PITTSBURGH - Leaders of the United
Steelworkers are expressing their concerns with the proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of
Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel.
In
a letter to union members, USW International President David McCall and
Negotiating Committee Chairman Mike Millsap said officials from both companies
did not have answers to their questions about the future during a meeting on
Friday.
The
union said the proposed sale was sprung on the union on Dec. 18 when the deal
was announced.
“Neither
Nippon or USS contacted the union prior to the announcement, which is a
violation of many sections of our labor agreement that require USS to provide
us information about critical developments,” the union said.
When
the sale was announced, Nippon said it would honor all collective bargaining
agreements in place, but the union said simply saying that does not satisfy the
conditions of their Basic Labor Agreement.
“Our
contracts include extensive commitments to pensions and retiree health care,
promised capital expenditures, Program of Insurance Benefits, local agreements,
past practices and more,” the union said. “We intend to enforce the full
measure of our current contracts, and obviously we are also concerned about any
buyer making promises to stand behind our benefits..
The
union also noted that Nippon representatives said they would not publicly
report financial results for U.S. Steel, which “has a direct impact on our
ability to verify Profit Sharing payments.”