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    Company Announcements

    November 6, 2026

    Cliffs, USW reach tentative four-year labor deal

    Written by Michael Cowden

    Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers (USW) announced on Friday that they had reached a tentative deal for a new, four-year labor pact.

    The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the agreement covered approximately 12,000 USW members in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Michigan. The company noted that the deal included not only workers at its steel plants but also those at its mining operations—in other words, all of its USW labor contracts up for renewal.

    Michael Cowden

    Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

    Read more from Michael Cowden

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