CLEVELAND — Cleveland-Cliffs, a steel producer based in Cleveland with corporate offices located in West Chester and Richfield, said that 75% of its employees got a COVID-19 vaccine as the company offered large incentives for its workers.
The company said on Tuesday employees who received a COVID-19 vaccine earned a $1,500 incentive from the company. Cleveland-Cliffs added that if that employee’s work location obtained at least a 75% vaccination rate, the worker earned an additional $1,500.
The company said that 27 of the company’s 43 locales reached a 75% vaccination rate. Overall, 19,000 of Cleveland-Cliffs’ 25,000 employees got a COVID-19 vaccine.
When the company launched the incentive program, Cleveland-Cliffs said that just 35% of its employees had gotten a coronavirus vaccine.
Cleveland-Cliffs said that at its Middletown location in southwest Ohio, at least 75% of its employees had gotten a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to a 49% overall vaccination rate for the county, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
“I am delighted with the success of our vaccine incentive program,” company president and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement. “I appreciate the support of our local managers and union partners in making herd immunity a reality at the majority of our locations.”
Goncalves challenged other companies to also offer vaccine incentives.
“I implore both my steel producing peers and all other companies who have not already done so to implement similar programs, in order to defeat this nasty virus in our country once and for all,” he said.
Cleveland-Cliffs said it is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. In addition to being headquartered in Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs has employees based in 10 states and one Canadian province.
