The Disconnect
For as long as there has been a Democratic Party, there has been the belief especially among Democrats that they represent blue-collar workers. With the election of Trump for a second time, that has been proven not to be true. But it really hasn’t been true for quite some time as is evident by the rise of Republicans in many different blue-collar districts that were once solidly Democratic.
Since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House, the government has tried to keep U.S. Steel in business to preserve jobs for American workers by various tariffs, subsidies, and quotas. All to no avail. In 1943 at the height of WW II, the company had 340,000 employees while today there are 22,000 and shrinking.
The company is a perfect example of why the government should stay out of markets. They make them less efficient. By stopping the purchase of the company by Nippon, Biden showed how union bosses and supposedly the people they represent aren’t always in alignment. To be fair to the Dems, incoming President Trump also said he was not in favor of the purchase.
U.S. Steel put itself on the market. No other American firm bid. Japanese-owned Nippon Steel pledged to invest $2.7 billion for new blast furnaces in the older mills, honor all union contracts, and not close any plants including giving the government veto power for the next decade. It sounds like a win for the shareholders of the public company, both union and non-union employees, and America. Then why did President Biden kill it over the objections of his advisors.
The Japanese company has been operating mills in the U.S. for more than 40 years. Japan is our key ally in East Asia and a reliable trading partner. It isn’t as if they would spend all this money to modernize and then look to close plants in the future.
As usual, the decision was not because it was best for the “working man.” The union bosses are mad because Nippon did not include them in the negotiation with the company even though they are recognizing the unions’ contracts. They would rather have no deal to preserve jobs because the union hierarchy believes they were slighted.
Biden had plenty of time to kill the deal before the election. Why did he do it two weeks before leaving office? I guess a payback for union support. It wasn’t because the rank and file will be better off or even turned out for him in the election.
Should Trump come back in and try to resurrect the sale? If he wants to deliver for those who voted for him he should. Or will he allow his xenophobia to rule the day?
Probably within the next few years, some of the plants will close and workers will lose their jobs because of this action. That is the Democrats’ legacy…kow-tow to union chiefs and forget about the union members themselves. Is there any wonder why Trump won in the places these plants are located?
At the same time, Trump and the Republicans need to put aside ideology and do what is best for American companies, their employees, and the American people. The Japanese are not China or Russia. The plants are not going to be disassembled and sent to Japan. During round two of the Trump presidency, are we going to see his myopic vision or his being a statesman? I hope for the latter, but I fear the former.