Trump trade policies to lift steel worker pay: Report
U.S. steel workers are set to receive their biggest pay increase in at least six years, Reuters reported, thanks to the Trump administration’s trade policies.
The United Steelworkers labor agreement with steel companies is for a cumulative 14 percent wage increase over the course of four years, the news outlet reported, citing three sources familiar with the negotiations. Additionally, the contract also proposes a lump sum bonus and a share in company profits.
The last contract did not raise worker wages.
The raise would need to be ratified by 16,000 United Steelworker union members.
In a statement released this week, the United States Steel Corp. confirmed it reached a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers union, though it maintained that the terms would be detailed after the deal was formally ratified.
The expected raise comes after the Trump administration implemented a 25 percent tariff on steel imports, in a bid to revive the domestic steel sector. For years, China and other countries had been accused of flooding foreign markets with steel sold at a lower price than what was charged domestically, which the current administration determined to be a national security threat.
The policy has helped bolster U.S. steel prices this year, though they have fallen slightly since June.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Reuters in an interview last week that a wage hike was likely to result from the United Steelworkers union negotiations, which he added would act as a bellwether for the U.S. economy at large.