ATI lockout continues
On a late-summer, mid-80s afternoon in Canton Township, a half-dozen Allegheny Technologies Inc. employees were engaged in an even hotter issue: their lockout by the company.
“Better this than 15 degrees,” one of them joked Sunday, inside the tent that shielded them partly from the heat along Green Street.
They were the information pickets on duty outside the main gate of ATI’s Allegheny Ludlum plate mill, where about 220 workers – members of United Steelworkers Local 7139-5 – have been prevented from entering since Aug. 15. Until then, they and roughly 2,000 other members at 11 other ATI locations were working under terms of a contract that expired June 30.
Negotiations continued until Aug. 6, when ATI said it made its “last, best and final” contract offer. ATI gave the union an Aug. 10 deadline to consider the offer and present it for vote – a deadline some USW members contended was too soon to get a complete vote. Then the lockout took place, with ATI saying it will operate the facilities with salaried and nonunion employees and temporary professional staff until a contract can be finalized.
This Labor Day weekend has not been a picnic for many ATI employees, but the six pickets in Canton early Sunday afternoon were dutifully following their recent routine. Tom Urcho, Ken Berdine, Don Yazevac, Tony DiCenzo, Greg Ewig and Mike Bellhy marched in front of the main gate, carrying signs reading, “Unfair Labor Practice Lockout at ATIFRP,” “Solidarity in Steel” and “Bargaining Is Cheaper Than Scab Labor.”
The informational pickets, quite simply, strive to inform the public about their side in this issue. And in Canton, they do it 24/7, with 16 crews handling six-hour shifts. There are three tents set up, two near the front gate and one at the water treatment entrance at the rear of the complex, which is down the hill from the Jessop Place exit of Interstate 70.
They, apparently, are getting positive public responses. A number of passing commuters acknowledged them with a polite honk.
“I would say, without a doubt, the majority of people support us,” said Marc Scott, a spokesman for the local. “The community has been outstanding, dropping off food, water, pizzas, cookies, newspapers. It’s been very nice to see.”
A few of the Sunday afternoon pickets said they participated in the USW rally Tuesday in downtown Pittsburgh. An estimated 3,000 members, retirees and supporters converged, calling for fair contract settlements with ATI, U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal. Contracts with the latter two companies expired that day, but the firms agreed to let about 30,000 union employees continue to work under terms of the previous pacts as bargaining continues.
Though he realizes USW members at ATI “are in a holding pattern,” Scott is gratified by the union’s response.
“I think our resolve is very strong,” he said. “We believe in our position. We think unity within our memberships is very good.”