USW Files Charges in Response to USS’s Attempts to Intimidate Workers

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Brothers and Sisters,

Our union this week filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board protesting U.S. Steel’s months-long campaign to intimidate workers, undermine our union, and discourage members from engaging in core, protected activity by voicing skepticism about a potential sale of USS to Nippon Steel.

Since the proposed transaction was first announced in December 2023, our union has flagged deep-seated concerns regarding Nippon’s trade and labor practices, the impact of a transaction on workers, and the enforcement of successorship language in our CBA.

In response, USS initiated a coordinated attack, attempting to silence these viewpoints and undercut our collective power by turning us against each other.

USS CEO David Burritt, for example, told workers that without the transaction, the company would “not make the financial commitments” to “union facilities.” Instead, the company threatened it would “shift steelmaking to non-union facilities.”

After making these threats, USS management sought to further intimidate workers by telling them to send pre-written letters to USW leadership that disparaged the union’s representation of workers.

USS also this year filed baseless legal charges against USW International President Dave McCall in retaliation for the union standing up to the company and opposing the transaction.

Make no mistake, this activity, both on the part of our union and individual members, is protected. We not only had the right but the responsibility to speak out against this dangerous deal.

Our union remains committed to fighting back against USS’s attempts at intimidation and bullying, and will continue to defend our rights even as USS tries to silence us.

In solidarity,

Mike Millsap
District 7 Director & Chairman of the Negotiating Committee

David McCall
International President