‘In a perfect world,’ federal government would nationalize Stelco, says Hamilton union leader

Stelco’s Hamilton union president says he would support a federal government takeover of the steelmaker, which is implementing layoffs expected to cost hundreds of jobs.

Ron Wells, president of United Steelworkers Local 1005, which covers Stelco’s workers in Hamilton, says his local has long supported the idea of the federal government taking ownership of the steelmaker, which is owned by U.S.-based Cleveland-Cliffs.

“We said that back in 2014 when Stelco was put in [creditor protection] and nobody really listened to us,” Wells told CBC Hamilton on Thursday. “It’s probably complicated and will take a long time, but in the meantime we need to get our members back to work… In a perfect world, we could have both of those things.”

In the past week, the federal and Ontario NDP parties have called for the company’s nationalization, following the United Kingdom’s efforts this year to take public ownership over two steel companies there.

The federal government is looking into taking Cleveland-Cliffs to court, saying the company broke its commitment to maintain the same number of unionized workers and similar numbers of non-union workers for five years when it bought the company in 2024. 

Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves maintains the company is within the law to conduct layoffs because they are temporary — planned to last until Canada and the United States reach a trade deal. Goncalves has expressed support for the U.S. tariffs on foreign steel.

Nicolas Lamp, associate professor in the faculty of law and school of policy studies at Queen’s University, told CBC Hamilton that it could be in Canada’s best interest to take over the company.

“The Canadian government really has to look very closely at what the reasons for these layoffs are and whether a company that was more sympathetic — that had the Canadian workers and also the Canadian national interest in mind — would act similarly,” he said last week.

‘Prepare for the worst but hope for the best,’ says laid-off worker

Wells, who previously said he expects 333 layoffs in Hamilton and more in Nanticoke, said 90 Hamilton workers were laid off last week and 85 more are expected to get their notices this week.

Worker Chelsey Mastej got her layoff notice on Friday, and says she was “completely in shock.” Mastej’s primary department is the cold rolling section, which is being cut, but she had been working in the coke oven recently to fill in for a vacancy, and says she had more seniority there than someone who will keep their job.

“There has been discrepancies of who gets to stay and who gets to go,” she told CBC Hamilton on Thursday.

CBC contacted Cleveland-Cliffs for comment on the layoff process and Mastej’s concerns but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Chelsea Mastej says she loves working at Stelco and was surprised to be laid off because she is trained in the coke oven, which will continue to run. (Submitted by Chelsey Mastej)

Mastej says she loves her job and is “definitely going to miss not being at work” but says workers there had a feeling for some time that changes were coming. She says she feels for her colleagues, who she said have become like a family, especially those facing high bills.

“One of my friends in cold roll, her daughter is in hockey and it’s very expensive,” Mastej said. 

She says she’s hoping to return to work soon but is mentally and financially readying herself for whatever is to come. 

“I guess you just prepare for the worst but hope for the best,” she said.

Calls to reduce steel imports

The local held a meeting Wednesday, which Mastej attended, to address topics such as how to apply for Employment Insurance and opportunities for job retraining. Wells said it will host another one on Oct. 22 at the Hamilton Steelworkers Power Centre at 1031 Barton Street E. from 1 to 3 p.m.

He said the workers feel frustrated by the job prospects available, and also by the idea that they are being laid off despite producing something the world needs.

“They feel screwed over,” Wells said, noting moving from a decently paid manufacturing job to Employment Insurance, which pays a fraction of a worker’s full wage, will be hard for many workers and their families. “They’re not too happy and rightfully so.”

Wells said Local 1005 is planning a rally outside Stelco’s Wilcox Street gates in coming weeks. They’re calling for Cleveland-Cliffs to uphold its commitment to employment and end the layoffs, and for the government tighten the tariff rate quotas to prevent other countries from exporting cheap steel into Canada. 

Hamilton’s Stelco plant is seen from above. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)

“By far, the biggest culprit is the USA,” he said. “It comes in duty-free.”

John-Paul Danko, MP for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, posted about the issue Thursday on social media, saying on X that “imports of American, not Chinese, flat-product steel are [the] largest threat to Canadian production at Stelco and the justifications provided for Stelco’s mass layoffs are contradictory, and deeply concerning for workers and Cleveland-Cliffs’ own shareholders.”

On Facebook, Danko noted reports that Stelco Canada had stopped selling steel from its Canadian operations to any US customers before the layoffs, and that the company stopped taking domestic Canadian orders for the products being discontinued.

“The Government of Canada will not capitulate to American interests,” he wrote. “Our government will take every measure necessary to hold Cleveland-Cliffs responsible for their actions while supporting workers and investing in Canada to grow the domestic Canadian steel market.”