Market Segment
USW Rejects Bonus and Healthcare Proposal from U.S. Steel
Written by Sandy Williams
August 21, 2018
The United Steelworkers (USW) has rejected a proposal by U.S. Steel that would provide variable bonuses instead of pay raises.
“We made it clear to the company that wage increases must be part of our new agreement and that we aren’t interested in the types of variable bonuses schemes that the company has been proposing in place of hourly increases,” said the USW in an update to its members. “We simply can’t rely on hypothetical income when our families have ever-increasing living expenses that we have to meet.”
Workers agreed three years ago to accept flat wages, but a reinvigorated market is cause for wage increases in the new contract, said union members.
“We already agreed to go three years without an hourly wage increase,” the union said in an update to members. “We know that made sense in 2015, but these are very different times. Even while our wages were frozen, U.S. Steel management revised their compensation programs and gave themselves bonuses while the company lost money. Now that the company is in a position to do well in the coming years, we must make sure that workers also share in that prosperity. We’ll need you to stand with us to make that happen.”
A proposed increase by U.S. Steel in health care costs for current and future retirees was also rejected.
Sandy Williams
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