Local news agencies reported Monday that that USW Local 1005 and United States Steel Corporation have ended the 11-month-long lockout that began last November. Union employees had been picketing outside the Hamilton, Ontario steel plant to defend indexing for current retirees from the Hamilton mill and a defined benefit plan for all new employees.
The new plan gives employees $3,000 as a signing bonus, a profit sharing plan, 26 weeks of guaranteed work for union members whose departments at the mill that will not be restarted right away, and an agreement for US Steel and the union to work in tandem to address a shortage of steelworkers. However, the defined benefit pension plan will not include new workers, who will instead join a group plan. The cost of the living allowance US Steel used to pay to retirees will also pay about two-thirds less than what it used to.
Some workers were expected to be back on the job as soon as Tuesday for a safety training course.