ArcelorMittal and USW reach tentative agreement

NEW YORK (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS) and the United Steelworkers union reached a tentative agreement on Saturday on a new four-year contract that covers 14,000 of the steelmaker's employees.

The union earlier in the week voted in favour of a strike authorization in the event that the company and union had not arrived at an agreement before the current contract expires on Monday.

Union members will discuss the proposed agreement with their negotiating committees before voting on whether to accept or reject the proposed contract, the USW said in a statement.

The contract covers employees at 14 of ArcelorMittal's U.S. flat carbon, long carbon and iron ore mining locations.

"We believe that we have reached a positive outcome for all parties involved without disruption to our business operations," said Michael Rippey, president and CEO of ArcelorMittal USA.

U.S. Steel recently agreed on a new contract with its workers that offers its unionized employees a $6,000 signing bonus, some improved retiree benefits and commitments by the company to spend $3 billion (1.65 billion pounds) over the next four years on plant expansion and modernization in the United States.

ArcelorMittal's unionized workers were seeking similar commitments from the company. The terms of the new contract were not immediately available.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha and Matt Daily)