ATI workers show support at rally
About 400 people walk toward the ATI Ludlum offices in Canton Township to protest Thursday. Union workers have been locked out since August over contract differences, including health care issues.
Kelley Boring, right, a United Steelworkers union member, holds up a sign with other supporters at the ATI Ludlum plant in Canton Township during a rally Thursday.
Brigitte Womer and Marc Scott lead chants in front of the ATI Ludlum office building in Canton Township on Thursday. More than 200 United Steelworkers members who work at the ATI Ludlum plant in Canton Township have been locked out by the comapny for 180 days.
Marc Scott shook hands like a politician, and with politicians.
“Thank you for coming. We appreciate your support,” he said continuously, pressing flesh – actually, gloves – with dozens of supporters emerging from buses just parked along Green Street.
Scott is a spokesman for United Steelworkers Local 7139-5, and a recent retiree of the Allegheny Technologies Inc. plate mill in Canton Township. He was the main voice behind a rally Thursday afternoon at the plant gate in a display of unity for 220 USW members there and 2,200 nationwide who have been locked out of work by the company since Aug. 15.
His was a resounding voice, one that may not have needed the megaphone Scott used, but it was not the only voice heard at the Allegheny Ludlum facility.
About 400 people – local members, union brethren, family members and supporters – gathered despite frigid conditions to protest a labor situation that affected 12 ATI facilities in six states for the past six months. They came from Pennsylvania and other states, in their own vehicles or in one of two buses that wheeled in from Pittsburgh. One man, wearing a USW jacket, works in Gary, Ind.
About 70 were from Next Generation, a group of USW members age 35 and younger.
Scott kicked off the rally about 1 p.m., bellowing: “Today is Day 180 (of the lockout).” Then, taking aim at ATI management, he pledged the union’s resolve to ultimately prevail .
“We will be here one day longer and be a hell of a lot stronger than they are,” Scott shouted to the approving masses.
Democratic state Reps. Brandon Neuman and Pam Snyder followed Scott to the megaphone.
“I applaud you for standing up for what’s right, so you can go home every day after providing for your families,” said Neuman, D-North Strabane Township. “We want you to get a living wage. That’s not too much to ask. We need you to stay united.”
Snyder, D-Jefferson, Greene County, likewise urged unity.
“Some people think that things like sick days and an eight-hour workday came about because companies are nice guys,” she said. “Really, they’ve come about because of people like you. I don’t like perceptions that turn workers into villains and CEOs into victims.”
This has been a contentious lockout, which began about six weeks after a contract between USW and the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker expired June 30. Employees continued to work under terms of that pact as talks continued on a new one. ATI’s demand workers pay part of their health insurance premiums was a major issue.
Negotiations lasted until Aug. 6, when ATI said it made its “last, best and final” contract offer. It gave the union an Aug. 10 deadline to consider the offer and present it for vote, but some USW members said the deadline was too soon to get a complete vote.
The lockout began about a week later, with ATI operating the facilities with salaried and nonunion employees and temporary professional staff.
Scott also closed the speakers’ part of the rally with brief remarks, then urged participants to march to outside the plant’s main office – and be loud.
“Make sure they hear us at the glass tower at PPG Place,” he said, referring to corporate headquarters.
They chanted, among other things, “One day stronger, one day longer”; “What do we want? Fair contract! When do we want it? Now!” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, corporate greed has got to go.”
Behind the gates, about a half-dozen work vehicles rolled past, each drawing protests of “Scab!”
Brigitte Worner led the march chant. She is a Next Generation member from Local 1000 in Corning, N.Y., who is not an ATI employee but a supporter.
“I’m just a member trying to help my brothers and sisters,” she said.
As the half-hour rally unfolded, management and labor were talking in Pittsburgh – after five-plus months of not doing so. Local presidents were there, including Skip Longdon of 7139-5, who said last week that there has been “slow movement.”
Thirty miles to the south, movement outside the Canton gate was slow but measured. And emotional.
On a 15-degree day, the United Steelworkers breathed fire.