End of ATI strike in sight with tentative agreement
Striking Allegheny Technologies Inc. workers may soon be back on the job, as their labor union struck a tentative agreement with the company last week.
About 1,300 members of the United Steelworkers have been on strike from ATI facilities since the end of March, including the Canton Township plant, as well as locations in Natrona Heights, Latrobe, Brackenridge and Vandergrift.
One of the main points of contention for employees was health care costs.
Randy Denman Jr., unit president of USW Local 7139-5, previously told the Observer-Reporter that ATI had offered to give employees a raise, at the expense of having to pay health care premiums.
According to statements from both USW and ATI, both parties were able to put the issue to rest following three days of negotiations last week.
“Our committee has secured a fair contract that preserves our premium-free health insurance and includes meaningful wage improvements. Most importantly, the company relented on its demands for workers to cover the cost of wage increases by paying vastly more for health insurance,” reads a bulletin sent to USW members Friday.
According to a statement issued by ATI, the tentative contract will run through February 2025, and employees will return to their jobs once it is ratified.
“As we have stated from the beginning, our focus has been on reaching an agreement with a cost structure that enables long-term stability for our employees, our customers and our business. The efforts of both parties over the past few days have resulted in a tentatively agreed to proposal that rewards our hard-working team and contributes to the long-term viability of ATI,” reads ATI’s statement.
Representatives from both USW and ATI declined to comment on the negotiations beyond their public statements.
While they were able to solve contractual issues, USW claims a return-to-work agreement took most of the day Friday.
“A fair return-to-work agreement ensures an orderly recall of all eligible bargaining unit members, prevents USW members from working with temporary replacement workers who took our jobs, bridges our seniority for the duration of the labor dispute and protects returning strikers from unfair discipline,” their statement reads.
Workers will continue to show up at picket lines until the new contract is ratified.
Tom Pysh, an Ellsworth resident, works at the Canton Township plant in production and maintenance. Outside the facility on Monday, he said they will continue showing up to picket until the replacement workers are out of the building.
Pysh said union members have yet to be filled in on the specific details of the tentative contract, but expects that they will later in the week.
“We’re happy, excited, but we haven’t seen any details,” Pysh said.