WARREN - The United Steelworkers negotiating committee has unanimously approved the tentative agreement announced last week with RG Steel, the union said Friday.
The union said it is preparing a summary of the agreement to send to the roughly 6,000 members involved in RG's stock purchase agreement of three Severstal North America Inc. steel mills, including the nearly 1,000 union worker Warren mill.
The summary will include a mail-in ballot and voting instructions following longstanding ratification procedures set by the union's Basic Steel Industry Conference, officials said.
The union said it will hold explanation meetings in coming weeks for members at the locations, which also include Severstal Wheeling in Wheeling, W.Va., and Sparrows Point in Baltimore.
"We are driving the change that needs to take place company-wide to ensure these facilities remain viable for the long term," said USW District 1 Director David McCall, who chairs the union's negotiations with RG Steel.
"This is about the future of our jobs and our communities," he added, "and our collective success is in our own hands."
The USW represents 1.2 million active and retired workers in North America in a wide variety of industries in both the public and private sectors.