Granite City steelworkers want long-term commitment in nationwide contract negotiations

Steel News  |  2026-10-13 00:03:10   |   By

The company updated its proposal to include no premiums on healthcare. As of Friday, the proposal also includes over 19% total wage growth over the contract term.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Steelworkers at Granite City Works say they are nearing a contract with U.S. Steel as part of nationwide union negotiations.

The negotiation comes seven months after the plant began producing steel at one of its two blast furnaces after sitting idle for more than two years.

The mill was slated to further wind down steel processing at the end of last year before U.S. Steel was bought by Japanese corporation Nippon Steel.

Steel production at the mill is protected from idling without government approval until June of next year. But some other American steel mills owned by Nippon Steel are protected until 2035.

United Steelworkers Local 1899 President Craig McKey said restarting production this year has made him feel optimistic about the future of the plant, which has about 1,100 workers.

“I'd had someone tell me when I was hired in ‘97, ‘Hey, what are you coming here for? This place ain't gonna be around,’” McKey said. “Well, guess what? We're still here. And that's on the backs of a lot of hard people coming in here working and making this place profitable while we’re operational.”

McKey said firing up the second blast furnace would depend on increased steel demand in the next few years.

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, visited Granite City on Monday to discuss the negotiations. She said she would like to see production resume on the second furnace and long-term investment in Metro East steel production.

“What I heard from the local today is that this blast furnace is turning around a significant profit for U.S. Steel and Nippon,” Budzinski said. “So, in return for that, what we'd like to see is continued investment.”

Negotiations with U.S. Steel

In addition to a long-term commitment to steel production in Granite City, local union leaders said they hope to see lower healthcare costs for union members nationwide.

This summer, U.S. Steel proposed an 18% total wage increase over five years and no change to its existing policy on healthcare premiums.

But the company withdrew that proposal at the end of September, when the United Steelworkers union called it “one of the most dramatic healthcare proposals we have seen” in a bargaining update.

The company updated its proposal to include no premiums on healthcare. As of Friday, the proposal also includes over 19% total wage growth over the contract term.

“This proposal supports our employees and their families, so they can do their best work and help forge a new era of innovation that secures the next generation of American steel jobs,” U.S. Steel said in the updated proposal.

The union also sought stronger job security across the five-year term.

“We welcome every dollar of investment that strengthens a USW facility and protects good union jobs,” the statement reads. “But commitments to only a limited number of facilities are not the same thing as the broad assurances that U.S. Steel and Nippon made.”

McKey said he is optimistic about negotiations compared to previous years.

“Obviously, both parties go in and shoot for the stars, but at some point things have got to get serious,” McKey said. “We're feeling comfortable that there's movement at the table and that hopefully we'll get to a fair deal.”

Courtesy: www.stipr.org