Stelco, Local 8782 Reach Tentative Labor Deal; Local 1005 Ratifies 5-Yr Pact

USW Local 8782 represents steelworkers at Stelco’s Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario. The integrated mill employs roughly 1,200 union members and is Stelco’s only steel-producing facility. It makes hot-rolled coil that can be further processed into pickled-and-oil (P&O), cold-rolled or coated products.

Local 8782 has scheduled informational meetings with union members for Thursday, Aug 18. A vote on the potential new labor pact will take place on Friday, Aug. 19, the union said in the Wednesday update.

If a majority of union members approve of the deal, the new contract will be ratified. If union members instead vote against the deal, they are in a legal position to strike as of 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 22.

Local 8782 voted to reject a prior tentative agreement in late July. Local 8782 president Randy Graham told SMU on Thursday that the union would recommend that its member vote in favor of the latest deal.

Meanwhile, USW Local 1005, which represents workers at Stelco’s Hamilton Works, has ratified a new, five-year labor agreement. The union said on Wednesday that 82.7% of votes were cast in favor of the new deal.

“Our membership gave us a clear mandate to improve wages, pensions, enhanced benefits and strengthen the language in our basic agreement. We want to thank our members for their unwavering support which made these gains possible,” Local 1005 said.

The blast furnace at Hamilton Works has long been out of commission. But the mill continues to operate its “Z-line,” which has capacity to produce 470,000 tons of galvanized and galvannealed steel sheet per year.

Hamilton, Ontario-based Stelco is an important supplier of flat-rolled steel not only to Canada but also to the upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the US. The company and the two locals have continued negotiating since a prior agreement expired on June 30.

Stelco did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

Algoma, another Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker, has a tentative labor agreement pending with USW Local 2251, which represents hourly production workers there. The union has scheduled votes through the end of the month. But it has recommended that its members reject the new contract.

Talks are also underway between the USW and US steelmakers Cleveland-Cliffs and US Steel. Labor contracts between the USW and the two US steelmakers don’t expire until Sept. 1.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com