1,200 National Steel Car workers in Hamilton, Ont., on strike after rejecting contract offer

Over 1,200 workers at National Steel Car in Hamilton are on strike as of midnight on Wednesday after rejecting a contract offer.

Frank Crowder, president of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7135 said a vote took place Tuesday evening which saw "one of the highest participation rates we've ever seen."

"About 91 per cent of our population came out to vote," he said. "It was like 79 per cent 'no' vote for our contract."

Crowder says workers are asking for higher wages and for the union to have a say in an incentive program which he says is "dangerous."

Crowder says the company is "not even reaching the inflation rates" for wages.

Michael Schram, a welder and union steward at the plant said the money he's currently paid at his job is not enough for him to make a living.

"We know they make lots of money," he told CBC Hamilton from the picket lines on Wednesday.

Schram, who has worked at National Steel Car for 15 years, also said the pensions are not enough for workers like him.

"We have over 200 people that are over 60 years old," he said. "They can't retire."

Crowder said workers at National Steel Car have an incentive program that allows them to take lower pay and get paid an extra 25 per cent of their wages if they make enough product.

The program has been "administered fairly" in the past, but recently, production levels have been set too high for workers to achieve, Crowder said. The union has no say on the program, as per their collective agreement.

Workers at National Steel Car went on a 41-day strike in 2023 that ended in a 13 per cent wage increase.

Crowder said some workers went four to six months without the extra 25 per cent pay, leading to a loss of nine to 11 per cent of their expected wages.

National Steel Car is latest of 4 Hamilton-area companies charged in worker deaths last year