ArcelorMittal workers in the US authorise USW to call for strike

28 August 2008

Members of the United Steelworkers union yesterday voted to give it authority to call a strike if necessary against ArcelorMittal plants in the US if there is no progress in the ongoing negotiations with the company.

This comes after four months of negotiations with the company to reach a new agreement, which according to USW union has led nowhere and the union had asked its 14,000 members at the ArcelorMittal facilities in the US to approve the strike authorisation.

The current labour agreement between the United Steelworkers and ArcelorMittal will expire on September 1 2008.

The union has been negotiating with Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal over a new labour contract that would cover more than 14,000 workers and tens of thousands of retirees.

The union seeks a reduction in retiree health care premiums and greater contributions to a fund for retiree benefits. Investment in plants is also one of the outstanding issues. The union is fighting company proposals to reduce incentive payments and profit sharing.

Earlier this month, steelworkers successfully negotiated a 4-year contract with U S Steel that covers 16,000 workers. That deal includes significant wage, bonus and pension increases, as well as investments in U. S. plants.