USW employees at ATI still working under contract extension
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Unionized members at Allegheny Technologies Inc. plants in Pennsylvania – including its Allegheny Ludlum plant in Canton Township – and in three other states, went to work Wednesday under a contract extension as negotiations on a new agreement continued.
Late Tuesday, the United Steelworkers offered to continue working following the expiration of the previous labor agreement with the Pittsburgh-based specialty metals maker, and to continue talks on a new pact.
ATI confirmed in a news release issued Wednesday morning that it and the USW were continuing to operate under the terms of conditions of the collective bargaining agreements that expired at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
While ATI has been mum on the contract talks, a USW representative from ATI’s Allegheny Ludlum plant in Canton Township said last week that the company was asking for reduced wages and overtime, elimination of Sunday privileges and a change in health care coverage.
In the USW release from late Tuesday, USW International President Leo Gerard said, “We stand prepared to continue to negotiate and to search for an agreement that works for both parties, but we will not be bullied or intimidated by tactics or threats.”
“The union is sensitive to the current market conditions, the equipment conditions within certain plants and the uncertainty this creates for the customers who rely on quality steels we produce,” said USW International Vice President Tom Conway, who heads the union’s bargaining committee at ATI.
About 220 employees are represented by the USW work at the Canton Township plant.
Last week, Skip Longdon, unit president for USW Local 7139-5 and a member of the negotiating team, said the talks involve ATI’s flat rolled products group, which has 15 different plants with about 2,000 employees represented by the union.
ATI is one of the largest and most diversified specialty materials and components producers in the world, with revenue of $4.4 billion for the 12 months ended March 31. Its major markets are aerospace and defense, oil and gas/chemical process industry, electrical energy, medical, automotive, food equipment and appliance and construction and mining.