ATI sets Monday deadline on contract offer to union
Allegheny Technologies Inc. has told striking United Steelworkers members they have until 5 p.m. Monday to accept a contract offer.
ATI said if a deal is not consummated by that deadline, the offer “will be replaced by an offer that begins to reflect the costs incurred by ATI as a result of the strike.”
An estimated 1,300 union employees at nine U.S. facilities, including 180 at the Washington Plate mill in Canton Township, walked out at 7 a.m. on March 30. The company is operating with replacement workers.
USW’s contract with the company expired on Feb 29, 2020, after which employees worked through a one-year extension. The two sides negotiated from January into March, when another yearlong extension commenced.
Less than a month later, ATI was embroiled in its first strike since 1994.
The two sides negotiated on Monday and Tuesday before talks stopped. Natalie Gillespie, vice president of communications for the Pittsburgh-based company, described the talks as “productive.”
She said: “We were successful in finding solutions that work for both parties in every area except for health care and the USW’s demands for job security for Office & Technical employees.”
Gillespie said the current proposal “maintains premium-free health care until 2024 and offers the same plans to new hires that are available to existing employees.”
The union, according to ATI, proposed a PPO health plan that would be premium-free until Jan. 1, 2024. At that point, current and future employees would maintain or acquire PPO coverage by either paying premiums, or selecting the premium-free plan that is available to non-union employees.
PPO premiums for those hired before 2024 would be about $40 per month for an employee only, and $125 for a family. The estimated monthly premiums for individuals hired in 2024 and beyond would be $80 for an employee, $250 for a family.
The union has claimed the company has been bargaining in bad faith. Gillespie said ATI “has diligently bargained in good faith throughout this entire process.”
ATI workers are on strike at five Pennsylvania locations: Canton Township, Brackenridge, Latrobe, Natrona Heights and Vandergrift. The company has more than 25 locations nationwide, and about 50 across the globe.