· USW
President McCall says Biden will speak with his members
· Nippon
Steel will hold Q&A with Citi to discuss US Steel deal
President Joe
Biden will meet with some 200 steelworkers in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to
address an important constituency for both him and his political rival ahead of
November’s presidential election.
Biden will speak in a large
room on the fourth floor of the United Steelworkers historic headquarters in
downtown Pittsburgh, giving him a chance to address the largest industrial union
in North America, union President David McCall said Tuesday in a phone
interview.
The visit comes as the union
fights a high-profile battle against Nippon Steel Corp. on the future of United States
Steel Corp., which agreed in December to a $14.1 billion takeover by the
Japanese steelmaker. Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald
Trump have both courted steelworkers, who hold sway over critical swing
states that may decide the outcome of the election. Any direct interactions
with those blue-collar workers is seen as a critical public appearance.
McCall said he plans to raise
the US Steel takeover with Biden as well as other subjects that affect his
union membership.
“I’ll talk to him about the issue we face with Nippon, maybe talk to him about
the shipbuilding petition we put in, and thank him for the infrastructure bill
and IRA, as we’re starting to get some of that funding for the companies that
need it and some of their future employers,” McCall said.
Read More: US Steel Shareholders Approve Nippon Steel’s Takeover Offer
The Nippon Steel-US Steel deal
remains a focus as the US pivots to the general election cycle. Tensions were
on display last week as Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made an
official state visit to the White House, where strengthening economic and defense
ties between the two nations topped the agenda.
Nippon Steel is participating
in a question-and-answer session Wednesday with Citigroup Inc., the first time
in weeks the Japanese company will have spoken to US Steel investors in any
significant way, according to several people familiar with the event. It’s
unclear what Nippon Steel will discuss or what its next offer to the union
might be.
Meanwhile, USW’s McCall wrote
in a letter two weeks ago to Nippon Steel that if the company wanted to meet
and discuss the status of its takeover the union would do so. McCall has told
Bloomberg that since that letter the company has been in touch to arrange a
meeting. McCall said Nippon Steel Vice President Takahiro Mori said
he’d get back soon with recommendations.
“There’s nothing scheduled and
nothing planned,” McCall said, adding that there hasn’t been any further
correspondence between the two sides since last week’s state visit. “They
should take no for an answer.”