WCI STEEL Union, company reach a tentative agreement

The contract must be approved by the union and the bankruptcy court.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WARREN -- WCI Steel has reached a tentative agreement with United Steelworkers of America, a crucial step in the steelmaker's plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection under its current ownership.
Tim Roberts, WCI spokesman, and Mike Rubicz, president of USWA Local 1375, both confirmed the settlement was reached Wednesday.
Talks had been going on locally and in the USWA international headquarters since early February.
The contract won't be final, Roberts said, until it is ratified by the members of Local 1375, which represents WCI's 1,400 hourly workers, and accepted by the bankruptcy court.
After Chapter 11
If approved, the contract would replace the union's present agreement when, and if, the company succeeds in reorganizing its debts and emerging from Chapter 11 protection.
"A new labor agreement is a key component of WCI's restructuring," Roberts said.
WCI officials have set a June 1 target for coming out of bankruptcy protection.
Rubicz said the local's current contract expires Oct. 31.
Both Roberts and Rubicz refused to release details of the tentative pact, citing the need to follow proper procedures with the bankruptcy court.
The company has said, however, that it would be seeking an agreement similar to those secured by Cleveland-based International Steel Group when it bought LTV Steel, Acme Metals and Bethlehem Steel.
Those contracts
The ISG contracts save money by reducing operating costs and improving efficiencies, generally featuring a leaner work force, fewer work rules and more incentives for employees.
WCI's bondholders, a group of creditors that holds $300 million of the company's long-term bonds, have been asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Akron to allow them to submit a plan under which they would buy the Warren steel mill.
Unless the court agrees, WCI has the exclusive right until mid-May to submit a plan to reorganize.
The bondholders have also said in court papers that they are negotiating with the Steelworkers as part of their plan to reorganize the company.
Neither Roberts nor Rubicz would comment on how the tentative agreement USWA reached with WCI this week will affect those talks.
Meanwhile, Roberts said, production is at high levels and orders are strong at WCI, the Mahoning Valley's only remaining mill producing steel from raw materials.
The current trend toward high steel prices is "very encouraging," he said, but high raw material costs have partially offset those prices for WCI.
He said only five of the company's hourly employees are laid off.
vinarsky@vindy.com