McCormick, Fetterman and HUD Secretary Turner tour Edgar Thompson works plant
U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman joined Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner on a tour of the Edgar Thompson works plant in Braddock on Friday.
Fetterman, a Democrat, and McCormick, a Republican, emerged from a tour of the 150-year-old plant touting its recent sale to Japan-based Nippon Steel.
"This Nippon-U.S. Steel partnership is great for our country, it's great for Pennsylvania," McCorcmick said.
"This way of life now has been effectively guaranteed now for decades to come," Fetterman said.
The long-awaited partnership between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel was finalized on June 18, with Nippon Steel promising to invest $14 billion into U.S. operations, with $2.4 billion set aside for operations in the Mon Valley. The partnership is expected to create more than 100,000 jobs throughout the U.S., including in the Mon Valley.
"You know when you create jobs, there's a housing need," Turner said.
Braddock is replete with rundown and blighted buildings and homes. Turner said the sale will go a long way in solving that issue. Turner and McCormick specifically say one thing stands in the way.
"When you have burdensome regulations, it cripples development, it cripples building," Turner said.
"It's all about supply, it's all about reducing regulations," McCormick said. "And that's going to be a big boost in supply. When there's a big boost in supply, people are going to be able to afford it."
Nippon says it will not cut production and honor present union contracts for the next 10 years. In May, however, United Steel Workers International President David McCall released a statement on Nippon's promises, saying:
"Issuing press releases and making political speeches is easy. Binding commitments are hard. The devil is always in the details.
"Our members know from decades of negotiating contracts: Trust nothing until you see it in writing."
