Steel Mills
USW Ratifies Contract with U.S. Steel
Written by Sandy Williams
November 13, 2018
United Steelworkers voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new four-year contract with U.S. Steel. Workers will receive a 14 percent raise over the life of the contract, while keeping affordable health care coverage and gaining stronger retirement benefits.
“In 2015, workers recognized that the steel industry was struggling and agreed to make sacrifices so that U.S. Steel could get through some tough times,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “Now that the company has recovered and is projected to earn nearly $2 billion this year, workers rightly wanted a share of that success.”
“The strength and solidarity of the USW membership were the keys to achieving a fair agreement,” said USW International Vice President Tom Conway, chairman of the union’s U.S. Steel bargaining committee.
The contract covers 16,000 members at 14 U.S. Steel locations and is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2018.
“We believe these four-year agreements are fair and in the best long-term interest of all of our stakeholders. We are pleased to have reached this agreement with our USW represented employees,” said David B. Burritt, President and CEO of U.S. Steel.
A tentative contract with ArcelorMittal is currently under review by USW members and will be voted on soon.
Sandy Williams
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