The area breathed a collective sigh of relief last week when it was announced that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers Union had reached accord on a new contract.

The current agreement between Cleveland-Cliffs-owned Tilden Mine and the union-represented employees who work there was slated to expire at the end of this month.

The new agreement is scheduled to take effect Oct. 1 and will continue for four years.

The USW website notes that the agreement covers several areas, including health care, benefits, wages and retirement, as well as safety, scheduling and seniority.

The pact includes Local USW 4950 of Negaunee. Negotiations took place in Pittsburgh. The contract covers approximately 2,000 Steelworkers-represented employees across the company’s mining and pelletizing operations in the Upper Peninsula and northern Minnesota.

From our perspective, a number of things set these negotiations apart from previous ones, starting with length. The sides were at the table for a relatively brief period of time. Additionally, the talks did not take on the negativity some previous negotiations had.

Clearly, both sides wanted an agreement and found one fairly quickly.

“Reaching a second labor agreement in less than two weeks reaffirms our great alliance with the USW. It also confirms one more time that we know very well our responsibilities as the supplier of choice to clients in critical sectors, such as military and automotive,” said Cleveland-Cliffs President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves in a news release.

The union’s website had this note: “We have reached a tentative agreement with Cliffs and will share more details soon. Thank you for your solidarity.”

We applaud both sides for finding accord so quickly. Both groups demonstrated leadership and forward thinking at a time when the region’s economy continues to recover from the pandemic.

The Mining Journal, Marquette