Steel Mills

USW to Vote on Tentative Pact with Cliffs Mid-October

September 13, 2022

Ratification votes on the new labor deal between Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers (USW) are to begin Oct. 12, a union representative told Steel Market Update.

The two sides agreed to a new, tentative four-year contract nearly three weeks ago.

The new deal is effective Sept. 1 but does not go into effect unless a majority of the members represented under the new bargaining agreement vote in favor of it.

USW leadership representing the 12,000 union members across Cleveland-Cliffs’ steelmaking facilities cheered the tentative deal, encouraging members to vote favorably on the agreement.

Not included under this agreement are Cliffs’ Dearborn Works in Michigan and Rockport Works in Indiana, whose workers are represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

Cliffs also reached a tentative agreement with the USW on a new, 47-month labor contract for its mining and pelletizing operations on Friday, Sept. 9

That deal is effective Oct. 1 but does not go into effect unless a majority of the 2,000 union members represented under that new bargaining agreement vote in favor of it.

Tentative or ratified labor contracts have been reached at Canadian steelmakers Algoma and Stelco as well. The only outstanding labor talks are between the USW and US Steel.

A prior agreement between the union and the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker expired on Sept. 1. Negotiations have extended past the deadline.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMaketUpdate.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.