US Steel Canada might cut retiree benefits to stave off permanent idle

According to the court-appointed monitor overseeing US Steel Canada's restructuring process, “a near term cessation of operations will be necessary” if the company continues to pay retiree benefits.

USW Local 1005 President Gary Howe to local media in Hamilton that union leaders will protest outside the courtroom. He reportedly filed a court affidavit, arguing more than 20,600 people (pensioners and family members) would be “adversely and unfairly affected” by the revocation of benefits that were “earned in previous collective agreements by union members who gave up wage increases for assurances they would receive benefits during retirement.”

The court-appointed monitor report, however, said “the unfortunate (but inevitable) fact is that USSC does not have access to liquidity or financing to honor these obligations in the present circumstances and that, if the order sought by USSC is not made, it will not have the financial resources to continue to carry on in business for the period of time necessary to develop a long term restructuring solution, and that a near term cessation of operations will be necessary.”