Steel Mills
USW Ratifies ATI Contract
Written by Sandy Williams
March 2, 2016
United Steelworkers voted by a 5:1 margin on Tuesday to ratify a new four-year contract at Allegheny Technologies. The ratification will put 2,220 workers back on the job after a six-month lockout, pending approval by the National Labor Relations Board.
A contract was finally hammered out after the NLRB filed an unfair labor suit against ATI charging the lockout was illegal and the company bargained in bad faith.
“The strength and solidarity of our union paid off with a fair contract that contains virtually none of the drastic concessions ATI sought to arbitrarily impose,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.
{loadposition reserved_message}
According to a press release by the USW update, the new contract protects retirement benefits and maintains affordable, quality health care for active workers and retirees. It protects union jobs against outside contractors, maintains the grievance procedure and other important contract language, and introduces a new profit sharing system that allows USW members a bigger share in ATI’s future success.
Gerard and USW International Vice President Tom Conway said it was time for USW members to return to work and start the process of healing after the pain imposed by the six months of unnecessary lockout.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
As Q1 loss balloons, Cliffs pledges to cut costs, streamline operations
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. gushed red ink in the first quarter, and pledged to stem the bleeding by idling inefficient, “loss-making operations” and increasing focus on its core automotive business.
Cliffs plans to idle three mills, cut 950 jobs on ‘insufficient demand and pricing’
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to indefinitely idle its steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., as well as mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Steelton, Pa. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said all three facilities would be idled on or around June 30. Approximately 950 jobs will be impacted, the company said.
CRU: Usiminas may reduce capex unless government strengthens protection
“The lack of effective measures to create fair competition, amid a surge in subsidized imports, is the main threat to the sustainability of Brazil’s steel industry and its value chain,” CEO Marcelo Chara said.
USS swings to loss in first quarter on N. American flat-rolled segment woes
U.S. Steel CEO praised the company’s resilience, “despite the seasonally low results driven by annual mining logistics constraints in our North American Flat-Rolled segment and lagging spot prices.”
Nucor gives updates on new capacity coming online
Nucor said several of its capital projects will start operations within the next year and provided an update on them.