ArcelorMittal and the United Steelworkers that represent steelworkers at the company's 14 US plants have reached a tentative four-year wage agreement.

This comes after 14,000 production, maintenance and clerical employees, members of the United Steelworkers union, voted last week authorising it to call a strike if necessary if a contract wasn't reached with ArcelorMittal before the expiry of the current agreement on 1 September. (See: ArcelorMittal workers in the US authorise USW to call for strike) 

The union members will review and discuss the proposed contract over the next several weeks before taking a final vote on the deal,

Details of the agreement will be distributed to the employees, who will review and discuss the proposed contract over the next several weeks and then vote to ratify the agreement by mail-in ballot, which may take up to 30 days.

NSW and the company have agreed to continue operations at all the plants in the US till the ratification process is concluded.

The NSW, which earlier this month successfully concluded negotiations on a 4-year contract with ArcelorMittal's rival, 'United States Steel Corporation' covering 16,000 workers, had set a new standard for the integrated steel industry in the US were looking for a similar contract with ArcelorMittal.

According to media reports the tentative agreement which was arrived by ArcelorMittal and NSW provides for a lump sum payment of $6,000, plus a $1 hourly increase in the first year and 4 per cent increases in each of the following three years.

The agreement also provides for an increase in the company's contribution to pensions for current workers and increases for retirees; fixed health care contributions through the life of the contract; and a $3 billion capital investment in ArcelorMittal plants.

NSW represents 850,000 workers in the United States and Canada. Its members work in the metals, rubber, chemicals, paper and oil refining industries, as well as in the service and public sectors.

"Our members and retirees at ArcelorMittal now have the opportunity to enjoy the employment security, economic security and retirement security they earned through years of hard work and sacrifice," said USW International president Leo W Gerard. "These members' unwavering, long-term solidarity and support for our bargaining committee has been rewarded."

USW District 1 Director David McCall, who serves as chairman of the USW's ArcelorMittal negotiating committee, said that the solidarity of the union membership during the past four months of negotiations, and especially over the past several days, was absolutely crucial to achieving fairness at the bargaining table.

"We believe that ratification of the proposed agreement is a major step toward raising the industry standard in wages, benefits and other contractual protections without sacrificing the long term viability of ArcelorMittal in a competitive market," he said.

"I'd like to thank our local union leadership for their unwavering solidarity," McCall said, "our support staff and headquarters technicians for their talent and dedication, and most of all, our members and retirees for their commitment to keeping our proud traditions of union activism and steelmaking alive in their communities for over 100 years."

The two sides have been negotiating since April. Points of disagreement included a proposed 39 per cent increase in health- care premiums for retirees, the union said in an 26 August letter urging members to approve a strike.

ArcelorMittal with its headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands produces about 120 million tons of steel annually making it the world's largest steel producer and accounts for 10 per cent of the world's steel output.

It employs over 320,000 people in 62 countries and its sales last year were $105.2 million.