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Cliffs and USW Agree to Short-term Labor Contract Extension
08/31/2012 - Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. announced a short-term extension of its labor contract with the United Steelworkers (USW) since both parties have not reached a new agreement.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. announced a short-term extension of its labor contract with the United Steelworkers (USW) since both parties have not reached a new agreement. The parties have agreed that the Union will not strike and the company will not lock out until 48 hours after providing written notice to the other party of their intent to be released from this no strike/no lockout commitment.
The contract extension covers approximately 2,400 USW-represented workers at Cliffs’ Empire and Tilden mines in Michigan, and its United Taconite and Hibbing Taconite mines in Minnesota. The extension will keep the mines operating while negotiations continue. The company began this round of collective bargaining with the United Steelworkers in early May with the objective of reaching a new labor agreement.
Cliffs stated that the company remains committed to the negotiation process and intends to reach a fair and equitable agreement.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. is an international mining and natural resources company. A member of the S&P 500 Index, the Company is a major global iron ore producer and a significant producer of high- and low-volatile metallurgical coal. Cliffs’ strategy is to continually achieve greater scale and diversification in the mining industry through a focus on serving the world’s largest and fastest growing steel markets. Driven by the core values of social, environmental and capital stewardship, Cliffs associates across the globe endeavor to provide all stakeholders operating and financial transparency.
The company is organized through a global commercial group responsible for sales and delivery of Cliffs products and a global operations group responsible for the production of the minerals the Company markets. Cliffs operates iron ore and coal mines in North America and two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia. In addition, Cliffs has a major chromite project, in the feasibility stage of development, located in Ontario, Canada.
