Members of the United Steelworkers' Local 5220 at Stelco Inc.'s Edmonton subsidiary, AltaSteel, have voted 92% in favor of renewing its strike mandate. The mandate was initially granted to the local's bargaining committee last September during ongoing contract negotiations.

Local 5220 represents 266 bargaining unit members and has been without a collective agreement since July 2004. The local is currently in negotiations with potential bidders for Stelco in light of Stelco management's declared intention to sell AltaSteel as part of its restructuring process. Steelworkers' Local 8782 (Lake Erie Steel) and other Steelworker locals in the Stelco chain are also negotiating with potential bidders as Stelco works to come out of bankruptcy protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).