USW Announces Ratified Contract at NewPage

The United Steelworkers (USW), Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, reported this past week that its members at NewPage Corp. have ratified a new, four-year master contract that covers employees at the company's facilities in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It sets corporate-wide economic terms for wages, pensions, health insurance, and sickness and accident benefits, and gives workers additional security in the event any facilities are sold again in the future, according to USW.

NewPage, an Ohio-based producer of coated papers, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, along with certain of its subsidiaries, six years after being bought by Cerberus Capital Management LP.

"The resulting deal restructures collective bargaining agreements in a fair manner, and also provides our members with enhanced security for the future, while providing a period of stability to the new company that emerges from bankruptcy to improve, invest, and grow the business," said USW District 2 Director Michael Bolton, who chairs the USW NewPage Council of Local Unions.

"We could not be more proud of the commitment our local leaders made to the process, their members, and the community. The efforts of all of the local unions involved strengthen the long-term future of our mills and all of the stakeholders," said USW International VP Jon Geenen, who oversees the union's paper sector.

The master agreement will be effective upon court approval and NewPage's emergence from bankruptcy reorganization. In locations where old agreements have expired, the new pact will take effect immediately.

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