Originally the boss proposed an 8 percent cut across the board, said members of Local 134 on the picket line. When workers rejected that concession, company president John Ghaznavi presented a demand for a 5 percent wage cut. Workers rejected the second proposed wage cut April 14 by a vote of 149 to 110. Local 134 president Lou Brudnock told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the walkout began after the owner turned down a union proposal for a one-year wage freeze.

Ghaznavi put out a statement that "We are trying to save an old plant." Arguing that his company can’t stay competitive without lowering wages, Ghaznavi said he needed the cash from a pay cut because the "furnaces at the Glenshaw plant are in need of repair." Workers on the picket line, however, pointed out that the boss has refused to do routine maintenance for years.

The new contract includes the 5 percent wage cut originally rejected by union members, while the company promises to add jobs by building a new furnace by the end of the year.

Workers are angry that the company has not paid into the pension fund for more than one year. "Something has to be done" about companies that divert funds from pensions, said Paul Domski, Local 134 vice president and strike coordinator, in an interview. "It’s not right for the working person."

Easter Sunday motorists honked in support of strikers holding union signs that read, "No Scabs" and "Pension Thieves." Several strikers described the kind of support they’ve gotten from others in nearby communities, including food donations.

The union’s demands included the rehiring of three truck drivers fired from their jobs at a nonunion trucking company also owned by Ghaznavi. According to Domski, the truckers were fired when they refused to cross the picket line to deliver their loads to the Glenshaw plant. He said the strikers would not return to work until the three drivers are reinstated.  
 
 
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