Not So Fast: USW Beats Back USS Effort to Shut Down Granite City Works

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Our union has been hard at work ever since U.S. Steel (USS) stated on Sept. 5 that it intended to stop sending steel slabs to Granite City Works at the end of October, effectively shutting down the plant.

USW members have been making high-quality steel in Granite City for decades, including the 800 dedicated members of USW Local 1899 who still stand ready to continue that tradition today.

Unfortunately, it’s been clear since December 2023 when Nippon announced its intention to acquire USS that our facilities were never its priority. Since then, we fought tirelessly for the long-term future of USW-represented sites.

And we were able to move them on some significant protections. This includes major investments, totaling about $11 billion across our facilities. And it includes short- and mid-range commitments to keeping our facilities open: Granite City until June 2027 and the rest of the facilities until June 2035.

However, real job security comes from investing in our facilities, making longer-term commitments to remaining world class, not running away from the workers who made the company successful.

So it’s telling that not three months after the sale documents were signed, USS tried to wiggle out of its commitments and make the kind of changes we warned were coming.

But we wouldn’t let it. We pushed back on USS’s flimsy excuse that it couldn’t supply slabs to Granite City for us to process. We reached out to political leaders to remind them that this was the very situation we foretold. And we planned a rally, hundreds of USW members strong, to show management that we don’t go away without a fight – and we never will.

And USS backed down for now, announcing that it’s reversed course and will continue operations in Granite City.

Now we must keep the pressure on. In addition to our mills, there are two idled blast furnaces in Granite City that could easily help our nation meet its steel needs.

So we’ll keep fighting: for a sound future for Granite City Works and our entire domestic steel industry.  

In solidarity,

Mike Millsap
District 7 Director & Chairman of the Negotiating Committee

David McCall
International President