Union ratifies contract with U.S. Steel
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Members of the United Steelworkers union have ratified a four-year contract with Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X). Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report the new contract boosts pay and improves benefits for 11,000 members throughout the country, including at the Gary Works plant and Midwest Plant in Portage.
The new contract includes 5% annual wage increases, as well as $4,000 bonuses, an additional holiday, new parental leave, improved vacation, enhanced retirement benefits, and healthcare coverage improvements that include no premiums, according to the publication.
“We fought back against the company’s schemes to weaken our contract and change our benefits,” USW International President Thomas Conway told The Times. “As a result, our members have won major economic and contract language improvements that will improve the standard of living of USW members and their families.”
The coverage of the contract is retroactive to September 1.
The previous contract expired last fall, and union members held multiple rallies throughout the country. Among them was a rally at Avalon Manor in Hobart where U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt was giving a speech.
Burritt said in a statement he is pleased to have reached an agreement, which balances “the needs of our employees, customers, stockholders and stakeholders.”
In August, U.S. Steel announced it was giving bonus checks of up to $14,000 to its employees based on the company’s record $1.1 billion in second-quarter earnings. Earlier in the year, Burritt visited Gary Works to celebrate the beginning of construction on a $60 million pig iron caster.
However, the company’s northwest Indiana operations have seen some difficulties this year. In October, U.S. Steel announced it was idling its entire tin operation at Gary Works indefinitely – just six weeks after it had titled its No. 5 tin line – citing changes in the tin market.