WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) -- Severstal North America and the United Steelworkers will resume bargaining on a contract for 6,000 workers in four states.
The USW represents employees at former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel plants in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It also covers the former WCI Steel in Warren, Ohio, and the former Bethlehem Steel-ISG plant in Sparrows Point, Md.
Negotiations have been under way in Pittsburgh for six months. The contract expires March 31.
Talks are to resume Thursday. On the table is how to fund retiree benefits.
In a bulletin Monday, the union told members global steel demand has dropped from record highs last summer to the lowest levels in decades.
But it's still pushing for an agreement that models what the USW got for ArcelorMittal factories.