Steel Mills

USW To Begin Master Negotiations With US Steel Next Week

July 7, 2022

The United Steelworkers (USW) is preparing to start master contract bargaining with US Steel in the first half of July, according to communications sent to union members.

USW Local union chapters will send representatives to the master negotiations, which are being held in Pittsburgh and which will likely begin next week, a union spokesman told Steel Market Update (SMU).

A US Steel spokesperson confirmed that timeline.

The USW’s current labor pact with the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker expires on Sept. 1.

Talks will focus on (among other things) pay, healthcare, pensions, profit sharing, and job security, the union said.

The master contract negotiations cover the locations below. Also listed is what products those operations make:

Local 1299, Great Lakes Works, Ecorse, Mich.: pickled, cold-rolled and galvanized sheet
Local 1014, Gary Eastside; Gary, Ind.: hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized sheet as well as tin mill products and strip mill plate
Local 1066, Gary Westside; Gary, Ind.: hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized sheet as well as tin mill products and strip mill plate
Local 2695, Gary Works/Midwest; Gary/Portage, Ind.: hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, tin mill products and strip mill plate
Local 6103, Midwest; Portage, Ind.: cold rolled, galvanized, electrical lamination steels, and tin mill products
Local 1899, Granite City Works; Granite City, Ill.: hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated sheet
Local 1013, Fairfield Tubular Operations; Fairfield, Ala.: seamless steel line pipe, standard pipe and OCTG
Local 2122, Fairfield Works; Fairfield, Ala.: galvanized and Galvalume sheet
Local 1219, Mon Valley Works – Edgar Thomson Plant; Braddock, Pa.: slab
Local 1557, Mon Valley Works – Clairton Plant; Clairton, Pa.: coke
Local 2227, Mon Valley Works – Irvin Plant; West Mifflin, Pa.: hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheet
Local 2227-1, Mon Valley Works; Mon Valley, Pa.
Local 4889, Mon Valley Works – Fairless Plant; Fairless Hills, Pa.: cold rolled and galvanized sheet
Local 1938, Minnesota Ore Operations – Minntac; Mt. Iron, Minn.: iron ore pellets
Local 2660, Minnesota Ore Operations – Keetac; Keewatin, Minn.: iron ore pellets
Local 1104, Lorain Tubular Operations; Lorain, Ohio: seamless line pipe, standard pipe and OCTG (indefinitely idled in 2020)

Excluded from master contract bargaining is Big River Steel Works, US Steel’s non-union electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Osceola, Ark.

Talks between the USW and Cleveland-Cliffs are also scheduled to begin in mid-July.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.