Aug. 2, 2006 — Members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 8740 at Gerdau Ameristeel's Manitoba Metals have ratified a new five-year labor agreement by a 57% margin.

"We reached this settlement following two weeks of bargaining," said USW staff representative Tony Sproule. "We dealt with local management and no outside interference. That laid the groundwork for amicable negotiations and talks proceeded smoothly allowing us to settle in a relatively short amount of time."

The St. Andrews agreement provides a $750 signing bonus, annual wage increases totaling $2.15 to $3.55 an hour, a 30% pension increase, improved health and safety language and the creation of new maintenance positions that are likely to create new hiring. The agreement requires the company to provide work clothing, including parkas and all winter outerwear needed in the Manitoba winters. A new arbitration process will be established that should speed grievance handling and Gerdau will pay Health & Safety committee members during an annual 30-day leave for training purposes.

Although Gerdau Ameristeel and the USW reached this agreement at the St. Andrews, Man., mill, expired labor agreements have yet to be renewed at seven of the company’s U.S. facilities.

"It's time that Gerdau's chairman and CEO Jorge Johannpeter Gerdau come to the U.S. and get involved in negotiations before his Tampa management leads his company to ruin," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "We are not looking for a fight but Steelworkers will never run from one. Our negotiators have been very patient but our members at Gerdau are getting restless. It's time for Gerdau to push these union-busters out of the way so that we can settle the contracts, just like we did at St. Andrews."

Gerdau's seven expired labor agreements cover workers at Beaumont, Texas; Perth Amboy, N.J.; St. Paul, Minn.; Wilton, Iowa; and the three Sheffield Steel locations recently acquired at Joliet, Ill.; Sand Springs, Okla., and Kansas City, Mo.

Gerdau Ameristeel's Manitoba Metals is a scrap prep facility that serves as a feeder for the company's Selkirk mill.

The United Steelworkers represents some 3,000 workers at 13 Gerdau locations in North America.