U.S Steel: lockout will continue until the union agrees to drop cost of living adjustments for those already under a pension and change the pension plan for new hires. Managment rallying Canadians against US STEEL

Ken Lewenza: President of Canadian Auto Workers

 As the
lockout of U.S. Steel Hamilton Works will enter its 10th week as USW Local 1005 battles USS over pensions. USS locked out Local 1005 the evening of November 7, 2010.The steel mill has advised the union members at the former Stelco Hilton Works, which USS purchased in 2007, the lockout will continue until the union agrees to drop cost of living adjustments for those already under a pension and change the pension plan for new hires.
USW Local 1005 refuses to accept the terms set by U.S. Steel for the resumption of negotiations stating they are satisfied with the existing contract (the one acceptable to USS when they bought the mill in 2007).
Union management has been trying to rally Canadians against USS by turning the lockout and pension issue against foreign ownership of Canadian assets. In a post on the union website written by Ken Lewenza, National President of the Canadian Auto Workers, he calls the actions of U.S. Steel, “What’s happening in Hamilton today is nothing less than an affront to Canada’s national status as a serious, developed country. It’s not just the members of Local 1005 that are being bullied; it’s our whole country.”

In the article he says, “Of the many failed takeovers we’ve allowed in the past decade, the U.S. Steel case may be the most infuriating of all. It flaunted sombre commitments to preserve Canadian jobs and production, before the ink was dry on the deal. It threatened workers — first at Lake Erie, now in Hamilton — with the loss of their livelihoods, for refusing to accept corporate extortion.”

Files from Steel Market Update.