US Steel Contract Offer

[Ruby Tuesday]

So the employees rejected the company's offer. Too good for too long spoils some ....

[retired2]

If the USA workers are getting a 5% raise why the Canadian workers take a cut?? Never should have allowed them to sell the company in the first place.

[Ruby Tuesday]

I didn't see a pay cut in the info I read. What I did see was that they were getting $1.00 per hr rate increase anyways (based on previous contract). In addition they want to limit future cost of living increases to positive economic climates (when it's over 3%). Positive economy means col increases going forward and poor economy means no col increase. Makes sense to me from a business perspective.

[growler]

I didn't see a pay cut in the info I read. What I did see was that they were getting $1.00 per hr rate increase anyways (based on previous contract). In addition they want to limit future cost of living increases to positive economic climates (when it's over 3%). Positive economy means col increases going forward and poor economy means no col increase. Makes sense to me from a business perspective.

i agree,and tthe only thing being reduced is the amount of holidsy's built up from 7 weeks to 5 week's.
the only other thing not being reduced but being changed is the contributions to retirement benefit's,that if wanted can be purchased by the workers.
and to get equal healthcare coverage for the usa workers the workers here would get almost $6000.per year less,as health insurance in the us would cost about $800.per month.

[uncle jack]

i am sorry ruby but the 1$ they are offering is the $1 that i am am already getting as a cost of living because we have not received a raise in the last 20 years only cost of living they are only rolling it into our base rate as per every other contract and no raise for the next 3 years unlike the states at 2.5 and2% and signing bonus and top 5 USS management $23 million in raises when they say they are not making money until you know the facts please do not comment besides there are a lot more concessions they are asking for and not offering anything

[tom278]

This has the same stench of EMD.American owned companies wanting concessions so they can close the place and thereby reduce the severance pay .Sure to give the CEO a big bonus for saving so much money.A person only has to look a little bit to see that .

[growler]

well i have said for many years,since i was in my early 20's (and i was that young once)anyone who work's for a publicly owned company (a company that has public shareholders) should buy,and have the union tat represents them buy share's in the company,that way they could see the way the company operaates,and what the finances of the company are,and go to or use there share's to vote at shareholders meetings.
that way they can chose,or reject board members more like they think they should operate.
if the company makes money like most workers think they do,they can then be part of the population that benefit's from their work,and help decide what the upper management get's paid.
and if the company makes as much as they think it doe's they will have a nice nest egg upon retirement.
and the unions would,if the company was making profit's like they think,could bargain from a better position,and maybe even lower union due's !
but most union's and worker's don't think about considering investing their savings in their employers business,even through their rrsp's,choosing other types of company's
so that is what bugs me about union's
eg,teamsters union,invested their pension funds (hundreds of billion's)into casino's and other nearly criminal venture's and caused trucking company's to become bankrupt,rather than help these company's that upon becoming bankrupt screwed the drivers out of their wages!
push the members under the bus,rather than help them!

[Ruby Tuesday]

"Until you know all the facts pls do not comment ....".

I most certainly will. What I commented was what I had read in the paper and I have every right to throw that out there as a topic for discussion. If you think that's all detrimental then it's a good thing I kept my personal professional opinion to myself.

Based on my extensive university studies that I've just completed, with a focus on Business Strategy, if USS is confident that their US operations are conducting business in a favorable climate - as opposed to the Canadian site - then I will be surprised if they don't try to pull the business to the US, which would also allow them greater economies of scale. Good business sense, period. Someone will get a huge bonus for doing it too, but that's their focus, not the focus of unionized associates. Business leaders exist so the companies can operate in cost effective, efficient, and profitable ways. I really don't know when companies started being obligated to provide work for employees. Contractual obligations with the gov't kept them here last time, but at this rate I'm sure that they will "pull the plug" as soon as the opportunity arises.

[uncle jack]

USS knew what the wages were in canada before they bought stelco if they couldn't afford them they should not have bought them

[Ruby Tuesday]

Acquisitions aren't always done with the intention to keep or sustain the business efforts. Quite often they are done in order to seize market share and gain economies of scale (better utilization of their US operations), or even to gain intellectual insight on a competitor's method of operation, or to acquire competitor knowledge (IE, their management staff's expertise).

In other words this acquisition could have taken place to strengthen their US operations with the full intent of closing this location.

[retired2]

AND that is why the Govt. should not have let the sale take place

[growler]

AND that is why the Govt. should not have let the sale take place

so it could have just let it be sold via auction after the bankruptcy was complete ?
and the worker's would just look back at the past few years of not working and say they were the good old day's before stelco went broke !
and everyone would say the goveernment should have let us steel buy it !
the economy was in a different state when it was sold!
and as RT say's they wanted market share and the low wages that were in canada at that time (80 cent dollar)
but now that the dollar is at par,the wages are to high.
and as i've said if they take the plant to the us,they will be treated as hero's,and get so much financial aid that the cost to move it will be zero $'s

[Sponsored content]