Press release
Algoma Steel Outlines Best and Final Offer in Collective Agreement Negotiations with USW Local 2251
USW Local 2251 Has Refused to Bring the Offer to its Membership for a Vote Without a Vote Process that Includes an Extension, Algoma will Initiate Asset
About this update from Algoma Steel Group Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"USW Local 2251 Has Refused to Bring the Offer to its Membership for a Vote Without a Vote Process that Includes an Extension, Algoma will Initiate Asset Preservation Protocols on Sunday July 31, 2022 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario, July 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algoma Steel Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTL; TSX: ASTL) (“Algoma” or the “Company”) announced today that the Company has submitted its best and final Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) offer to the Negotiating Committee of United Steelworkers Local Union 2251 (“2251”), the union representing Algoma’s hourly employees. Algoma has also received notice that the 2251 Negotiating Committee has refused the offer and is unwilling to bring the offer to employee members for a vote. Should the 2251 Negotiating Committee maintain this position and impede its members from voting on the offer, which would require a short extension of the CBA to allow for a vote process, the Company will be required to begin idling operations on Sunday July 31, 2022 to preserve the integrity of its assets. If operations are idled, it will take at least 10 days to ramp-up the furnace and return to production. Algoma believes its offer to 2251 provides a compensation package that is superior to many of the Company’s peers in the industry, and includes numerous health and wellness benefit enhancements and protections offered by the Company in an effort to reach an agreement. Algoma’s offer contains improvements to the CBA including: Wage and cost of living increases totaling at least 12.6% over 3 years plus increased afternoon, night and Sunday shift premiumsIncreases to employee benefits that include: Increase in the Company’s contributions to the Defined Contribution pension by a total of 45 cents per hour over 3 yearsIncrease in major medical benefits, including lifetime maximum and visit allotmentsIncrease in vision careIncrease in dental benefits, including improvements to lifetime maximum for orthodontics and crown coverageIncrease in short term and long term disability reduced earnings caps Increase in retiree health benefits, including increased lifetime maximum and more for hearing aids and eye glasses “We have been working in good faith to come to an agreement that is highly equitable to the members of the 2251 local, provides assurances of no job redundancies related to the electric arc transitio...