Joly demands Stelco jobs plan before meeting Cleveland-Cliffs CEO

Canada’s Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said on Tuesday, October 27, that she wants Cleveland-Cliffs to provide a plan and timeline for restoring laid-off jobs at Stelco’s Ontario steel operations before she meets the company’s chief executive, Lourenco Goncalves, Global News reported. The demand puts the workers’ return at the centre of a dispute over the commitments Cleveland-Cliffs made when it bought Stelco.

Joly was responding to a letter Cleveland-Cliffs sent on Monday, according to The Globe and Mail. The company said it had requested a meeting on October 23 to discuss a path toward resuming full employment for 175 laid-off workers at Stelco’s Hamilton plant. Joly told reporters she was willing to meet but wanted a plan to bring back the jobs and a timeline first.

How many Stelco workers face layoffs?

Earlier in October, United Steelworkers Local 1005 president Ron Wells said roughly 330 Hamilton workers were expected to be affected over three weeks, The Canadian Press reported. At Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, John McElroy said 40 to 50 workers could be laid off as early as October 24 as the company reduced work on its steel pickling lines. Those were projections at the time, not a confirmed count of subsequent layoffs.

Why Ottawa and Cleveland-Cliffs disagree

Joly has accused Cleveland-Cliffs of failing to honour six binding commitments tied to its 2024 acquisition of Stelco and has called on it to address alleged violations or demonstrate compliance, Global News reported. Cleveland-Cliffs says it has honoured its promises under the Investment Canada Act review. The Canadian Press reported that the five-year commitments included maintaining at least the same number of unionized employees and the vast majority of non-unionized employees.

Cleveland-Cliffs expects Stelco’s average annual unionized employment to be at least 1,879, above what it says is a required minimum of 1,766, according to The Globe and Mail. An annual average can differ from the current number of people at work, leaving the effect of the latest layoffs on compliance disputed. The company said Stelco would update its compliance report after the current reporting period closes on October 31, Global News reported.

Goncalves said earlier this month that laid-off workers would be recalled if Canada and the United States reached a steel trade deal, The Canadian Press reported. Joly rejected the suggestion that U.S. tariffs and changing market conditions relieved the company of its obligations. Goncalves called her comments unfair and argued that Canada should adopt stronger protections for its steel industry. He gave no date for a trade deal or recall.