BY ANDREA HOLECEK, Times of Northwest Indiana
holecek@nwitimes.com
Former International Steel Group Inc. salaried staff absorbed into Mittal Steel's work force with the sale of their former employer saw salary and benefit changes in their recent paychecks
"The new compensation plan is probably not as rich as it was under ISG," said Mittal Steel USA spokesman David Allen. "ISG would probably have had to make an adjustment too."
There also "some unevenness that had to be addressed" between the Ispat Inland Inc. and ISG compensation plans, he said.
The two company became one in April when Mittal bought ISG for $4.5 billion, but adjustments to its 3,500 salaried workers were delayed until Jan. 1. Many are quite unhappy.
"I worked for Bethlehem," said one Mittal salaried employee, who asked not to be identified. "When ISG took over, I lost my retirement plus two weeks of vacation. Now I work for Mittal. I will be losing $26,000.00 this year because Mittal has cut the incentive and the profit sharing for all salaried employees in the U.S."
The salaried employee's most recent pay check was more than $1,000 lower than it would have been under ISG's incentive plan. The company's salaried work force is paid on a biweekly basis.
"There is some growling," Allen said. "There's always growling with changes."
The company incentive plans are based on profits as well as individual performance. All were restructured, but some more than others, Allen said. The incentive plan for the salaried work force on the production side parallels the United Steelworkers labor agreement.
The new plan encourages all employees to work toward creating a profitable company, he said.
"With excellent company results, everyone should do very well," Allen said.
The unidentified employee said the changes in the salary structure will have a very negative effect on Northwest Indiana.
"There are many salaried people employed by Mittal," the employee said. "That is a lot of income that cannot be spent because it will not be received. It will have a very large impact on larger purchases such as houses and automobiles."
