Members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union will put up a picket line Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Gerdau Ameristeel plant to protest contract concessions demanded by the company after the plant produced record profits.
"Our members will adamantly demonstrate that we will not accept the insulting and concessionary contract proposals after we made more than $40 million in profits for Gerdau over the past year," said Mike Wodaszewski, president of Local 7263.
Gerdau Ameristeel, a subsidiary of Gerdau SA, a Brazilian based multi-national steel entity, purchased the former North Star Steel mill near St. Paul and other North American steel facilities from Cargill in 2004.
Wodaszewski said that Gerdau has failed to properly maintain the pension program for the workers, resulting in 83 percent of the union employees suffering pension reductions in amounts ranging from 14 percent to 50 percent.
"The company's outrageous proposals include wage freezes, a two-tier pay scale, cuts in retiree health care, cuts in overtime pay, and reductions in vacations," he concluded.
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Picketing will take place at shift changes both in the morning (6 to 7:30 a.m.) and afternoon (2 to 3:30 p.m.). The plant is located at 1678 Red Rock Road off the I-494 Maxwell exit in Newport.
USW Local 7263 represents 350 workers at the mini-mill, who produce over 450,000 tons of steel products annually, including bar, alloy, and heat-treated steel. The USW has represented workers at the plant since 1968. The recent contract expired on July 31, but union members are working under a day-to-day extension.
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Members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union will put up a picket line Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Gerdau Ameristeel plant to protest contract concessions demanded by the company after the plant produced record profits.
“Our members will adamantly demonstrate that we will not accept the insulting and concessionary contract proposals after we made more than $40 million in profits for Gerdau over the past year,” said Mike Wodaszewski, president of Local 7263.
Gerdau Ameristeel, a subsidiary of Gerdau SA, a Brazilian based multi-national steel entity, purchased the former North Star Steel mill near St. Paul and other North American steel facilities from Cargill in 2004.
Wodaszewski said that Gerdau has failed to properly maintain the pension program for the workers, resulting in 83 percent of the union employees suffering pension reductions in amounts ranging from 14 percent to 50 percent.
“The company’s outrageous proposals include wage freezes, a two-tier pay scale, cuts in retiree health care, cuts in overtime pay, and reductions in vacations,” he concluded.
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Picketing will take place at shift changes both in the morning (6 to 7:30 a.m.) and afternoon (2 to 3:30 p.m.). The plant is located at 1678 Red Rock Road off the I-494 Maxwell exit in Newport.
USW Local 7263 represents 350 workers at the mini-mill, who produce over 450,000 tons of steel products annually, including bar, alloy, and heat-treated steel. The USW has represented workers at the plant since 1968. The recent contract expired on July 31, but union members are working under a day-to-day extension.
Related article
Minnesota Steelworkers get help in their contract fight