The United Steelworkers Union (USW) and its Local 14425 reached a new three-year agreement with Carey Salt, a subsidiary of Compass Minerals Inc., after a bitter three-year struggle to achieve a fair and equitable contract at the company’s salt mine here.

Compass Minerals is a mining and materials company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., with operations in the U.S., Canada and the UK.

Local 14425 represents about 100 workers and its members ratified the agreement on Feb. 25, 2013.

The new agreement includes a 3 percent general wage increase in each year of the contract; increases in shift differential pay; upgrades in pay for several job classifications; and additional pay for doing work outside of the employee’s job duties. Workers also receive increases in life insurance, short-term disability and long-term disability payments ... more