Middletown Works union contract is ‘security’ for employees and community, IAM president says

Saying it provides “security” for the steelworkers and the Middletown community for the next four years, Shawn Coffey, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 1943, said the union ratified a contract last week with Cleveland-Cliffs.

The four-year contract provides “significant” wage increases across the board, locks in lower health premiums and covers approximately 2,100 hourly employees at the Middletown Works steelmaking plant, Coffey said.

The contract takes effect on May 16, he said.

“We’re pleased with the outcome,” he said.

It also eliminates a chance for another lockout like the one in 2006 that lasted one year and had “a significant impact” on the community, according to Coffey.

“We’ve come a long way since then,” he said. “We have a working relationship with them (Cleveland-Cliffs)”

The last contract was for three years and was negotiated with AK Steel before the company was acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs, according to Coffey.

Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs said the contract “is fair, equitable and beneficial for our employees and for the company.”

He called Middletown Works “a very important producer of automotive-grade steels.”

Rick Pearce, president of the Chamber of Commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton, said the contract will provide “a significant step of ensuring Middletown’s growth into the next decade.”

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Rick McCrabb