{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-durbin-budzinski-demand-answers-from-nippon-steel-on-commitments-to-granite-city", "Duckworth, Durbin, Budzinski Demand Answers from Nippon Steel on Commitments to Granite City", "2023-12-22", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Tammy Duckworth", "D000622", "www.duckworth.senate.gov", "duckworth", "https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "[SPRINGFIELD, IL] \u2014 This week, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) in sending a letter to Nippon Steel pushing the company for commitments to Granite City steelworkers during its proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel. In their letter, Duckworth, Durbin and Budzinski demanded answers from Nippon Steel on their intentions with existing operations and facilities in Illinois, details on worker retention and any proposed layoffs and their plans for Granite City Works.\n\n\u201cWe write today to express deep concerns with Nippon Steel\u2019s plans to acquire U.S. Steel Corporation, particularly with respect to the deal\u2019s impact on Illinois steelworkers. Given the critical importance of the steel industry to our region and the long history of union labor driving U.S. Steel to global prominence, it is essential that any company that plans to do business with U.S. Steel have a full understanding of the company\u2019s legal commitments to its workers under collectively bargained agreements, maintain those commitments, and ensure that workers are protected in the next phase of the company\u2019s future,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found here and below:\n\nDecember 21, 2023\n\nMr. Eiji Hashimoto\n\nPresident\n\nNippon Steel Corporation\n\n6-1, Marunouchi 2-chome\n\nChiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan\n\nWe write today to express deep concerns with Nippon Steel\u2019s plans to acquire U.S. Steel Corporation, particularly with respect to the deal\u2019s impact on Illinois steelworkers. Given the critical importance of the steel industry to our region and the long history of union labor driving U.S. Steel to global prominence, it is essential that any company that plans to do business with U.S. Steel have a full understanding of the company\u2019s legal commitments to its workers under collectively bargained agreements, maintain those commitments, and ensure that workers are protected in the next phase of the company\u2019s future.\n\nThe surprise announcement of the sale of U.S. Steel on the morning of December 18 was another chapter in a long story of the company undercutting both workers and their community in recent years. Workers at the Granite City Works facility have built their lives and livelihoods around the facility for 128 years, and, in return, the company abruptly announced in September that they were \u201ctemporarily\u201d laying off 400 workers and idling a blast furnace\u2014a move now being investigated by the Illinois Department of Labor to ensure compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. In November, the company announced plans to temporarily idle the last remaining blast furnace at the facility, resulting in an additional 600 layoffs.\n\nWe are also troubled by reported remarks by a Nippon Steel executive in which the executive noted that Nippon is \u201csupportive of the U.S. Steel plan for production in the future.\u201d The executive went on to say that \u201cU.S. Steel is planning to shift some quantity from the other mills to Big River Steel 2\u201d in Arkansas and that Nippon is \u201cthinking or planning to follow that plan.\u201d A shift in jobs and operations from Granite City Works to Big River Steel would undermine the union labor force at the Granite City facility, and have devastating impacts on the surrounding community.\n\nIt is crucial that any company that wishes to acquire U.S. Steel, including the Granite City Works facility, honors their commitments to steelworkers and ensures that our industrial base \u2013 the driver of our regional economies \u2013 remains strong. We request further information on Nippon Steel\u2019s proposal to acquire U.S. Steel and its assets in the event of a successful acquisition, and how that potential acquisition would impact steelworkers in Illinois. To that end, we have the following questions:\n\nHow does Nippon Steel plan to move forward with U.S. Steel\u2019s existing operations and facilities in Illinois?\n\nHow many U.S. Steel workers does Nippon plan to retain, both in the short- and long-term?\n\nHow many workers, if any, does Nippon plan to lay off in the event of a successful acquisition?\n\nWhat commitments can Nippon Steel make about its future operations in Illinois, particularly as it relates to the Granite City Works facility?\n\nWhat outreach did Nippon Steel conduct to stakeholders across sectors, including the United Steelworkers and state and community leaders, prior to going public with the planned acquisition?\n\nThank you in advance for your timely response to these questions. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions as they arise.\n\nRespectfully,\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-durbin-budzinski-demand-answers-from-nippon-steel-on-commitments-to-granite-city"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 10.728874010965228, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}