Contact: Tony Montana, 412-562-2592, tmontana@usw.org
Albuquerque, N.M. — The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that union members have overwhelmingly approved a new, three-year labor agreement with Asarco.
“The new labor agreement provides unprecedented wage increases to a broad spectrum of jobs, from laborers to operators to diesel-electric technicians—raising some rates by as much as 27 percent,” said USW District 12 Director Gaylan Prescott, who chaired negotiations for the unions’ Unified Bargaining Committee. “The new contract provides opportunities for even higher earnings by adding new skills and qualifications, such as advanced welding credentials and earth moving machinery.”
In addition to wage improvements, the new contract provides additional time off, with numerous vacation and holiday improvements for workers. It lowers workers healthcare contributions and ensures that so-called “fatigue monitoring systems” are used to make work safer and not simply more supervised.
USW Local 886 President Greg Romero, representing one of the six local unions at the negotiating table with Asarco, said that workers should be proud.
“These are historic gains for the workers in the Copper Triangle,” Romero said. “As a lifelong resident of the area, we know from history that we are unstoppable when we are united.”
USW Sub-District Director Fernando Terrazas, also a longtime union leader with family history in the area, added that workers depend on solidarity with each other to gain contract improvements.
“Asarco has a job to do, mine copper and maximize profit. Our job is to force companies to consider their workers’ interests,” Terrazas said. “Without a union, it’s every man or woman for themselves, and employers love those odds.”
The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in manufacturing, metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in tech, public sector and service occupations.