President McCall: ‘Nothing Can Stop Us When We Are All In’ 

International President David McCall opened the USW’s convention on Monday by calling on union members to fight back against wealthy elites who want to silence workers across North America.  

“To turn back the tide of economic injustice and corporate greed, we need to truly be all in,” McCall said. “We can hold nothing back, and we need every member to join in the fight – for as long as it takes.” 

In his keynote address to the 2025 USW International Constitutional Convention, McCall outlined the meaning behind the event’s theme, “All In,” explaining: “Being all in isn’t a one-time action – and it isn’t a bet. It’s our way of operating, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.” 

Sometimes, he noted, that work takes time, as in the case of Asarco, the mining giant that has picked fights with USW members in the Southwest for more than a decade. 

Still, he said, through collective strength, solidarity and commitment to the cause, those workers prevailed. “Through our unity and our determination, we’re balancing the scales against powerful foes,” he said.   

In his address, McCall celebrated the USW’s numerous bargaining, organizing and policy victories in the three years since the union’s last convention. Workers have successfully organized thousands of new members in mining, forestry, higher education, steel, health care, manufacturing and more, he said. 

McCall also pointed to anti-scab legislation USW members helped get passed in Canada as well as the repeal of so-called right-to-work legislation in Michigan as evidence of what workers can accomplish by being “All In.” 

Now, the unnecessary trade war that the Trump administration is waging on Canada has the potential to cost workers good jobs in both countries, McCall said.   

“Our union won’t stand for it,” he said. 

The wealthy few pulling the political strings will do everything they can to silence workers. They do so, McCall said, by trying to divide the working class so they fight with each other instead of fighting back. 

“It’s not just about helping the ultra-wealthy get wealthier,” he said. “It’s about making sure we don’t share in the wealth we create.” 

Solidarity is the only way working families win, McCall said, calling on USW members throughout North America to stand together against union-busting corporations and CEOs like Elon Musk. 

“They know how powerful we are when we’re united,” McCall said. 

The way to rebalance the scales of power, he said, is to use the collective voice of labor through organizing, bargaining, education and lobbying. 

“We are going to organize like hell,” McCall promised, urging USW members to mobilize their fellow workers through the union’s Women of Steel, Civil and Human Rights, Next Gen, Veterans of Steel and SOAR programs to make their voices heard. 

“We must flex our collective strength,” he said. “To make so much noise that they have no choice but to listen to us.”