Tentative Agreement Covers About 3,000 Workers at Cleveland-Cliffs Mines and Facilities
Key Facts
The United Steelworkers announced on November 6, 2026, that it had reached a tentative agreement with Cleveland-Cliffs on a new contract covering about 3,000 workers at the company’s iron ore mines and processing facilities in Minnesota and Michigan. The announcement defines the agreement’s scope as those sites, rather than the company’s workforce as a whole. International Vice President Emil Ramirez said the agreement includes economic improvements and changes to contract language. He added that they came "without sacrificing the security of our jobs or our benefits." The agreement remains tentative until members review its details and ratification is decided.
The union links the agreement to wages, working conditions, job security and benefits, subjects Ramirez cited in describing its terms. He said the changes cover economic matters and contract provisions while preserving job security and benefits. The union’s statement did not give a specific monetary value for the improvements or detail the new contract provisions. It also did not announce a ratification vote date, so approval of the agreement remains pending the next step after members review it. Ramirez is leading the union’s negotiations with Cleveland-Cliffs.
Ramirez credited the negotiating committee’s work and solidarity among union members at the facilities for reaching the agreement. That attribution puts the committee and covered members at the center of the process that produced the proposed agreement, after negotiations continued beyond the contracts’ original term. The union said the contracts’ original term ended on September 1, 2026, and members worked afterward under contracts extended during negotiations. The tentative agreement therefore came after the contracts’ original expiration date, while coverage remained in place through the extensions. The agreement statement did not give a new expiration date for the extended contracts.
In an earlier update dated October 6, 2026, the union said progress had been made in negotiations, but key issues remained unresolved. It said then that members of the negotiating committee would return to Pittsburgh on October 27, with negotiations set to resume on October 28. The agreement announcement on November 6 followed the resumption of talks on the date set by the union. This sequence provides context for negotiations that resulted in a tentative agreement after key issues remained unresolved in the earlier update. The October update did not specify the nature of those issues.
The next step is for the committee to review details of the proposed agreements with members over the coming days and weeks, according to the union’s statement. The union has not yet set a ratification date, leaving the timing of a member vote unresolved. The union describes the agreement as a new proposal, while the upcoming review will present its details to covered workers. They number about 3,000 at iron ore mines and processing facilities in Minnesota and Michigan. The United Steelworkers represents about 850,000 workers across sectors including metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, automotive supplies, energy and others.