Tensions mount in U.S. Steel, USW talks
Union wants bigger share of tariff-fattened profits
The United Steelworkers union has rejected U.S. Steel’s latest contract proposal and said time is running out for what union officials called “a frustrating series of negotiations.”
About 16,000 U.S. Steel workers covered by a contract that expired Sept. 1 have continued working under the terms of that agreement while talks continue. But statements from union leaders and rumblings among the rank and file indicate their patience with the Pittsburgh steel producer is wearing thin.
“We’re going to keep trying for a few more days to be sure we’ve exhausted every chance to avoid a strike, but soon your local leadership will be back home to walk through the next steps with you,” USW officials said in a statement Tuesday.
U.S. Steel’s most recent six-year proposal increased pay raises in the last five years to 3 percent annually versus 2 percent in its prior offer.
The company withdrew an offer of $10,000 in cash payments — including $6,000 in profit sharing that union members said they were already entitled to — that were contingent on a contract being ratified by Saturday. The provision was replaced with a $3,000 ratification bonus and a $3,000 lump sum bonus in 2021 to employees with pension benefits.
The Saturday ratification deadline was removed from the company’s latest offer.
“Our goal is to continue to negotiate and work with the USW toward a mutually agreeable conclusion,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Union members, who had agreed to freeze their wages over the three years covered by the expired contract, were expecting a more generous offer considering how much President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on steel imports have fattened industry profits.
USW leaders said the latest proposal would allow U.S. Steel to raid a union retiree benefit fund to pay supplemental unemployment benefits, severance, and health care benefits when employees are laid off. The union statement on Tuesday described the proposal as a shell game “run by genuine shysters.”
Union officials who asked to remain anonymous because they are not supposed to talk with the media
said USW president Leo Gerard and Tom Conway, the union’s chief negotiator, reportedly are seeking a meeting this week with U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt.
A U.S. Steel spokeswoman and a USW spokesman declined to respond directly to a question about those reports.
Mr. Conway put the chances of a strike at 90 percent in an interview with the Washington Post this week.
Labor unrest comes at an inopportune time for U.S. Steel, which like other domestic steelmakers is riding high on the strength of Mr. Trump’s tariffs.
The company boosted its capacity by restarting blast furnaces at its Granite City, Ill., plant this year to take advantage of the import penalties. The tariffs have caused prices for domestically made steel to rise dramatically, although they have edged off in recent weeks.
Industry analysts say it would be inconceivable for the company not to make peace with the union when business is so good.
Many in the industry are not expecting a work stoppage and steel buyers with low inventories could be hurt by an extended shutdown.
The USW announced earlier this month that its members had overwhelmingly voted to give union leaders authority to strike U.S. Steel on 48-hour notice. About 15,000 USW members who work at the U.S. plants of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel producer, approved a similar measure this week.
Their contract also expired Sept. 1.