USW Members Reject New Contract at ATI
07/27/2011 - United Steelworkers members have rejected a four-year contract with Allegheny Technologies that would have covered represented employees at ATI Allegheny Ludlum and ATI’s Albany, Ore., titanium operations.
United Steelworkers (USW) members have rejected a four-year contract with Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) that would have covered represented employees at ATI Allegheny Ludlum and ATI’s Albany, Ore., titanium operations.
The two sides had reached tentative agreement on June 30 regarding the contract, which called for wage increases and lump sum cash payments, increased pensions, improvements to various contract language provisions and health care benefits for current employees. Retirees concerned about increased health care premiums lobbied active members to reject the proposal.
The vote was 824 for and 1358 against. Some 3000 members at ATI Allegheny Ludlum and ATI's Albany Ore. titanium operations were eligible to vote.
USW International Vice president Tom Conway said that the USW is committed to finding creative solutions to fund retiree healthcare without creating hardship for either the retirees or active members. "Unfortunately, foreign based and non-union competitors bear no such obligation," he said.
Existing labor agreements covering employees of Allegheny Ludlum and the Albany titanium operations are currently set to expire on August 1, 2011.
Conway said that local union presidents would be returning to their plant locations to conduct meetings with the membership that will include strike authorization votes. He added that new discussions would be scheduled with the company once the meetings are concluded.
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, with 850,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. It represents workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, oil refining, paper and the service sectors.
Allegheny Technologies Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified specialty metals producers in the world with revenues, including Ladish, of approximately $4.8 billion for the last twelve months. ATI’s products include titanium and titanium alloys, nickel-based alloys and superalloys, grain-oriented electrical steel, stainless and specialty steels, zirconium, hafnium, niobium, tungsten materials, forgings, castings, and fabrication and machining capabilities.
