(PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA) - U.S. Steel is poised to rake in close to $2 billion in profits this year and the Workers who helped make that happen want their fair share of the wealth - as well as a way to shore up rapidly rising health care costs.  That’s part of what prompted thousands of United Steelworkers (USW) to vote to authorize a Strike Vote, announced September 10th, while engaged in contract negotiations with U.S. Steel at the company’s Pittsburgh offices.

United Steelworkers represents over 16,000 Employees who work at U.S. Steel plants in a handful of States from Pennsylvania to Texas.  The Steelworkers’ current contract expired on September 1st and Workers are now laboring under an agreed-upon extension of existing terms.

The contract is a holdover from 2015, when earnings were down at U.S. Steel.  At that time, Workers agreed to a wage freeze, says R.J. Hufnagel, a Writer and Editor for United Steelworkers.  “It’s a different environment now,” Hufnagel tells In These Times, noting that because U.S. Steel is in a better financial position this time around, Workers are expecting to have more bargaining power.

U.S. Steel is one of a handful of domestic steel manufacturers who have seen a significant bump in profits in 2018, thanks to increased demand for steel, as well as new tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration. The tariffs have pushed up the cost of steel and helped pad the bottom line for large corporations such as U.S. Steel, a publicly-traded company worth over $6 billion.

The question now is whether or not Workers will share equally in the largesse generated by today’s boom times for steel production.

Writing for the United Steelworkers website on September 10th, Hufnagel argued U.S. Steel management has scored “more than $50 million in pay and bonuses since 2015 while the hourly workforce has not received a wage increase over the same period.”

What’s more, he wrote, U.S. Steel also appears to be trying to squeeze Workers when it comes to health care costs - a common theme in recent negotiations for United Steelworkers.

A September 12th contract negotiation update provided by United Steelworkers picks apart the latest offer from U.S. Steel, and includes a focus on health care coverage.

The Union alleges U.S. Steel is no longer offering the current health plan Workers have, which requires much less in out-of-pocket costs, and is instead trying to “bribe” Employees into accepting a “high deductible high cost” insurance plan.

In exchange, U.S. Steel has said they will reward those who switch to the high-deductible health care plan with an annual payout of $1,500 for the next six years.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: www.salon.com/2018/09/24/heres-why-thousands-of-steelworkers-just-voted-to-authorize-a-strike_partner/