steel company based in hamilton ontario canada . dofasco is currently a standalone subsidiary of arcelormittal the world s largest steel producer . contents 1 history 1.1 acquisition 2 labour relations 3 pollution 4 our product is steel . our strength is people . 5 notes 6 external links history edit clifton and frank sherman founded dominion foundries and steel in 1912 creating a giant that would bring prosperity and identity to the city of hamilton ontario . 1 dofasco was incorporated as dominion steel castings company limited in 1912 becoming dominion foundries and steel company in 1917 . 2 its longtime nickname dofasco was adopted as its legal name in 1980 . 2 dofasco owned and operated a number of subsidiaries including national steel car a hamilton based railway freight car manufacturer from 1962 to 1994 and algoma steel from 1988 to 1991 until union and financial difficulties ultimately forced dofasco to divest the company . dofasco was the operator of the major adams and sherman iron ore mines in northeastern ontario until 1990 when dofasco announced that they would be closing the mines . during the recession of the early 1990s dofasco made its first permanent layoffs since the great depression of the 1930s . dofasco has won awards for being the most sustainable manufacturing company in north america . 3 acquisition edit in january 2006 luxembourg based arcelor then the world s second largest steel producer by volume outbid rival german steel producer thyssenkrupp ag to purchase dofasco . analysts cited the strengths of dofasco including its non unionized workforce strong automotive customer base its unique thin high strength steel product and ownership of a canadian ore mine . 4 after arcelor initially presented a hostile bid of 56 per share thyssenkrupp and dofasco signaled their intentions to enter into a friendly merger . under that plan dofasco would have retained its employee profit sharing plan and placed in charge of all of thyssenkrupp s north american operations . 4 arcelor raised its offer significantly causing thyssenkrupp to pull out as further bidding would have downgraded its credit rating . dofasco paid thyssenkrupp a breakup fee of 215 million . dofasco s board recommended the latest arcelor offer of 71 per share in cash worth an estimated 5.5 billion . while the breakup fee was criticized by some as excessive most analysts otherwise praised president and ceo donald a. pether and the board of directors for their successful handling of the bidding situation . 5 arcelor was itself subsequently taken over by the world s largest steel producer mittal . however in an effort to prevent dofasco from falling into thyssenkrupp s hands arcelor management locked dofasco into an independent trust based in the netherlands . dofasco is now part of the combined arcelormittal and has been integrated into their international operations . 6 labour relations edit unlike rival stelco dofasco is not unionized due to its profit sharing plan with employees . as a result dofasco has avoided many of the strikes and work stoppages which have plagued its cross town rival . however there has been some complaints that the employee benefits are too generous . some investors complained that the profits should have been distributed to shareholders as a special dividend rather than giving workers larger bonuses which was a factor in the under performing stock price despite strong results . as of january 1 2013 dofasco now a standalone subsidiary reduced the benefits for both drug and dental . 4 7 while several unsuccessful attempts have been made to organize by the united steelworkers of america union negotiations at stelco have influenced wages and benefits at dofasco . in 2007 dofasco was named one of canada s top 100 employers as published in maclean s magazine the only steelmaker to receive this honour . the most recent win came in 2015 . 8 since 1937 dofasco has annually held a large christmas party typically featuring 30 000 guests and a 30 foot tree . from 1993 to 2009 the party was held at copps coliseum . 9 in 2010 the company moved the party to the company owned recreation park . pollution edit dofasco has had occasional problems with pollution . in 2014 the company pleaded guilty to violating air quality standards in 2012 and paid violation and victim surcharge fines of approximately half a million dollars . 10 in 2015 there was an accidental release of a large plume of iron oxide dust at the plant due to an instrument failure . 11 our product is steel . our strength is people . edit a dofasco product a railway locomotive bogie in new zealand bears the company s name and country of origin . since 1970 the company has used the same corporate slogan our product is steel . our strength is people . to create what marketing magazine has called one of the most clearly defined corporate images in the country . the slogan was created by hamilton based kelly advertising who have been the company s ad agency since 1927 . 12 the slogan can also be seen as recognizing the importance of its workforce as the company has a good relationship with its employees . notes edit hamilton spectator the greatest hamiltonian . ii . retrieved 2007 02 11 . a b history of industry in hamilton ontario . retrieved 2009 07 27 . dofasco among world s most sustainable companies press release . dow jones sustainability group index via dofasco . 12 march 2000 . retrieved 2006 12 26 . a b c search global edition the new york times dofasco recommends acceptance of arcelor bid . cbc news . 2006 01 24 . ap 26 december 2006 . thyssenkrupp goes to court over dofasco . globe and mail . retrieved 2006 12 26 . http www.thespec.com news business article 736528 the dofasco way http www.canadastop100.com national arcelormittal 2010 family christmas party arcelormittal dofasco fined after guilty pleas to 6 pollution charges . 26 may 2014 . retrieved 2015 11 19 . instrument failure causes air pollution incident at arcelormittal . 27 may 2015 . retrieved 2015 11 19 . the 1970s landmark canadian advertisements . marketing magazine . 28 september 1998 . retrieved 2008 02 21 . external links edit dofasco corporate website history of dofasco v t e hamilton ontario features flag notable hamiltonians history 1930 british empire games auchmar bank of hamilton battlefield house battle of stoney creek dundurn castle george hamilton grand lodge of canada hamilton tigers nhl hmcs haida list of national historic sites list of royal visits studebaker canada tim hortons thomas mcquesten timeline of events toronto hamilton and buffalo railway uss hamilton uss scourge war of 1812 whitehern geography 100 waterfalls of hamilton bruce trail cootes paradise desjardins canal golden horseshoe hamilton harbour lake ontario niagara escarpment royal botanical gardens spencer gorge webster s falls conservation area twenty mile creek communities ainslie wood ancaster dundas flamborough glanbrook lynden stoney creek economy arcelor mittal dofasco economic history film industry in hamilton hamilton health sciences head offices in hamilton list of tallest buildings in hamilton u.s. steel stelco politics hamilton city hall hamilton ontario city council list of hamilton mayors public services city of hamilton ems hamilton police service hospitals chedoke hospital hamilton general hospital juravinski cancer centre juravinski hospital mcmaster children s hospital mcmaster university medical centre st. joseph s healthcare hamilton s charlton st. joseph s healthcare hamilton s west 5th st. peter s hospital education hamilton public library hamilton wentworth catholic district school board hamilton wentworth district school board hillfield strathallan college columbia international college mcmaster divinity college mcmaster university mohawk college redeemer university college hamilton literacy council culture african lion safari around the bay road race art gallery of hamilton canadian football hall of fame canadian warplane heritage museum dundas cactus festival hamilton bulldogs hamilton tiger cats labour day classic list of attractions in hamilton media in hamilton power play tv series sports in hamilton supercrawl sports venues in hamilton transportation go transit hamilton go west harbour go confederation go hamilton street railway blast network b line a line t line john c. munro hamilton international airport list of streets in hamilton the hamilton portal retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dofasco & oldid 722130785 categories steel companies of canadacompanies based in hamilton ontariocompanies established in 1912canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies1912 establishments in ontario navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction 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