Union: U.S. Steel wants workers to pay up to $9,600 per year in health care costs

July 30--U.S. Steel wants to eviscerate health care coverage for steelworkers by pushing them onto a high deductible plan and ending coverage for retirees, according to the United Steelworkers union.

The union says the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, which just reported losing $261 million in the second quarter, wants to roll back benefits the union has struggled for decades to obtain.

"U.S. Steel has proposed sweeping cuts in insurance benefits for both active and retired USW members, which are too numerous to list," the union said in an update to its members.

U.S. Steel spokeswoman Courtney Boone declined to comment on anything related to the ongoing negotiations. The steelmaker turned a profit in 2014, but has lost $336 million so far this year after the tubular business crashed and a glut of cheap imports undercut steel prices.

The current three-year contract expires in September.

USW says U.S. Steel's initial outline of a contract proposal "includes dozens of concessionary demands that would turn back the clock on decades of contractual improvements and benefits for our members and their families."

"While we have yet to receive a formal, detailed proposal from the company, it's clear from this initial outline that U.S. Steel is attempting to use the current industry downturn to gut our contract and weaken our union," the union said in an update to members. "Management will be proposing major changes to health care that would increase costs for both our active and retired members."

Workers would get stuck with premiums of as much as $182 a month for family coverage, annual deductibles of $2,000 for single employees and $4,000 for families, and charges of $150 per month for spousal coverage if a spouse could instead get coverage through their employer, according to the union.

Steelworkers would have to pay 20 percent on in-network expenses up to $7,000 if they have a family plan, the union said. All told, they could have to pay up to $9,600 a year in premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

U.S. Steel further proposed eliminating its health care plan for retirees, the USW said. Medicare-eligible retirees would instead get a credit of $1,140 they would use to buy supplemental coverage through a private exchange.

"Individually, each of these proposals is regressive and prohibitively expensive," the union said. "As a whole, they represent a direct attack on the benefits we have built over decades of struggle."

The steelmaker additionally is looking to reduce vacation pay and eliminate vacation bonuses, according to the union. USW members would lose bidding rights, scheduling rights, and overtime after an eight-hour shift. They would only be guaranteed 32 hours a week. The company also wants to choose the union safety representatives and has balked at union proposals to improve health and safety training.

"These proposals do nothing to address the current climate in the steel industry," the union said. "They are designed instead to take advantage of that climate to weaken our contract. We are going to need the strength and solidarity of all of our members to keep up our fight for a contract that is fair to the company and our active and retired members."

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