“It’s outrageous that the company has chosen this destructive path, but it is clear that ATI intended to lock these workers out since day one,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard in a statement. “From the beginning, the company has bargained in bad faith to dictate the terms of an agreement.” 
 
The Pittsburgh-based company has since May been trying to come to terms on a new labor agreement with the union. Last week, it made what it said was its last, best and final contract offer, giving the union until 10 August to accept the agreement or risk a lockout. 
 
The union, however, let the deadline come and go without taking action, saying it would review the offer with the membership first.
 
In a statement, Bob Wetherbee, ATI's executive vice president for flat rolled products, said that while some progress had been made on some issues during bargaining sessions, the two sides remains apart on critical issues, including employee health insurance, the structure of benefits for employees hired after 30 June, and updates to subcontracting and scheduling rules.
 
“These differences have remained since formal negotiations began more than three months ago. ATI has made substantial good faith moves throughout the negotiations, with little movement on these issues by the USW," Wetherbee said.
 
“It is disappointing that the company has been placed in this position, but this step allows us to continue to meet customer demands while we continue our efforts to finalize a new contract with the USW. It is a temporary, but necessary, step to ensure that we continue to support our customers and help secure our future."
 
No contract extensions are in place, and ATI said it will continue to operate with salaried and nonunion employees as well as temporary workers.
 
The union said the lockout "is the culmination of a months-long campaign by ATI management to force workers to accept draconian and unnecessary concessions." 
 
ATI said its most recent offer includes $4,500 in lump-sum payments over the four-year agreement and continued incentive programs for ATI Flat Rolled Products employees. It said those employees averaged $94,000 in earnings in 2014.
 
“Our last, best and final proposal puts a workable solution on the table, and the Union committee has taken no concrete or decisive action on this proposal, despite our request that they accept it by Monday, August 10, and take it to the membership for a vote. The union has given no specific time frame for a response to the company, nor have they committed to accept the offer, recommend it to their membership, or schedule a vote. In the meantime, our challenges continue to grow, and our operations become more unstable," Wetherbee said in a statement.
 
The union, meanwhile, said it had been making steady progress on reaching a new deal and had presented the company with proposals that would have saved millions of dollars. The latest, it said, was made on 4 August, when it presented management with an offer that would have saved tens of millions of dollars in benefit costs.
 
"Instead of seriously responding to the union’s proposal, ATI on 6 August presented the USW bargaining committee with a 'last, best and final' contract offer and threatened to lock out its work force if the union failed to present the offer to its members for ratification by 3 p.m. 10 August, just four days later," the union said in a statement.
 
The union let the deadline lapse and instead took the proposal back to the locals to discuss it with the rank-and-file, it said. It told the company it would have those discussions as fast as possible, but rather than accepting the union's offer to continue working under terms of the previous deal while bargaining continued, the company chose to lock out employees, the union said.
 
“We recognize that we are facing a difficult environment, but the way to address these problems is by working together, not by creating arbitrary deadlines and issuing threats,” said USW International Vice President Tom Conway, the ATI bargaining committee chairman.
 
“We remain ready and willing to bargain toward an agreement that is fair to both sides, and today we informed the company that our 30 June offer to remain at work while negotiations continue still stands,” Conway said.
 
Wetherbee said the union gave no specific time frame for responding to the offer, nor did it commit to accepting the offer, making a recommendation or scheduling a vote.
 
"In the meantime, our challenges continue to grow, and our operations become more unstable," he said.