Steel Mills
Ottawa Says “No” to Release of US Steel Agreement
Written by Sandy Williams
April 19, 2015
The Canadian government says it will not release the agreement made with US Steel after it dropped a lawsuit against the company in 2011.
“It would be against the law for us to release this information without the agreement of the company,” said Industry Canada spokesperson Jake Enwright as quoted in the Hamilton Spectator. “On our own the government cannot make these commitments public.”
Enright added that US Steel is a private company and can release the information if it so chooses.
The Canadian federal government brought a lawsuit against US Steel in 2008 after the company reneged on promises to keep more than 3000 workers employed for three years following the purchase of the former Stelco facilities. A year after the acquisition, US Steel laid off 1500 workers at Hamilton Works and Lake Erie Works.
Canada dropped the suit in 2011 in exchange for promises of capital investments in the Hamilton and Nanticoke and various small grants to community groups. The details of the agreement were sealed to the consternation of USW workers, prompting skepticism that the government actually received anything in return for dropping the suit.
USW officials and the City of Hamilton have requested the agreement be made public, saying information contained in the agreement may affect rights of workers and retirees of the company. On Monday, the union will present an official request for the release in court.
In the meantime, US Steel Canada is moving forward on plans to sell Lake Erie Works and Hamilton Works.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
Nucor names Batterbee, Bledsoe to HR roles
Nucor Corp. has promoted Thomas J. Batterbee to the position EVP of human resources and talent and appointed Elizabeth Bledsoe to the newly created position of president of human resources and talent.
Millett sees tariffs, CORE case benefiting SDI
Steel Dynamics' top exec thinks Trump’s tariff policies, as well as the results from the recent CORE case, will prove advantageous to the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker and aluminum company.
USW digs in on opposition to USS-Nippon deal
“We remain deeply concerned about the national and economic security implications of the subject transaction,” the union stated in the letter dated April 21.
SDI’s Q1 earnings slump on-year, but up sequentially
SDI earnings slip in first quarter year over year, but are up sequentially.
POSCO inks MoU with Hyundai on Louisiana EAF mill
POSCO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyundai Motor Group that includes an equity investment in Hyundai’s previously announced EAF mill set to be built in Louisiana.