[ad_1]
Updated 2 hours ago
The United Steelworkers Union announced on Monday that it had reached a compromise with US steel aimed at ending the threat of its first strike for three decades.
After six weeks of heated contract negotiations, Fortune 250, headquartered in downtown Pittsburgh, appears to have appeased union leaders representing the country's metalworkers.
"All members of this union must be proud of what we have accomplished," USW Vice President Tom Conway, chairman of the union's bargaining committee, said in a statement. "This group of workers resisted an extremely profitable business and claimed some of the success they helped create."
The four-year tentative contract proposal – still to be voted on by members at the locals over the next few weeks – would apply to about 14,000 steelworkers that the union represents in eight states.
US Steel President and CEO David B. Burritt said in a statement that the compromise was "fair and in the best long-term interest" of employees, customers and shareholders.
"Together we have agreed on conditions that will create certainty and stability for our many stakeholders; enable our company to implement our long-term business strategy, which includes responsible and ongoing investments in our teams and plants; and position US Steel to remain a leader in the highly competitive global steel industry, "said Bruitt.
USW spokesman RJ Hufnagel said union leaders representing 24 local chapters from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Texas extended their stay in downtown Pittsburgh last week as negotiators reached an agreement.
The union sent an alert message to members shortly before 3 pm On Monday, we announced the agreement in principle with US Steel and the unanimous recommendation of the bargaining committee.
Hufnagel said the revised contract proposal would extend until September 1, 2022. In the United States, Steel had originally proposed a six-year contract, with the union seeking to shorten the term of the contract.
"WE Steel started this process by emphasizing the deep concessions of a group of workers who had already made major sacrifices to help the company go through a very difficult time," said the president of the company. USW International, Leo W. Gerard, in a statement. "It is a proof of the strength of solidarity that these workers were able to speak with one voice and demand fair treatment. "
About 2,500 union members work in three US mills in western Pennsylvania – Clairton Coke Works, Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, and Irvin Works in West Mifflin.
They had asked for better wages and benefits than those originally proposed by US Steel after three years of wage freezes.
Their last contracts expired on September 1st. Both sides agreed to extend the talks.
Locals of local unions unanimously gave national negotiators the power to strike with 48 hours notice if bargaining continued to falter.
The officials stated that they would not disclose more details about the latest contract proposal until the members of the local union review and vote it.
RELATED: Unionized Workers at 3 US Mills in Western Pennsylvania Ready to Strike
Natasha Lindstrom is a writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Natasha at 412-380-8514, [email protected] or via Twitter @NewsNatasha.
[ad_2]
Source link
