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Algoma Steel salaried staff vote to accept company offer

Salaried staff agree to accept new deal; hourly workers have a vote on a separate agreement scheduled for Wednesday
20170511 Essar Steel Algoma KA 05
File photo. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday

Members of United Steelworkers Local 2724 have voted almost 60 per cent in favour of accepting a new collective agreement with Algoma Steel Inc.

Local 2724 is the second-largest collective bargaining group at Sault Ste. Marie's biggest employer.

It's comprised of 500 members representing salaried office and technical professionals, front-line supervisors, shift coordinators and planners.

Voting took place Thursday, Friday and Monday.

The new deal contains no concessions, local president Rebecca McCracken said in a recent communication to her membership.

Results indicating the deal's acceptance were communicated to rank-and-file members Monday night and will be officially released to media outlets on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Local 2724 members voted 95.1 per cent in favour of a strike mandate, expressing solidarity with their collective bargaining team.

The latest vote averts any chance of a Local 2724 strike.

Algoma Steel's largest collective bargaining group is United Steelworkers Local 2251, representing more than 2,000 hourly employees.

On July 4, Local 2251's membership voted 99 per cent for a strike authorization.

Local 2251 has summoned its members to special membership meetings on Wednesday, July 27 at GFL Memorial Gardens.

If Local 2251 has reached a memorandum of agreement by that time, members will vote on it.

If there is no memorandum, Local 2251 will vote on whatever recommendation is made by its negotiating committee.

Both the Local 2251 and Local 2724 collective agreements expire July 31.

— SooToday