Steel Mills

USW and ArcelorMittal Take Holiday Break in Negotiations

December 20, 2015

SMU anticipates that with US Steel and the USW coming to a tentative agreement that it is only a matter of time before the ArcelorMittal negotiations will also come to a resolution, most likely very similar to the one negotiated at USS. The union has not yet voted on the USS package and, if there are concessions by the union, there is no guarantee that the union members will ratify the contract. We assume AM will be watching the USS developments very closely.

In the meantime, USW ArcelorMittal talks will break for the holidays and resume on January 4, 2016. In an update to the membership, workers were told “although we have made some progress and reached agreement on some issues, the major issues still remain unresolved.”

According to the USW, the solutions the union has offered to reduce production costs and labor costs have been ignored in favor of “concessions that far exceed their needs.”

Wrote the union in its message, “Our proposals would protect our benefits and save the company millions of dollars per year in administrative costs. We have also offered proposals that would save millions of dollars per year in operational costs, while protecting the jobs and earnings of our members.”

The union vowed to continue its fight against unfair trade and remain united against unfair and unnecessary concessions demanded by ArcelorMittal management.

The retirements of ArcelorMittal Americas CEO Lou Schorsch and Andy Harshaw, CEO ArcelorMittal USA, are not expected to impact contract negotiations.

The issues before the negotiating committee are listed below: