Steelworkers lose arbitration case against US Steel in their bid to derail sale to Nippon

An arbitration board has ruled that U.S. Steel may proceed with its proposed acquisition by Nippon Steel, a deal that faces strong opposition from its workforce.

The board, which was jointly chosen by U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers to decide disputes between them, said Wednesday that U. S. Steel has satisfied each of the conditions of the successorship clause of its basic labor agreement with the union and that no further action under the agreement was necessary in order to proceed with the closing of the proposed transaction with Nippon Steel.

USW had filed a series of grievances in January alleging that the successorship clause had not been satisfied. The union has previously stated that it doesn’t believe Nippon fully understands its commitment to steelworkers, retirees and its communities. USW has expressed concern about the enforcement of its labor agreements, having transparency into Nippon’s finances, as well as national defense, infrastructure and supply chain issues.

The arbitration board heard evidence and arguments from U.S. Steel and USW last month.

The board said Wednesday that it recognized the repeated written commitments Nippon made to fulfill the requirements of the successorship clause and that no further actions were required by the company. The written commitments include Nippon’s pledge to invest at least $1.4 billion in USW-represented facilities, not to conduct layoffs or plant closings during the term of the basic labor agreement, and to protect the best interests of U.S. Steel in trade matters.

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