The United Steelworkers (USW) union said it will not be bullied into accepting Nippon Steel Corp’s last-ditch efforts to win over workers for its takeover of US Steel Corp, calling the US$14.1 billion acquisition a “doomed deal” and pledging to fight any foreign ownership of the company. 

The memo, sent to “interested parties” including the White House on Thursday, is the latest in a public struggle to win hearts and minds as the fate of the deal hangs in the air, with US President Joe Biden’s threat to block it looming large.

“In its desperate attempt to save a doomed deal, US Steel executives have turned to one of the oldest tricks in the book - attempting to divide USW members and retirees to distract us from the multimillion-dollar payoffs they stand to gain personally,” union president Dave McCall wrote on Thursday in the memo, obtained by Bloomberg. “Union members and retirees remain steadfast in our opposition.”

This week, the two companies unveiled their correspondence with the USW to show how union leaders snubbed efforts to negotiate an agreement. That’s after the Pittsburgh-based company came out and warned that plants could be shut down if the sale fell through, prompting some workers to voice their support for a new owner.

“Many people profess to want what is best for our employees, and that is why we negotiated a deal with a partner who will bring US$2.7 billion of transformative investments in USW-represented facilities, keeping them in operation for decades to come,” US Steel said in a statement, when asked on Thursday for comment on the McCall memo. 

Nippon referred to a previous statement, saying the deal “will benefit American workers, local communities, and national security in a way no other alternative can”.

Biden is preparing to kill the deal once a referral from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or CFIUS, reaches his desk, people familiar with the matter said last week. As of Wednesday, the matter remained with the CFIUS. Biden has regularly said US Steel should remain domestically owned, which McCall echoed in his memo.

“We will not be bullied into going backward and accepting a bad deal,” McCall wrote. “Our commitment has never been more clear: Keep US Steel US-owned.” Nippon Steel Corp is a Japanese company.

McCall has long opposed the acquisition, as have Biden and former president Donald Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris announced her position on Labor Day, saying US Steel should remain domestically owned. 

The drama has played out as Pennsylvania, where US Steel is based, is considered a crucial prize by both Harris and Trump in the November presidential election. 

  - Bloomberg