Steel Mills
ATI Salaried Workers Lose Health Coverage
Written by Sandy Williams
September 24, 2015
Allegheny Technology workers are in their sixth week of lockout by management with no word on when negotiations will resume.
The USW is currently arguing with ATI over medical benefits for locked out salaried office and technical workers in Harrison. The union filed a lawsuit on August 28 charging that the “company breached the union contract by ending health insurance coverage for those employees on Sept. 1.
The 90 workers are part of Local 1195-1 and work in offices at the ATI mill and in the technical center lab. The USW says ATI is in violation of the USW contract because it is not honoring a “lag agreement” in the contract that would extend coverage to the workers until November 30. ATI continues to pay health coverage for the hourly production workers at ATI.
ATI claims the lag agreement was never put in writing in the salaried contracts and the USW suit is, therefore, invalid and should be dismissed. In a court filed response to the suit, the attorney for ATI wrote:
“The Union’s entire Complaint is based on a non-existent sham agreement. Because Allegheny Ludlum and the Union never agreed that the PIB (program of insurance benefits) and Insurance Agreement, or their ‘lag date’ provision, would apply to Local 1196-1, the Union’s attempt to force Allegheny Ludlum to arbitrate that issue and to claim that Allegheny Ludlum breached that imaginary agreement cannot stand.”
The office and technical workers at ATI are receiving help from the USW in finding replacement insurance coverage. When possible, workers are trying to get on spouse insurance and, in some cases, on a plan that covers steelworkers in emergency or catastrophic health situations. COBRA insurance is also available to workers who have lost coverage due to the lock-out, but many are finding it difficult to afford.
Health care benefits are a point of contention at ATI, as they are at U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal. ATI is asking workers to accept steep increases in out-of-pocket health care as well as eliminating pension contributions for new hires.
The USW and ATI met with a federal mediator earlier this month but were unable to come to an agreement.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
USW seeks clarity on USS plans for Granite City Works
The United Steelworkers union has asked U.S. Steel to elaborate on its Granite City Works plans following reports that the steelmaker is ending processing at the facility.
Nucor maintains plate prices, opens October order book
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat for a seventh straight month with the opening of its October order book.
ArcelorMittal Mexico to import from sister mills as it works to resume DRI production
ArcelorMittal has partially restarted operations at its direct reduction plant in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan. An explosion on Aug. 18 rocked the massive steelworks on Mexico’s Pacific coast, impacting production of direct-reduced iron (DRI).
Fall maintenance outages are coming in hot
Labor Day has passed, the sun is starting to set a little earlier each day, and cooler weather has begun to find its way down to many of us across North America. And you know what that means for the steel industry… Fall maintenance outages!
AISI: Domestic steel production ticks up
US raw steel production ticked up in the week ending on Sept. 6 after a decrease the week before, according to the most recent data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).