United Steelworkers members working at ArcelorMittal plants Monday voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing International president Leo Gerard to call a strike against the global steel giant if he feels it’s necessary to reach a contract agreement.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, many of the locals reported unanimous yes votes at the meetings already held.

“We had two outstanding unanimous votes. They shook the rafters,” USW Local 6787 president Pete Trinidad said.

More meetings and votes were planned for Monday evening at Local 6787 in Burns Harbor and some other locals.

ArcelorMittal has plants in Burns Harbor and East Chicago.

The ArcelorMittal union workers followed USW members employed at U.S. Steel mills, who cast an overwhelming ”yes” during a strike authorization vote earlier this month, according to union officials.

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The USW last week called for the strike authorization vote against ArcelorMittal, saying the steel giant’s proposal is concessionary and would wipe out any pay increase the company has offered.

“We do not want a fight, but we will not stand by while the company makes huge profits and at the same time demands the lowering of our standards of living,” the USW wrote in a memo to members.

With three meetings down and one to go as of Monday afternoon, the vote was also a unanimous yes among USW Local 1010 members in Hammond.

“Not one person said no,” Local 1010 president Steve Wagner, a member of the Highland Town Council, said.

He said all the meetings were very well attended.

Trinidad said the union hall in Burns Harbor holds about 1,000 people and there were standing-room-only crowds at the first two meetings Monday. He said the local has 3,400 members.

Trinidad said votes taken at locals in East Chicago, Riverdale, Ill., and Columbus, Ohio, also were unanimous.

The union said ArcelorMittal is seeking concessions even though the company is making huge profits this year and industry and company forecasts are positive for the future years.

Trinidad, who is a member of the union negotiating team, said under the company’s current proposal, submitted Sept. 7, members would lose 72 cents an hour for every hour they work in concessions over the term of the proposed 3-year contract.

“We would be making 72 cents less an hour,” he said. He said insurance costs and contributions to a pension fund would increase and a bonus program would be eliminated, among other concessions, under ArcelorMittal’s proposal.

He said the company is offering some money up front, but it would be wiped out by the concessions.

“I don’t know what the company’s thinking, but we’re fed up. We’re asking for a fair contract. The company can afford it,” Trinidad said.

Like other union leaders, Wagner called ArcelorMittal’s proposal concessionary and unacceptable.

“It’s kind of unbelievable. This is how it was done when things were in the tank, not when business is thriving,” Wagner said. “No one calls for a strike unless it’s the only thing left to get the company moving in the direction it needs to be moving.”

ArcelorMittal didn’t address any specifics in its proposal in a USW labor negotiations update posted on its website on Sept. 12, but did state that negotiations would be breaking until Sept. 20 due to a lack of accommodation space in Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, a message signed jointly by Gary Bender, USW contract coordinator, and Steve Thompson, director of health and safety at ArcelorMittal USA, urged employees not to allow the negotiations to become a distraction in the workplace and at home.

“By keeping our heads in the game and staying focused on the specific tasks and safety requirements associated with these tasks, we can continue to avoid serious injuries or fatalities,” the memo stated.

The USW stated in its memo that it’s submitted a proposal that includes wages consistent with gains in manufacturing, increases in pension contributions by the company, and improved dental coverage, among other items.

Trinidad said the vote results would be called in to chief negotiator Dave McCall.

“We’ll go back (to Pittsburgh) this week and put a strategy together,” he said.

Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.