TUCSON, Ariz. - According to United Steelworkers, ASARCO has agreed to pay copper price-based bonus payments to workers.
In a release posted on its website, the union will pay the first round of bonuses Nov. 6. The agreement follows an Oct. 7 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that denied ASARCO's bid to deny an arbitrator's ruling that the company had to pay out millions of dollars to hundreds of employees hired after June 30, 2011.
"We are happy to report that today, the Company’s lawyers sent a letter to USW’s lawyers promising that ASARCO will make the first round of Copper Price Bonus payments on November 6, 2019," the union release said. "These payments will include all bonuses owed for the third quarter of 2011 through the first quarter of 2015. All current and former employees who are owed bonuses for those quarters should receive a payment on November 6. Current employees will receive their payments through direct deposit or by paper check, whichever method by which they are normally paid. Former employees will receive paper checks sent to their last known addresses. Any former employee who needs to update his or her address should contact their union immediately."
In an unrelated issue, Teamsters working at an ASARCO mine are striking over pay, benefits and work conditions. The two sides agreed to resume bargaining Nov. 14.
