which are intended to protect members in precisely this situation.
“These rights are enforceable guarantees that a company seeking to buy our facilities cannot shirk its responsibilities to workers and retirees,” the statement read. “Commitments like pensions, profit sharing, capital expenditures, retiree health care and more are all part of the compensation we negotiated in bargaining our contract. Anyone who wants to acquire our facilities must have both the intent and the financial capacity to honor them.”
Instead, USW alleges that U.S. Steel and Nippon are prioritizing only corporate interests. Since the deal was announced, USW leaders have stated Nippon did not reach out to the union before announcing the sale. They have not agreed to shift the various agreements to Nippon and have no information about Nippon’s ability to stand behind U.S. Steels obligations.
“The USW is prepared to continue this grievance process all the way to its conclusion as we hold management accountable for trying to cash in by selling out American steelworkers and its shocking disregard for our contracts and its dedicated work force,” the statement read.
CLEVELAND-CLIFFS
Once word spread that U.S. Steel was entertaining bids for purchase, USW had strongly backed a bid from steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., which offered $7.3 billion for U.S. Steel last summer – half what Nippon offered in December. Cliffs had committed to USW President Tom Conway that if they were successful in purchasing U.S. Steel, no USW steelworker would lose their job, and further that Cliffs was committed to continuing to make steel in America and operating blast furnaces. Nippon has not made the same commitments, according to USW.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ CEO Lourenco Goncalves may be planning a second run, according to Reuters’ Jonathan Guilford in an analysis of the merger situation.
Nippon Steel must face the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which is a panel of 16 government agencies that recommend disallowing a deal if it violates national security concerns.
In the past, it has killed major mergers such as chipmaker Broadcom’s bit to purchase Qualcomm in 2017. Multiple state and federal legislators have voiced concerns about the merger.
U.S. Steel has replied with a statement that it has complied with its obligations under the basic Labor agreements and it expects to resolve any grievances, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The other locals signing on with the International Union included Locals 1899, 1938, 2695 and 2695-6.
JOB FAIR
In the meantime, the Illinois Department of Employment Security held a job fair for laid-off union members Granite City at the Tri-Cities Labor Temple on Jan. 18.
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