Creditor Protection deadline for US Steel Canada extended until March

A Toronto judge has granted the extension of the creditor protection deadline for US Steel Canada to March 31st 2017, which was set to expire today.

United Steelworkers Union Local 1005 members boarded a bus this morning from the Union Hall on Kenilworth Ave. N. which took them to the courthouse at 330 University Avenue in Toronto to hear the motion at 10:00am.

According to Gary Howe, President of Local 1005 here in Hamilton, USS asked for a shorter stay however the judge granted the stay until March.

Back in 2014, US Steel Canada entered bankruptcy protection under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The Stay Period has been extended numerous times, most recently, until today. The reason for an extension once again, is to provide more time for a sale agreement to be reached.

A Monitor’s Report that came out yesterday, states US Steel Canada is sitting on $237-million dollars in cash. The union has continuously questioned why the company can’t pay benefits for pensioners.

Earlier this month, American-based investment firm Bedrock Industries reached a deal with the Province of Ontario and US Steel Canada to buy the company. That deal still needs to be approved. Howe tells me the Union has still not seen the particulars of this so-called ‘secret deal’, but says it will not be one of the things heard today in court. Howe says the union is not in a position to agree to that deal at this time.