The United Steelworkers announced that the union has reached a tentative agreement on a three year contract with US Steel covering more than 16,000 workers at its US facilities.

The union and the steelmaker had been negotiating since June 2012 for a collective bargaining agreement. The previous contract expired on September 1st 2012.

Members will vote on the agreement after they review the details over the next few weeks.

Mr Leo W Gerard USW International President said that "Throughout the summer, USW members worked tirelessly to achieve an agreement that we believe is fair to both sides. We are proud of the work we have done to ensure a stable future for our members, our retirees and the company."

One of the most significant issues in this year's talks was health care for retirees, and how best to deal with the rising cost of that coverage.

USW International VP Mr Tom Conway, who led the negotiations for the union, said that "Both sides worked hard to come up with a solution that continues to provide our current and future retirees with access to high quality, low cost medical care."

The USW represents about 850,000 workers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean in a wide variety of industries, ranging from glassmaking to mining, paper, steel, tire and rubber to the public sector, service and health care industries.

Source - United Steelworkers

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