U.S. Steel must meet commitments, Clement says

For the second time in three weeks, federal Industry Minister Tony Clement has warned a foreign company that it must live up to commitments made when it bought a Canadian business.

Clement said Wednesday that he had written to U.S. Steel, asking the company to comply with undertakings it made when it bought Stelco in 2007.

In April, he asked Brazilian company Vale to explain a layoff at Vale Inco, the Canadian nickel mining giant it bought in 2006.

He wrote the letter to U.S. Steel after said in March that it was temporarily shutting down its Hamilton mill and closing most of its Lake Erie operations, affecting up to 1,500 jobs.

When U.S. Steel bought Stelco, "it committed to a series of undertakings regarding, among others, capital expenditures, research and development and production," Clement said in a news release.

The release did not detail the commitments, and the government cannot make them public, but the United Steelworkers union called Wednesday for the promsies to be released. 

The union said it asked Clement to look into U.S. Steel's actions on March 25.   

The minister's letter to the company is a first step, but Clement "must also be prepared to take U.S. Steel to court if it doesn't comply, Ken Neumann, the union's national director, said in a release Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Steel said the company is reviewing Clement's letter and "will respond in due course."

The letter said Clement was "concerned" about the U.S. Steel cuts in Canada and by the impact this will have on its workers. "We expect the company to live up to its commitments," he said.

A spokeswoman said Clement told reporters Wednesday that the Vale Inco situation is still under review.

Xstrata layoff broke deal with government, union says

Members of the Canadian Auto Workers Local 598 in Sudbury are planning to meet Clement to discuss layoffs at Xstrata Nickel's operations. Xstrata bought Canadian mine company Falconbridge in 2006.

The union said the layoff of 686 workers breached the deal Xstrata made with Investment Canada.

"The agreement stated there would be no layoffs for three years, which means our members are fully protected until July 2009," CAW Local 598 president Dwight Harper said in a news release Wednesday.