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BURNHAM - Standard Steel and United Steelworkers representatives are scheduled to resume contract negotiations Tuesday as roughly 450 to 460 employees continue working under expired agreements and some union members press for a strike vote.
Wages and health care remain the chief unresolved issues, according to Jeff Wray, president of USW Local 1940. The negotiations cover two bargaining units: office and clerical employees, known as O&C, and production and maintenance workers, known as P&M.
The contracts originally expired July 26. Employees continued working under extensions until the final extension expired Sept. 21. Wray said the union offered another extension, but the company declined.
No strike has been authorized, and Wray said the union wants to reach an agreement without stopping work. Still, he said members have asked union leaders to hold a strike vote.
"The Steelworkers, including most of us, do not want to see a strike," Wray said. "But the membership has been asking for a strike vote. We have a good bit of our membership that wanted a strike vote last month. We're hoping that we can work something out before we get that far."
Wray said one or two votes would be required to authorize a strike. He said the union has completed the other preliminary requirements established by the Steelworkers.
Tuesday's session could determine whether the union moves toward a strike vote. "If they don't bring us anything more on Tuesday, that'd probably tip the scale," Wray said.
Wray said Standard Steel has proposed hourly wage increases of 50 cents in the first year, 50 cents in the second year and 60 cents in the third year. The wage proposal applies to both bargaining units, Wray said. He placed the middle of the current wage scale at about $27 an hour. At that rate, the first proposed increase would amount to about 1.9%.
Wray didn't provide the union's formal wage proposal. Wray said employees want raises that allow them to maintain their buying power after several years of inflation.
Health insurance represents the other major disagreement. Wray said current employees would retain their existing health coverage under the company's proposal, but new hires would pay more. He didn't provide a confirmed figure for the additional cost.
Wray said Standard Steel has offered additional wages if employees assume more of their insurance costs, an approach he described as "more of a shell game." Asked whether Standard Steel was bargaining in good faith, Wray said, "I can't say they're not bargaining in good faith."
Standard Steel didn't address the union's specific claims about wages, health care, the expired extensions or a possible strike in a written statement issued Monday. "Standard Steel remains fully committed to the collective bargaining process and reaching an agreement," the statement said.
The company said it wants to provide fair and competitive pay and benefits while protecting the long-term stability of its Burnham operations. Tyler Fida, Standard Steel's vice president of procurement and human resources, signed the statement.
Standard Steel manufactures railway wheels and axles at its North Walnut Street plant. Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry figures ranked the company as Mifflin County's fourth-largest employer during the first quarter of 2026.
Employees have continued reporting to work during the negotiations. Wray said some members are upset, but the workforce has remained patient while the union gives bargaining another chance.
"They're OK at this point," Wray said. "There are folks that are upset. There's no doubt about it. But everybody's been OK so far."
The National Labor Relations Board says most terms of an expired collective bargaining agreement remain in effect while an employer and union negotiate. Exceptions can include arbitration, management rights, union security and no-strike or no-lockout provisions.
Wray said the union hasn't established a deadline for an agreement. If negotiations fail and members authorize a strike, he said the union would notify the company before employees walked out.
For now, both sides say they want a contract, but they haven't agreed on what it should contain. "The union really wants to work something out; we absolutely do," Wray said. "But we feel the company's being extremely stubborn."
Wray described the past several months in simpler terms. "It's been nerve-wracking," he said.