The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced that its members at NewPage Corp. have ratified a new four-year Master Contract that will bring added protection to 4,500 workers and help the company emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a stable employer in the coated paper sector of the paper industry.

The new master agreement covers employees at NewPage paper facilities in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan and Wisconsin. It sets corporate-wide economic terms for wages, pensions, health insurance and sickness and accident benefits, and gives workers additional security in the event any facilities are sold again in the future.

NewPage, an Ohio-based maker of coated papers, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Sept. 7, along with certain of its subsidiaries, six years after being bought by Cerberus Capital Management LP ... more