USW to rally for contract deals with 3 steelmakers
The United Steelworkers union will hold a rally in downtown Pittsburgh today to call for fair contract settlements with U.S. Steel, Allegheny Technologies Inc. and ArcelorMittal.
The union said in a news release Monday it began bargaining for new contracts with U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal in June. The two master agreements, which cover about 30,000 workers in all, are scheduled to expire today.
In addition, ATI locked out 2,200 USW members at 12 locations, including ATI’s Washington plate mill in Canton Township, Aug. 15 after several months of bargaining, despite the union’s offer to continue working as negotiations continued. The union’s contract with ATI expired June 30.
Today’s rally will begin at USW’s headquarters, followed by a march to the corporate offices of ATI and U.S. Steel, both of which are headquartered in downtown Pittsburgh.
ATI, in a news release Monday, said its Flat Rolled Products division was reporting all of it facilities are actively producing and shipping products.
According to ATI, since the beginning of the lockout Aug. 15, the division shipped more than 10,000 tons of specialty materials to customers and vendors. The company is using salaried and nonunion employees and temporary professional staffing in the affected mills.
“The lockout is not something we wanted, but we cannot allow our lack of progress with the USW to prevent us from operating, producing and shipping product,” said Bob Wetherbee, ATI FRP executive vice president, in a statement.
In a separate news release, the USW said Monday it filed a complaint in federal court against Allegheny Ludlum LLC over its announced decision to terminate insurance benefits for 95 office and technical employees before their intended expiration date.
The USW’s complaint alleges the company, a unit of ATI, breached a contractual agreement by ignoring a Nov. 30 “lag date” provision in an insurance agreement, and by refusing to submit the dispute to arbitration in accordance with long-standing dispute resolution procedures.
The union said office and technical employees affected by the insurance termination announcement belong to USW Local 1196-1 with locations in New Bedford, Mass., and the Pennsylvania communities of Bagdad, Brackenridge, Latrobe, Midland and Natrona Heights.