Company Announcements
April 30, 2026
USW, U.S. Steel contract talks to start later this summer
Written by Ethan Bernard
Negotiations between the United Steelworkers (USW) union and U.S. Steel will not begin early, according to a text message to union members obtained by SMU.
“Earlier this month, USS top leadership requested a meeting with us where they raised the idea of going into bargaining early,” the message states.
“Over the past several weeks, we’ve had a back-and-forth with the company around the potential parameters that would be needed for early bargaining to work,” it continued.
However, the parties were not able to come to an agreement over certain assurances around healthcare.
“Therefore, bargaining will take place as usual, starting later this summer,” the text said.
The USW’s four-year contracts with both Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel and Cleveland-based Cleveland-Cliffs expire on Sept. 1.
Since the last contract, USS was acquired by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel. The USW had preferred an offer from Cleveland-Cliffs for U.S. Steel and opposed the Nippon deal.
Additionally, President Trump now holds a “golden share” in USS, which gives him veto rights over certain company decisions.
And the USW has also had a change in leadership. Roxanne Brown became its new international president in March, succeeding David McCall.
Requests for comment from the USW and USS were not returned by time of publication.
