Lake Erie Plant Employees Ratify New Collective Bargaining Agreement
04/16/2010 - United Steelworkers Local Union 8782 has ratified a new three-year labor contract for employees at U. S. Steel Canada Inc.'s Lake Erie Plant.
United Steelworkers (USW) Local Union 8782 has ratified a new three-year labor contract for employees at U. S. Steel Canada Inc.'s Lake Erie Plant.
The two sides had announced a tentative agreement late last week, and details of the contract were presented to workers on Monday, April 12. According to the USW, Lake Erie Works employees were locked out by U.S. Steel beginning on August 3, 2009.
"We are pleased that the Lake Erie Plant employees represented by United Steelworkers Local Union 8782 have ratified a new three-year contract," said U. S. Steel Canada President David J. Rintoul. "The agreement addresses issues of importance to both the union and the company. Most significantly, the agreement mitigates the issue of the underfunded defined benefit pension plan by closing that plan to new entrants.
“This important step will significantly improve the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the Lake Erie Plant relative to the rest of the North American steel industry,” added Rintoul. “We look forward to restarting the operations at the Lake Erie Plant expeditiously, consistent with the status of the facilities and, as always, the safety of our employees and the protection of the environment.”
U. S. Steel Canada Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of United States Steel Corp., an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada and Central Europe and an annual raw steelmaking capability of 31.7 million net tons. The company manufactures a wide range of value-added steel sheet and tubular products for the automotive, appliance, container, industrial machinery, construction, and oil and gas industries.
