ATI Ludlum workers rally in advance of contract expiration
ATI Ludlum employee Mike Scott leads a chant with other employees Thursday during a rally for the United Steelworkers union which is in negotiations for a new contract. Around 60 union members chanted in front of the ATI Ludlum building in Washington for a fair contract and more affordable health care.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter ATI Ludlum employee Marc Scott leads a chant with other employees during a rally for support of the United Steelworkers union which is in negotiations for a new contract.
About 60 unionized employees at the Allegheny Ludlum specialty plate mill in Canton Township rallied briefly Thursday afternoon to show their support for a fair contract with their employer.
Members of the United Steelworkers union are negotiating in Pittsburgh for a new pact with Allegheny Technologies Inc.’s flat rolled products group.
Just before members walked to a visitors parking lot directly across from the mill’s offices on Green Street to chant their demands, Skip Longdon, unit president for USW Local 7139-5 and a member of the negotiating team, said talks are continuing in advance of the current four-year contract’s expiration on Tuesday.
According to Longdon, the union received a list of 145 items from ATI that include demands for reduced wages and overtime, elimination of Sunday privileges and a change in health care coverage. He said the flat rolled products group has 15 different plants with about 2,000 employees represented by the union. About 220 union employees work at the Canton plate mill.
Longdon said the company has had losing quarters, but has continued to give bonuses to its executives.
“The language means it would pretty much clean out our contract,” Longdon said.
Marc Scott, a union member and storeroom clerk at the plant, was more blunt in his assessment of the company’s proposal.
“It’s not an attempt at making the company profitable, it’s an attempt to break the union,” he said.
“They should be embarrassed,” added Mark Molinaro, who works in the plant’s transportation department.
Scott later led the group in a chant that asked for a fair contract, decent wages and affordable health care coverage.
“We’re still at the table,” Longdon said of negotiations, explaining that the union took a break from talks to conduct similar support rallies among its members at the various flat rolled plants.
According to a flier distributed by the union during the rally, “ATI management is continuing their aggressive attack on our contracts. Management is continuing to push proposals that would increase our health care costs, reduce overtime compensation, undermine our retirement security, and allow management to contract out more of our work.
“At the bargaining table, the USW is continuing to push back against the company’s proposals and present reasonable solutions that address the company’s concerns and maintain quality, affordable health care, retirement security and job security for all USW members at ATI.
“We understand that the past few years have been a challenging time for our company and for our industry, but that’s no reason to gut the decades of progress we’ve made in our contracts.”
According to the USW, if an agreement isn’t reached by July 1, the union can agree to extend the old contract if the company also agrees; strike, or continue to work without a contract.
It said the company can agree to extend the old contract or lock out the union members or continue to operate without a contract.
ATI spokesman Dan Greenfield said later Thursday that the company does not comment on negotiations.