Steel Mills

USW Strikes ArcelorMittal Tube Mill in Ohio

November 4, 2021

United Steelworkers (USW) members at ArcelorMittal’s tube plant in Shelby, Ohio, have been on strike since midnight on Sunday, according to local media reports.

That’s when a four-year labor contract between the Luxembourg-based steelmaker and USW Local 3057 expired.

USW Sticking points in contract talks include time off over holidays as well as pension and health care benefits, according to the Mansfield News Journal.

“We work seven days a week, and time off is important. We asked for Thanksgiving weekend off and Easter weekend off,” Brian Sealy, a staff representative for USW District 1, told the newspaper.

District 1 represents Ohio.

An ArcelorMittal spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

The Shelby mill, part of ArcelorMittal’s tubular products division, employs 663 people and has annual production capacity of approximately 240,000 tons, according to a company fact sheet.

It makes seamless and welded production for a range of downstream markets including automotive, construction, distribution, farm machinery, and oil and gas.

Shelby was not included in Cleveland-Cliffs’ 2020 acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA and so remains part of ArcelorMittal.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.