U.S. Steel Kosice reaches agreement with unions

U.S. Steel Kosice has come to an agreement with union leaders that has allowed a strike warning to be called off. The previous collective deal between the two sides ran out at the end of June and little progress was made until recent days. The deal will allow the company to increase the number of working hours per week by 150 minutes to 37.5 hours per week, but only for two consecutive months. The agreement does not include the most difficult portions of the steel-making process. One portion of the deal involves rules for layoffs, in which employees who are about to retired are protected from sudden firings. The union agreed to leave wages where they were, rather than holding out for a raise. "No wage growth is understandable as we have known what sort of shape the company is in since May last year," said a union leader. Including all of its subsidiaries, U. S. Steel Kosice employs 10,500 people.