News

Coronavirus Update

In the past couple of weeks, two Great Lakes freight vessels experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 that necessitated an extended stay in port in order to quarantine infected crew members.

State Tax Withholding Changes for Interlake Employees

Interlake employees received an email from Human Resources a couple of weeks ago with information about changes being made to the process of reporting earnings to state tax agencies.

2021 Season Begins

We are now just days away from seeing the vessels crewed by our members returning to service across the Great Lakes.

USW Local 5000 Celebrates Labor Day

USW Local 5000 Utilizes Social Media

Over the course of the past few weeks, USW Local 5000 has started work establishing itself on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The platforms will be used for public relations efforts, as well as an additional tool to communicate with Local 5000 members. 

Steel Production Up 2.5% Over Previous Week

The American Iron and Steel Institute reports that steel production is up 2.5% for the week ending August 22 over the previous week. 

Last week, domestic raw steel production was 1,412,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 63.0%. The same week in 2019 saw the production at 1,841,000 net tons and a capability utilization rate of 79.1%. While these numbers still lag behind those of the previous year, production is up from the 1,377,000 net tons produced in the week ending August 15 when the rate of capability utilization was 61.5% 

Great Lakes Ore Trade Down in July, Steel Shipments Rise

From the Lake Carriers Association: Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 3.5 million tons in July, a decrease of 46.5 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments were also 41 percent behind the month’s 5-year average.

Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 20.7 million tons, a decrease of 22.6 percent compared to the same point in 2019. Iron ore shipments are 19.8 percent behind their 5-year average for the first seven months of the year.

LCA: Limestone Trade Down 20.4% in July

From the Lake Carriers Association: Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.4 million tons in July, a decrease of 20.4 percent compared to a year ago. The trade was below the month’s 5-year average by 12.6 percent.

Loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 2.6 million tons, a decrease of 25 percent compared to 2019. Shipments from Canadian quarries decreased by less than 1 percent to 807,203 tons.

M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar Returns to Service


Request a Membership Card Online

Several of our members have passed on that they have not received a membership card after becoming a member of USW Local 5000. If you did not receive a membership card or would like to request a replacement card, you can now request a card online by visiting https://uswlocals.org/local-union-5000/request-membership-card. 

USW Local 5000 Celebrates Great Lakes Maritime Day

S.S. Arthur M. Anderson of Key Lakes, Inc. underway. The Anderson's unlicensed crew is represented by USW Local 5000. Photo courtesy Nick Stenstrup.