The United Steelworkers union announced on Friday that it will start a strike at Allegheny Technologies Inc. next week.
The union said it informed ATI that it will strike for what it calls unfair labor practices as of 7 am on Tuesday.
“We provided the notice to ATI to ensure the orderly and safe shutdown of equipment and facilities,” the union said in a negotiation bulletin.
ATI spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said the company is “incredibly disappointed” that the employees represented by the USW have opted for the strike.
“Our latest proposal raises salaries and continues the free health care plan for our employees, at a time when we are losing money, after one of the worst years in the company’s history,” she said. “As we have already said, we are committed to rewarding the hard work of our people. At the same time, we need to have a competitive cost structure that supports this business and our long-term investment. “
After the strike began, Gillespie said that ATI will restart critical operations using salaried workers and temporary replacement workers.
“We are committed to serving our customers with as little disruption as possible,” she said.
ATI can probably keep its hot rolling and processing facility operating with salaried workers, said industry analyst John Tumazos, a Wilkinsburg native and owner and CEO of Very Independent Research in New Jersey. He said the company has already disposed of most of its labor-intensive factories.
“There are certain things that they do at Brackenridge that are high value products, like titanium. Therefore, they will probably try to launch their most profitable products, ”he said.
Noting that ATI reported a loss of $ 1.12 billion in the last three months of 2020, Tumazos said: “Some of its factories may lose less money in strikes than in operation. It’s not like they’re doing well.
“They are already losing their shirts. Some of its facilities would be better idle than functioning, ”he said.
A strike is likely to benefit competitors from ATI Acerinox, based in Spain and with facilities in Kentucky, and Outokumpu, based in the United Kingdom and operating in Alabama, Tumazos said. None of the companies are unionized, he said.
“It is not really ATI’s fault that competitors are mainly non-union plants,” said Tumazos. “The metalworkers’ union is essentially commanding higher wages and lower productivity than the much newer factories in Kentucky and Alabama that are not unionized.
“The big winners are the Kentucky and Alabama companies, while the union and ATI are hurting themselves.”
In the vote that ended on March 5, 95% of the 1,300 USW members at nine ATI facilities authorized a possible attack against ATI. Union members met outside ATI’s Harrison facility on March 16.
The last contract between ATI and the union, approved in 2016 after a six-month blockade, expired at the end of February after an agreed one-year extension.
There has been no strike against ATI since 1994. 1196 local president Todd Barbiaux, a 33-year-old official, said one lasted 69 days. Site 1196 represents about 450 workers at ATI’s Brackenridge plant in Harrison.
“It is very unfortunate,” he said of the next strike. “At any level of work stoppage, nobody really wins. We are not letting the company take over our jobs. “
The union advised employees to remove personal items from ATI’s facilities by the scheduled strike date.
USW International Vice President David McCall, who chairs the union’s negotiations with ATI, said the union is prepared to meet with management “all day, every day if it helps us reach an agreement. fair”.
“We will continue to negotiate in good faith and strongly urge ATI to start doing the same,” he said.
Gillespie said the company is committed to moving forward in the negotiations “with the aim of reaching agreements that serve the best interests of all parties”.
“We also remain dedicated to serving our customers without interruption and will continue to operate safely in the manner necessary to fulfill our commitments,” she said.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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