Joly says she will meet with Stelco owner if company gives ‘concrete’ plan
Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Canada’s Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says she’s willing to meet with the president of Stelco and the head of its parent company, Cleveland-Cliffs, but only if the company brings back laid off workers first.
In a letter to Stelco president Paul Simon dated Thursday, Joly said she wanted to see a “concrete and credible” plan to return workers to their jobs before she would meet with the Stelco head and Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves.
“My message to [Goncalves] is, first, bring back the jobs and then we’ll meet. I want a plan, I want a timeline. And I’m serious about it. You have commitments toward Canada. You have to make sure that you respect them,” Joly reiterated to reporters at a news conference on Thursday.
Joly wrote in the letter that the plan to re-engage workers would form the basis of a conversation with Stelco and Cleveland-Cliffs about the company’s compliance with its requirements under the Investment Canada Act.
Goncalves has previously asked to meet with Joly to discuss a path to bring laid off workers back to the Hamilton plant, where Stelco said last month it was idling some operations.
Joly also demanded the company bring all laid off employees back to work “immediately.”
On Wednesday, Goncalves said in a statement that he hoped to return all 175 laid off workers to their jobs by Christmas if the company’s plan to boost its Canadian sales is succesful.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said she called the government’s lawyers after the head of Stelco’s American parent company told CBC News that he only bought the Hamilton steelmaker to stop it undercutting his production facilities in the U.S.
The letter is the latest in the public back-and-forth between the federal government and the American owners of the steel plant since the layoffs were announced.
Following the decision, Joly demanded that it reverse layoffs announced last month or face potential legal action for violating Investment Canada Act undertakings. The government says the company agreed in those undertakings to keep the number of unionized Stelco employees at 2024 levels through to 2029 when the purchase was made.
Goncalves maintains Cleveland-Cliffs is in “full compliance” with the obligations it made under the Investment Canada Act when it bought the steelmaker in 2024.
Joly not satisfied with company’s proof of compliance
Earlier this week, the company said it had performed an “exhaustive review” of its obligations under the Investment Canada Act and determined it was in full compliance.
But Joly said in her latest letter she was not at all satisfied with the evidence given in that report,…
Read More: Joly says she will meet with Stelco owner if company gives ‘concrete’ plan