EAST CHICAGO | After taking off a week for their biennial union's international convention, USW negotiators plan to return to the bargaining table with ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel Corp.

The United Steelworkers negotiators, including local steel union presidents and other bargaining committee officers and members, who attended the convention, are scheduled to resume negotiations Monday as they recall their leader's words.

During the convention's keynote address, "Seize The Moment -- This Is Our Time!" USW International President Leo Gerard said the union is "still fighting to win better health care for retirees and surviving spouses that steel industry bosses and their financiers were willing to abandon without a second thought."

"So, if the steel industry's top negotiators try to shortchange us this time around, they're in for one helluva fight." he said. "There will be no more taking our members and retirees for granted -- no more."

Jim Robinson, USW District 7 director, said Gerard's words are "statements of fact."

The union's last labor agreements with the large domestic integrated steelmakers were signed in 2003 when the companies were fighting to survive.

Many of the assets currently belonging to ArcelorMittal, now the world's largest steel company, had been purchased out of bankruptcy in the preceding two years, while U.S. Steel's stock was selling for $15.93 per share on July 3, 2003. It closed at $155.80 a share Thursday.

"Leo told the convention what we've said from the beginning, which is 'it's our turn,'" Robinson said.

The union's goal has been to have tentative agreements by mid-July.

"We go back to Pittsburgh next Monday and we'll be pushing to meet the goal," he said. "But look, it's negotiations and deadlines have a way of passing. We believed when we set the goal that it's achievable and we still believe that. But it's a goal, not a law, and may or may not be reached."'

The union won't reach an agreement just to meet a deadline, Robinson said.

Economic issues on the table include wages, health care, vacation policy, "everything about money," Robinson said. The union already has reached a tentative agreement on noneconomic issues, such as seniority and grievance procedures, he said.

"We've tentatively solved a number of local issues," he said. "They've worked hard to get that done, but it's important to understand things can change. The reality is when a tentative agreement is reached it's contingent on the entire agreement."