President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris wave to the crowd during a campaign event at IBEW Local Union #5 Sept. 2, 2024 in Pittsburgh.(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH — Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, told an audience of union workers on Monday that she believes that Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel should remain domestically owned and operated, echoing a pledge President Joe Biden made earlier this year.
“The President mentioned it: U.S. Steel is an historic American company, and it is vital for our nation to maintain a strong American steel company,” Harris said. “I couldn’t agree more with President Biden: U.S. Steel should remain in American hands.”
Japan-based Nippon Steel proposed to buy the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker last December, in a deal valued at $14.9 billion.
Harris also said she would pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would amend the National Labor Relations Act to provide additional supports for workers.
Biden and Harris spoke at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Hall on Pittsburgh’s South Side, appearing together on the campaign trail for the first time since he dropped his reelection bid in July and endorsed her candidacy for president.
Harris called Pittsburgh the “cradle of the American labor movement,” and said the region was also shaping labor’s future. “Pittsburgh, together, we are fighting to build an economy that works for all working people.”
Biden makes unions and steel the focus of his first 2024 visit to Pittsburgh
Former President Donald Trump, Harris said, had blocked overtime benefits and efforts to raise the minimum wage as president, and “appointed union busters to the National Labor Relations Board – and don’t forget his support of so-called ‘right to work’ laws,” she said. “If Donald Trump were to be reelected, he intends to give more tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations.”
Biden took the stage to chants of “Thank you, Joe!” after an introduction from IBEW president Kenny Cooper, who said the president had been a reliable friend to labor. Biden said he was “honored to be considered the most pro-union president ever,” and reiterated his position on U.S. Steel.
“I believe in American steel companies – American owned and operated steel companies,” Biden said.
Trump would “rather cross a picket line than walk one,” Biden said. “But I have no problem walking a picket line.” Biden is believed to be the first sitting president ever to walk a picket line when he joined striking UAW workers in Michigan last year. Harris walked a picket line with UAW workers in 2019.
Biden referenced his great-grandfather, who he said was accused of being a member of the mysterious “Molly Maguires,” a group of Irish immigrants blamed for killing coal mine foremen in the 1800s.
“They accused my great-grandfather of being a Molly, when he wasn’t, but we were so damn disappointed,” Biden said, adding “that’s a joke.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who took the stage briefly before Biden and Harris — promising “I’ll be your governor for a long time” — noted his first executive order as governor was to remove the requirements for college degrees for more than 60,000 state jobs.
“Here in Pennsylvania, we value the skill, experience and know-how you bring into the world every day,” he said. “Whether you want to be a laborer or a lawyer, we respect both pathways to opportunity.”
Eugene DePasquale, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania attorney general, said Monday that opposing the sale of U.S. Steel was the right thing for the region and the country.
“We’ve got to stop thinking about everything being something more for corporate America, making more for shareholders,” he told the Capital-Star. “What about the workers? What about the community? And for, I think, too long, both parties in the 80s and 90s forgot that stuff, and I think the Biden administration has done a better job for us, looking about what’s best for workers in the community.”
Criticism of U.S. Steel proposed sale to Nippon
Biden said in March it was “vital” for U.S. Steel to remain owned and operated by Americans, a stance he reiterated during an April campaign visit to the U.S. Steelworkers in Pittsburgh.
The deal has drawn the ire of both Pennsylvania Democratic elected officials and the United Steelworkers, the union representing workers at the company, who have said the company did not consult them about the sale ahead of time.
U.S. Steel: Fetterman, Casey criticize the company’s proposed $14B sale to Nippon Steel
U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-17th District) wrote a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shortly after the deal’s announcement in December asking the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) to block the deal, saying the committee should consider whether the merger would cede control of a key domestic industry to a foreign interest.
Japan is not a foreign adversary of the U.S., but Nippon does business and operates facilities in China, the lawmakers noted in their letter. A U.S. Department of Commerce investigation found Nippon sold some products below market value, the lawmakers noted.
Shapiro said during a Yellen visit to Pennsylvania in July that he was not “happy” with the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel.
“If the U.S. Steelworkers aren’t happy with this deal, which they are not, I’m not happy with this deal,” Shapiro said at the time.
U.S. Steel shareholders voted to approve the sale to Nippon in April.
David McCall, International president of the United Steelworkers, praised Harris’ remarks in a statement Monday. “Union workers built this nation, and our union is proud to support the toughest, most pro-worker candidate in this race: Vice President Kamala Harris,” McCall said. “Today, she once again made it clear that she will always stand up for Steelworkers and have our backs.”
Biden’s frequent Labor Day visits to Pennsylvania
The address to a union audience continued a Labor Day tradition for Biden; the Scranton native often spent the holiday in Pennsylvania. On Labor Day 2023, he touted his labor bona fides during a visit to Philadelphia, and as vice president, Biden was a frequent guest at Pittsburgh’s annual Labor Day parade.
“You always get to the cookout a little bit later because the parade takes a little longer,” when Biden attends, DePasquale said Monday. “It’s always special when he comes here. It also lets you know how important Pittsburgh is.”
As Biden and Harris campaigned in Pittsburgh, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, was in Wisconsin for the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s Laborfest.
Trump and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, the GOP vice presidential nominee, did not have public appearances scheduled for Labor Day.
Trump posted a message to his Truth Social platform wishing a “Happy Labor Day to all of our American Workers who represent the Shining Example of Hard Work and Ingenuity,” and touted his administration’s passage of the bipartisan United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA).
The latest presidential polling finds Harris with a razor-thin lead over Trump in Pennsylvania. Its 19 electoral votes make it an important prize for both presidential candidates.
Before introducing Harris, Biden repeated his now-familiar praise, that she was the “best decision I ever made,” as president.
“We’ve made a lot of progress, and Kamala and I are going to build on that progress,” he said, before quickly correcting himself. “She’s going to build on it. I’ll be on the sidelines doing what I can to help.”
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