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Uphold
Public
Right,
Not
Monopoly Right!
• Ontario
Court Continues to Attack Steelworkers' Rights
• CCAA Court Suspends Essar Steel Algoma
Payments into Pension Funds
• Hamilton Day
of Action Demands Governments Uphold the Law and Defend Public Right
Uphold Public Right, Not Monopoly Right!
Ontario Court Continues to Attack
Steelworkers' Rights
Once again an Ontario Court has attacked the rights of
U.S. Steel
(Stelco) steelworkers. The Ontario Court of Appeal on February 1, 2016
denied their
union's (USW) appeal to reverse the decision to cut the medical
benefits of retirees. Justice Herman J. Wilton-Siegel acting under the
arbitrary authority of the
monopoly-controlled Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) ruled
last October 9 that retires of the steel company Stelco, now controlled
by U.S. Steel,
would no longer receive their benefits. Those benefits were part of
long-held legal arrangements between the steelworkers and the company.
The Judge ruled that
bankruptcy protection under the CCAA trumps all
previous arrangements to guarantee the health and security of workers.
The
company-controlled process under the CCAA means that whatever the
company deems as necessary according to its "Business Preservation
Plan" negates the
rights of steelworkers and any previous agreements held with the
company. No negotiations are allowed and the CCAA court routinely
accepts the dictate of
the company in violation of existing law.
U.S. Steel is using the CCAA to crush the former Stelco
as a viable
company, renege on all its responsibilities to pensions, production,
suppliers, municipal
taxes and environmental cleanup, and to steal any money from the
liquidated assets.
The Judge quoted in his rejection the earlier ruling
that the U.S.
Steel-controlled plan allows its Canadian operations (Stelco) "to
continue operations beyond
2015, preserving liquidity in order to provide USSC time to secure new
sales volumes and allow as much time and flexibility as possible to
locate a purchaser
or find a consensual restructuring solution."
This would be considered a joke if the consequences were
not so
serious and injurious to workers. U.S. Steel has stolen the most
lucrative customers from
its Canadian operations and done everything to destroy it as a viable
steel producer and competitor. Nothing U.S. Steel has done or is
planning to with liquidation
has anything to do with keeping Stelco producing.
The Judge used the arbitrary nature of CCAA itself to
deny the
appeal stating, "The starting point is recognition that in CCAA
proceedings leave to appeal
is to be granted sparingly ‘because of their real time dynamic and
because of the generally discretionary character underlying many of the
orders made by
supervising judges in such proceedings.'"
The Judge said in considering the appeal he had to
determine whether
it was significant to the "practice" and "action" of the CCAA process
not whether
U.S. Steel is violating the rights of steelworkers and the existing law
and legal arrangements and commitments. By ruling against the appeal
the Judge declared
in practice that the appeal was not "meritorious" but "frivolous" and
that it "unduly hinder[ed] the progress of the [CCAA] action."
The Judge agreed with the original CCAA ruling that
denying benefits
to retirees was "necessary to preserve USSC's liquidity and extend its
opportunity
to achieve a successful restructuring outcome."
The Judge said that allowing benefits to continue "would
serve only
to deflect attention away from the parties' shared resolve to try to
find a solution to
USSC's current financial situation."
The "current financial situation" of the former Stelco
is the direct
result of the wrecking of its production and theft of its customers by
U.S. Steel. All the
problems stem from the actions of U.S. Steel since it seized control of
Stelco in 2007 and the free trade and other international arrangements
whereby global
monopolies can deprive Canadians from building a self-reliant stable
economy.
The Judge and the CCAA court refuse to recognize the
rights of
steelworkers, which renders the court in violation of a modern
definition of the rule of
law and the necessity of a government of laws. A court cannot deny the
rights of the people and then be considered an acceptable authority
under a government
of laws.
The CCAA process is in violation of a government of laws
and should
be stripped of all its authority. U.S. Steel is responsible to uphold
all the arrangements
it agreed to upon the takeover of Stelco including security of
production and employment levels, the viability of the pension plans,
the post-retirement benefits,
municipal taxes, all outstanding bills from suppliers and contractors
and environmental cleanup.
This charade of legality under the CCAA must cease.
Canada is
supposed to be a country with a government of laws not a country
controlled by hooligans
and thugs who consider might makes right.
CCAA Court Suspends Essar Steel Algoma
Payments into Pension Funds
An Ontario court hearing the bankruptcy protection fraud
of Essar
Steel Algoma ruled in mid-January that the global monopoly no longer
needs to put
special payments into Essar workers' pension plans. The amount in
question is $3.38 million a month required to make the plans whole and
viable. Without
the payments the pension plans will fall deeper into a hole that the
company is already using as a reason for bankruptcy protection.
Meanwhile, the company is producing steel although with
some
layoffs. Most observers have said the company's financial problems do
not originate in
Canada but in other investments such as the billions it has sunk into
an iron ore mine and pellet plant in the U.S. that is suffering long
delays.
The CCAA judge, as is so
often the case in these bankruptcy frauds,
expressed sympathy for the steelworkers and salaried employees but
suggested his
hands were tied by the exceptional rules of the CCAA. Justice Frank
Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court said, "I have sympathy for the
employees and
in particular for the retirees, who are the most vulnerable." Despite
the sympathy, he ordered that the payments into the three defined
benefit pension plans may
be delayed until the company emerges from the CCAA proceedings.
He said Essar Steel Algoma needs "the certainty of not
being subject
to having to make the special payments if a request is made in the
future. Any such
uncertainty would be detrimental to the sales and investment
solicitation process (SISP) to be undertaken."
CCAA is subject to a pragmatic process devoid of
principles and the
existing rule of law. Whatever serves the process, as dictated by the
forces in charge,
supersedes all agreements and laws, and negates the rights of all those
except the most powerful in control.
The judge seemed to express some regret with his
decision saying
that the process and those with economic interest in the steel company
may not consider
"the plight of the retirees" as important. "There is not the same
economic interest in any lender or buyer in satisfying their concerns
as there would be with
the United Steelworkers and the current employees," he said. His words
described a clash of rights and interests where the interests and
monopoly right of those
in control of the proceedings dominate the public right and interests
of all others, in particular the steelworkers and retirees.
Just last month, the same Justice in the CCAA proceeding
found
greater sympathy for those in control by approving $3.47 million in
bonuses to 23 Essar
Steel Algoma executives to ensure they stay with the company during its
current restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement
Act,
ordering that the names of the executives be kept secret in a sealed
court file.
Essar Algoma retirees were understandably upset with the
suspension
of the pension payments. "I'm not happy with the decision," Robert
Grant, president
of Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) Chapter 7
representing steelworkers told a local newspaper. "We have a meeting
coming up next week.
We have to approach Essar management to make up those payments later
on, when they're out of insolvency." Essar Steel Algoma's three
registered defined
benefit pension plans have an aggregate wind-up deficit of $527
million. The three pension plans have a combined total of 2,200 active
members and 6,451
retired, suspended and deferred vested members including surviving
spouses.
The hourly and salaried plans are written into their
respective
collective agreements, which the CCAA can overrule as it does not
respect or follow existing
law. The company's monthly payments were ordered as a result of
regulations passed by the Ontario Government three years ago to top up
underfunded pension
plans. The CCAA also negates this law of the Ontario Government.
Essar Algoma is Sault Ste. Marie's largest employer,
directly
employing nearly 3,000 people. Adding household members and retirees,
approximately 54,000
people in Sault Ste. Marie (or 69 percent of the city's total
population of approximately 78,000) directly or indirectly depend on
Algoma Steel for their
livelihood, the court was advised.
The situation demands a solution that upholds the public
interest
not attacks on steelworkers and the legal agreements they and others
have entered into.
Bankruptcy protection under the CCAA court is in violation of a
government of laws. This cannot continue.
(SooToday)
Hamilton Day of Action Demands Governments Uphold the
Law and Defend Public Right
Steelworkers and their families, working people and
youth of
Hamilton and workers from across Ontario came out 5,000 strong for the
January 30 Day of
Action in Hamilton. They made a great statement that governments must
uphold public right and prevent U.S. Steel from violating all their
legal and moral
obligations to the people of Canada and specifically to the Hamilton
and Nanticoke steelworkers. The Day of Action spoke with one voice on
behalf of Canadians
to Keep Stelco Producing! Keep Hamilton Producing! Keep Canada
Producing! The working people of Ontario affirmed that the full pension
payments and benefits which rightfully belong to those who made steel
all their lives, that the U.S. monopoly is hoping to run away with,
must be paid and that it must fulfill its obligations to the community.
The
enthusiasm from the people of Hamilton was such that nearly every
passing car honked in support.
Workers came from Windsor,
London, the Niagara Region, Oshawa,
Mississauga, Toronto, Barrie and as far away as Sudbury and Sault St.
Marie in Ontario.
The Rio Tinto workers from Alma, Quebec sent a delegation, as did U.S.
steelworkers and their allies from Lakawanna, New York. A lively group
of former
Stelco workers, members of the Steelworkers Organization of Active
Retirees (SOAR) was present. Among the other labour organizations
present were the
Canadian Labour Congress, the Ontario Federation of Labour and local
Labour Councils such as the Hamilton and District Labour Council. Also
represented
were the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Canadian Union of Public
Employees, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), the
Ontario
Secondary School Teachers' Federation, the Elementary School Teachers'
Federation of Ontario, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers'
Association and many
other union locals. Delegations from the Communist Party of Canada
(Marxist-Leninist), the Ontario Network of Injured Workers' Groups, and
South Asian
Women's Rights Organization also participated vigorously.
A special edition of Information Update, the
newspaper of Local 1005, was published for the occasion and
enthusiastically received.
The rally was emceed by Tony DePaulo, USW District 6
Director who
welcomed everyone and introduced Bill Mahoney, Local 1005's resident
poet who
recited his powerful poem "U.S. Steal." It set the tone for the rally
and underscored the determination of active and retired steelworkers to
defend their rights
and dignity and that of the community and all working people.
Gary Howe, President of
Local 1005 USW welcomed everyone to the rally. He recognized and
thanked the workers from Alma, Quebec who traveled to take part. He
noted that 2016 marks the 70th anniversary of Local 1005, saying that
"now more than ever we need to uphold the dignity of labour." Gary
upheld the rights of Local 1005 members at Max Aicher North America
(MANA) who have been locked out since June 2013 and denounced the
company's use of scabs. "MANA needs to be held accountable as does U.S.
Steel," he said. Gary underscored the just demand that the courts and
government uphold the law and not permit lawlessness and the workers
and the community to be attacked with impunity.
"We need to hold governments responsible when corporations such as U.S.
Steel violate all their legal and moral obligations. U.S. Steel is not
only abusing Hamilton and Nanticoke by destroying Stelco's production,
jobs and pensions, by running away from paying municipal taxes,
government loans, environmental clean-up and other commitments and
obligations, the U.S. company is using the bankruptcy courts to shove
it all in our faces to make off with $2.2 billion and Stelco's best
steel customers," Gary affirmed. "Standing together as one we are
saying that what U.S. Steel is doing is not right; by standing together
in public we uphold our dignity and will find a way forward," Gary said.
Bill Ferguson, President of Local 8782 USW also spoke
affirming the
determination of the steelworkers to see that the plants in Hamilton
and Nanticoke
continue producing and meet the demand for Canadian steel by domestic
and other customers.
Among the speakers at City Hall were Hamilton Mayor Fred
Eisenberger; Director of USW District 6 Marty Warren; federal NDP
leader Tom Mulcair;
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath; President of the Canadian Labour
Congress Hassan Yussuff; President of the Ontario Federation of Labour
Chris Buckley;
and USW National Director for Canada Ken Neumann, all of whom pledged
to do their utmost to assist the Hamilton steelworkers in their fight
for justice. Leo
Gerard, President of the Steelworkers International sent a letter of
support to the rally.
Speakers at the rally made clear the importance of steel
in building
a strong and sustainable manufacturing sector which is the key to an
independent
Canadian economy. They called on the federal and provincial governments
to do their duty and intervene to prevent U.S. Steel from abusing the
workers and
the community, and running back to the U.S. renouncing all its
financial responsibilities to the workers, the City of Hamilton and the
Province of Ontario.
The role the monopolies like U.S. Steel play in wrecking
the
Canadian economy was denounced, along with the role of government and
the courts to
legitimize and enforce these attacks.
Following the speeches at City Hall, the participants
marched
through the downtown area to the Hamilton Convention Centre. People on
the sidewalk and
passers-by enthusiastically expressed their support.
At the Convention Centre
Rolf Gerstenberger, past President of Local
1005, pointed out that steelworkers in Hamilton have a proud history of
affirming
their rights from the historic strike of 1946 up to the current
struggle. He explained that the union and the workers have always
upheld what is legal and their
part of the agreements and contracts. Rolf raised the important
question: What do you do when a company like U.S. Steel is allowed to
break its legal obligations
and is permitted by the courts and the governments to act illegally
against the workers with impunity? "If the government does not use its
authority to uphold
the laws and if special CCAA courts can be created to rule that Might
can make Right, where does that leave the citizens who are supposed to
be protected by
the law? This is a very serious problem that goes way beyond the
legalization of the theft of our pensions." This is what we must
discuss, Rolf said, and called
on everyone participate in finding a solution.
Other speakers at the Convention Centre expressed their
support for
the cause of the steelworkers. These included NDP MP for Hamilton
Mountain Scott
Duvall as well as Bob Bratina, Liberal MP for Hamilton East-Stoney
Creek; Wayne Gates, NDP MPP for Niagara; and Paul Miller NDP MPP for
Hamilton
East--Stoney Creek. Anthony Marco, President of the Hamilton and
District Labour Council pledged his support, as did Ron McClure,
President of the Stelco
Salaried Pensioners' Organization.
Left:
Scott Duvall, MP for Hamilton Mountain; centre: Anthony Marco, Hamilton
and District
Labour Council President;
right: Bob Bratina, MP for Hamilton
East-Stoney Creek.
