USW, Congressman Mrvan still looking for details, job assurances on Nippon Steel partnership

Nippon Steel tried for 18 months to buy U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion before the president reversed positions and announced he would approve a "planned partnership" between the two steelmakers.

The United Steelworkers union is still seeking answers for what exactly that means. Congressman Frank Mrvan also is pressing the administration for assurances that jobs will be protected.

The USW sent U.S. Steel a request for information asking for more details.

"It has now been two weeks since President Donald Trump announced on social media that there would be a 'planned partnership' between USS and Nippon, and the 15-day window for him to respond to the most recent report from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is now ending," USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap and International President David McCall said in a message to members. "Yet despite President Trump’s rally in the Mon Valley last week, we have seen nothing credible regarding the nature of this so-called partnership, including whether it meaningfully differs from Nippon’s initial proposal to acquire U.S Steel and make it a wholly owned subsidiary."

Trump repeatedly said before and after taking office for a second term that he would block Nippon Steel from buying U.S. Steel. But then the Japanese steelmaker bumped its initial promise of $1.4 billion in investment in U.S. Steel's mills up to $14 billion and made other promises, such as that it would keep all the current blast furnaces running for at least 10 years and make a majority of board members American and give the U.S. government a golden share that would give it a say over the number of board seats and production levels.

Trump touted that the company would remain headquartered in Pittsburgh, that it wouldn't close any mills and that it wouldn't lay off any workers, but those already were Nippon's plans since it first put in a bid 18 months ago. Nippon Steel officials said from the start they planned to operate U.S. Steel as an American subsidiary that would return U.S. leadership.

The union wants to know what changed in the meantime.

"Neither Nippon nor the White House has provided any details on where, exactly proposed investments will be directed or what kind of accountability or oversight there will be to ensure Nippon makes good on its promises," McCall and Millsap said. "We also have seen nothing suggesting that Nippon has backed away from its demand that it would be permitted to pull out of promised investments if we exercise our legal rights during negotiations fighting for a fair contract."

The union said it needs answers before going into contract talks next year.

"We bargained provisions in our basic labor agreements requiring USS to provide updates on mergers, acquisitions and other transactions because we know that workers will feel the impacts first. Now USS needs to make good on that obligation," Millsap and McCall said. "We will, as ever, continue to demand transparency from USS and Nippon as we fight to protect the long-term future of our domestic steel industry. We will continue to keep you informed as we learn more."

Mrvan recently pressed U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick for more answers about the Nippon Steel partnership with U.S. Steel such as why Trump reversed course. He for instance said his constituents had concerns about Nippon Steel potentially investing more in parts of the country with cheaper labor, such as in mini-mills in non-union states like Arkansas.

Lutnick said that the initial terms of the deal did not protect American interests but that the new deal did.

"So in my district, which I'm here to protect, my concern level is that the administration hears the voices very loudly and clearly from my district that we want assurances that this promised investment will protect steelworkers' jobs and the tradesmen who maintain the blast furnaces," he said.

Mrvan pressed for specifics on how Region steelworker jobs would be protected and asked if the union could have a seat at the table to protect their interests.

"I think the best I can say is that the president understands their concerns," Lutnick said. "I understand their concerns."

Mrvan said the situation was causing uncertainty and unpredictability for families that rely on a secure income, healthcare and pension.

"That uncertainty causes great disbelief in what is going on," Mrvan said.

Lutnick did not go into specifics, saying instead that the president understood the steelworkers' concerns.

Mrvan said a $14 billion investment was a good thing but that assurances were needed about job security.

"Understand how vitally, gravely important it is to the steelworkers, to my community, to my economic engine that you stand up for those jobs," he said.