Steelworkers Proceed with Court Motion to Force Slater Steel Purchase
03/05/2004 -
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Steelworkers Proceed with Court Motion to Force Slater Steel Purchase
March 5, 2004 — Following a rally in front of Hamilton's downtown Toronto Dominion Bank branch and no word from TD or Scotiabank, the United Steelworkers' Ontario/Atlantic Director Wayne Fraser said the union will go ahead with a court motion, asking Justice James Farley to become involved and consider the offer by DSC Managers LP to purchase Slater Steel's Hamilton Specialty Bar Division. The motion was expected to be filed Thursday afternoon, March 4.
"The (in total) $37-million offer is in the banks' interest," Fraser said. "It is better than any offer that would be made if the plant is liquidated."
Fraser said the union is also going ahead with a cross-Canada campaign to put pressure on the banks to make way for the DSC offer. The offer, tabled Wednesday, would see the American investment firm pay $13 million in cash and take on $24 million in pension and medical liabilities for the insolvent Hamilton factory.
| In the late '90s, another campaign to put pressure on Scotiabank in particular was successful in that the bank eventually agreed to stop its investment in Oregon Steel, a company that was refusing to negotiate with striking workers in Pueblo, Colo. |
"This is about more than the banks," added Steelworkers' Ontario/Atlantic Assistant Director Marie Kelly. "This is about doing the right thing for the community. We will fight tooth and nail to make sure this deal is not allowed to die." Kelly led negotiations with DSC in February, which ended in a collective agreement that would increase wages and benefits, and protect pensions in the new company.
Steelworkers and others across Canada have already been contacted to send letters to TD President and CEO Ed Clark, and to Scotiabank Chairman and CEO Richard Waugh, calling on the two banks to do their part in saving hundreds of jobs.
