Steel Settlement

Archive Report

Confrontation Over Prices and Profits

Impact of Possible Strike on U.S. Steel Industry

Imports are challenging the domestic steel industry as rarely before, production costs are rising, and huge capital investment programs have done little to improve productivity. With stiff competition from other materials, like aluminum and plastics, the demand for steel products remains sluggish. Steelworkers complain that their past wage gains have been eroded by the rising cost of living. It is in this setting that steel companies open full-scale negotiations with the United Steelworkers of America to replace the three-year contract which expires on July 31. There is a strong current of opinion that a strike or inflationary settlement—or both—is unavoidable.

The union, stirred by the militancy of younger workers, announced early that it wanted ...

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