Vaccine Hesitancy Costing Many Steelworkers a $3,000 Bonus

(Bloomberg) -- The second largest American steelmaker is struggling to meet a vaccine threshold that would give a potential $3,000 bonus to each worker.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. promised a $1,500 bonus to all of their 25,000 employees who receive a jab, with the cash bonus increasing to $3,000 if an individual’s work site hits 75%, according to company spokeswoman Patricia Persico. The program is based on vaccination rates per site, with “more than” 20 of 46 locations above the 75% rate. The company-wide rate is about 60%.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based producer isn’t way behind its efforts for the incentive program, which expires Aug. 21, and it expects vaccinations this week to be even better, Persico said Monday in an email. United Steelworkers President Tom Conway said the company has been struggling to get unionized workers vaccinated.

“Maybe one plant might get there,” Conway said Friday in a phone interview. “But by and large it’s not going to get there.”

U.S. President Joe Biden has made an effort to get more Americans vaccinated, ordering federal employees to receive shots and offering $100 for any American holdout who gets a jab. The number of companies mandating vaccines in order to return to work are accelerating, with Facebook Inc. and Google among companies requiring workers to get jabs.

U.S. Steel Corp., which also employs union steelworkers, said in an email it is not offering a bonus or benefit at this time to workers who get vaccinated. Cliffs shares fell 1.7% to $25.40 in New York.

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