United States Steel Corp. and its subsidiary U.S. Steel Tubular Products said Sept. 10 they reached four-year labor agreements with the United Steelworkers for nearly 17,000 employees across three states.
The first contract covers approximately 16,000 workers at operations in Lorain, Ohio, and Fairfield, Ala. The second agreement affects 900 employees at U.S. Steel Tubular Products' Texas Operations division in Lone Star, Texas.
The contracts are effective through Sept. 1, 2012 and contain no-strike provisions. Under the first agreement, employees will receive a signing bonus of $6,000, a wage increase of $1 per hour and a 4% wage increase each Sept. 1 through 2011. Employees at the Texas operations will receive a signing bonus of $5,000, initial wage increases ranging from 65 cents to 91 cents per hour and annual 4% wage increases.
The agreements also include pension and other benefit enhancements for current employees and retirees, as well as a continuation of a profit-sharing plant agreed upon in 2003. Some profit-sharing amounts will be contributed to the company's retiree health care and life insurance trust. U. S. Steel will contribute $75 million annually during the contract term to a restricted account within the trust.
Use of these funds for beneficiaries of the trust will be determined in the next contract agreement.
