United Steelworkers sees more layoffs

TORONTO (Reuters) - The global recession and crisis in financial markets will likely lead to more layoffs among North American unionized workers, a top official from the United Steelworkers union said on Monday.

"We'll probably see a reduction of 10-15 pct of our workers globally (from the beginning of the crisis)," Ken Neumann, national director of the USW's Canadian branch, told the Reuters Global Mining and Steel Summit in New York.

"I don't think we're at the bottom."

He said the union represents 850,000 workers spread across several sectors, including steel, mining, autos, and health care among others.

Weakening demand has prompted layoffs in several sectors, with steel, mining, and autos particularly hard hit.

The task of maintaining wages and benefits for workers lucky enough to keep their jobs has also become harder. Sectors such as mining had been able to negotiate rich compensation packages, but the picture has shifted, Neumann said.

"Its going to be a bit more difficult to get into negotiations," he said.

(For summit blog: blogs.reuters.com/summits/ )

(Reporting by Cameron French; editing by Jim Marshall)