Steel Mills
Canacero urges end to strike at ArcelorMittal Mexico
Written by Laura Miller
June 12, 2024
Canacero has weighed in on the workers’ protest at ArcelorMittal Mexico’s Lazaro Cardenas mill, urging a quick resolution to the dispute.
Since May 24, Sindicato Minero union members have been protesting profit-sharing payments, blocking the entrances to the company’s mill and mine. ArcelorMittal has said the strike is illegal as it began before the union served the company a sanctioned strike warning. Official notice of a strike coming on June 11 came after workers had already begun demonstrating.
Mexico’s steel association Canacero condemned the strike, noting that it lacks legal basis.
The plant’s operations have been seriously affected, and its future compromised, Canacero said in a statement on June 10. The steelmaker was forced to shut down the mill’s blast furnace and, as of June 5, had already reported a production loss of 100,000 tons.
The mill has an annual steelmaking capacity of approximately 5.3 million metric tons (mt) (5.84 million short tons), including 2.5 million mt of flat steel, 1.8 million mt of long products, and 1 million mt of slabs.
SMU has been unable to reach ArcelorMittal Mexico, and the company has made no public statement since last week.
Mexico City-based Canacero said this is an important time for Mexico as a whole. It highlighted the current nearshoring trend benefiting the country and the need for all parties to maintain an environment attractive to investors.
It called on ArcelorMittal and the union to quickly come to a resolution.
The unionized members of the Lazaro Cardenas mill on Michoacan’s west coast are not new to protesting. In 2022, workers went on strike, also over profit sharing. Workers took to the picket lines for two weeks in 2016, objecting to job cuts and idled operations. And in 2009, a month-long strike took place over wages and benefits.
Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Steel Mills
U.S. Steel sues Algoma over iron pellet shipments
U.S. Steel is suing Algoma over the Canadian flat-rolled producer's rejection of iron pellet shipments, arguing it has breached its contract.
August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.
TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.
Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.