Steelworkers ratify collective agreement at IPSCO subsidiary

Recycling Today, Oct, 2005

United Steelworkers at the Wheat City Metals scrap metal processing facility in Regina, Sasketchewan, have ratified a three-year collective agreement, ending a dispute that included a seven-week lockout in April and May.

The IPSCO subsidiary operates as General Scrap. It has five auto shredder facilities and many smaller scrap processing facilities in Canada.

The agreement is retroactive to June 1 and includes across-the-board wage increases each year and better wage rate protection in the event of placement to lower-paying job categories.

Mike Pisak, the union's negotiating committee chair, says, "We are pleased to get an agreement but don't appreciate the company's tactics, which they also used in previous negotiations, of locking out their workers to demand concessions from the outset."