New USW Members At Northshore Mining Reach First-Ever Contract With Cliffs

Hundreds of workers at Northshore Mining in Babbitt and Silver Bay have voted to ratify a first-ever three-year contract with their employer, Cleveland Cliffs.

The workers recently joined the United Steelworkers Union.

USW District 11 Director Emil Ramirez said the agreement “includes a lump sum bonus, annual wage increases, enhanced protections for job security and improvements in occupational health and safety.”

The contract also adds health insurance with no monthly premiums, according to Ramirez.

Before joining union this past July, Northshore Mining was the last remaining taconite mine on the Iron Range without a union.

The 400 Northshore Mining workers mine taconite in Babbitt and make iron ore pellets in Silver Bay.

“We proved once again that we are most powerful when we stand together and speak with one voice,” Ramirez said in a statement late Thursday.