PHOTO CREDITS TO HENRY EVANS-TENBRINKE (SOURCE: USW LOCAL 1005)
On September 28, Cleveland-Cliffs, the American company that owns Stelco, idled certain operations in Hamilton, and announced the indefinite layoff of 350 employees at its Hamilton Works plant and a further 50-plus workers at its Lake Erie Works plant.
This action contravened its 2024 purchasing agreement to maintain the existing workforce and operations for 5 years. Industry Minister, Mélanie Joly followed up with an ultimatum giving Cleveland-Cliffs 15 days to reverse the job cuts or face potential legal action under the Investment Canada Act. CEO Lourenco Goncalves responded: “This court case will be good. The company is obviously going to try force majeur and that the market conditions are unforeseen and couldn’t be avoided.”
The corporation’s CEO Lourenco Goncalves has stated publicly that the only thing that would prevent the Stelco layoffs would be for Canada to reach a deal to restore “free trade” with the United States. However, Goncalves provided significant financial support for Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and had previously praised the 50% US tariffs against Canada, strongly suggesting that the layoffs are really pressure tactics to force a trade deal. He also deliberately chose to only sell Stelco steel in Canada and did a media tour explaining that US companies will sell in the US and Canadians will sell in Canada. Now he’s trying to argue that the no-layoffs deal was based on duty-free access to the US market. Goncalves told CBC News he bought the Hamilton steelmaker to stop it undercutting his production facilities in the U.S. Clearly he is in a conflict of interest.
On Thursday October 29, more than 100 Stelco workers and their supporters gathered outside the Hamilton steel facility to call on parent company Cleveland-Cliffs to immediately reverse all the layoffs. Ron Wells, president of USW Local 1005 said he’s pleased to see how quickly the Canadian government has stepped in to fight to protect workers, but says the union should have been more involved or made aware of the details of the deal made with Cleveland-Cliffs when it purchased Stelco in 2024.
Several trade unionists brought solidarity from the picket line at National Steel Car, where 1,200 members of USW Local 7135 have been on strike for nearly three months.
NDP leader Avi Lewis attended the rally where he repeated his call for the Liberal government to nationalize Stelco. In his X.com statement he stated: “There is only one solution that will save these jobs and put Canada back in the driver’s seat: we need to nationalize Stelco.”
The showdown at Stelco occurs in the context of Trump’s trade policies. It is the workers in Canada and the US who pay a heavy price for Trump’s trade policies. No surprise then that union leaders have denounced Trump’s escalation of tariffs and supported Carney’s walking away from the “negotiations”. The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) president, Bea Bruske, called for “strong protection” of workers’ rights. Unifor President Lana Payne praised the end of the “talks” with Trump and his acolytes, and demanded expanded Canadian procurement, industrial strategies and substantially stronger income security. CUPE argues for expanded public investment, stronger income supports and the protection of public services.
Over the years, tens of millions in government handouts have been transferred to Stelco in order subsidize its profits. Similarly the auto sector has seen thousands laid off after receiving federal and provincial subsidies and incentives. Even if the Carney government is successful in enforcing the 2024 sale agreement with Cleveland-Cliffs, any delay in layoffs will be temporary and no doubt be followed by more public handouts to the corporation.
Stelco must be immediately brought under public ownership with worker and community control.