Steel giants begin labour talks April 28 (14,000 members)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/354581

April 15, 2008
Naomi Powell
The Hamilton Spectator
(Apr 15, 2008)

Steel giants ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel will start labour negotiations with their American workers April 28.

The United Steelworkers of America (USW) represents more than 14,000 ArcelorMittal employees at 15 United States plants under a master contract that expires Aug. 31.

An additional 4,000 ArcelorMittal workers, also represented by the USW, have agreements expiring Sept. 1.

Labour talks with Pittsburgh's U.S. Steel are set to begin at the same time, with the USW negotiating a new master agreement for 12,000 workers.

U.S. Steel bought Stelco last year. Workers in Lake Erie and Hamilton are represented under separate labour agreements that do not expire in 2008.

ArcelorMittal is the parent company of Dofasco, one of the few non-union shops among its North American holdings. Last month, the USW made an unsuccessful attempt to organize Dofasco's 3,500 hourly workers.