Bradley is a member of United Steelworkers of America (USWA). He is one of 1,300 members of USWA locals 5724 and 5760 who struck Ormet’s aluminum pot line and rolling mill here November 23. The walkout started as Ormet, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, decided to tear up its labor contracts after getting approval from a court. The USWA locals had voted to strike if Ormet did not delay the court hearing seeking approval of its reorganization plan—which would freeze pension benefits, make workers pay monthly health-care premiums of $90, change work rules, and increase retirees health-care payments.

The USWA said it wanted the hearing delayed so the court could rule on the union’s motion to consider bids to purchase the two plants. “We made an offer to the company but they wouldn’t look at it,” said Ronnie Blatt, grievance chair for Local 5724. The union’s reorganization plan included cutting 220 jobs at the plants.

Strikers told the Militant that the company said it planned to shut down the pot line in 90 days and the rolling mill in 120 days. “If they are going to shut it down, we might as well stop it now,” one worker told the Militant.

“We don’t want to be ordered by the government, or Ormet,” to accept a contract, another USWA member added.

Any closing of the plant would have a big impact locally. Unemployment in the surrounding Monroe County has already reached 9.9 percent, compared to 5.1 percent across the country.

The Martin’s Ferry Times Leader reported that Ormet’s creditor is MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities II, which it said possesses “an investment fund of over $2 billion, invests solely in bankrupt, or distressed, companies in the interest of high returns.” The article noted that this firm will stand to gain handsomely from the current high price of alumina, the product that aluminum is made from. “MatlinPatterson realized Ormet’s potential for profit and bought its debt for cheap in the expectation of returns,” the Times Leader added. Aluminum is selling for nearly 90 cents per pound compared to 76 cents a year ago.

Workers at these plants have been through a number of contract battles. A four-month strike in 1986 ended with workers making concessions. A lengthy contract fight in 1999 and 2000 ended with new hires starting at 80 percent of the original pay scale and with job combinations. Strikers said the workforce has shrunk while production has multiplied. At the same time their wages have shrunk under the impact of inflation.

“I’ve been here 25 years and I’m getting $1.23 more an hour than when I started,” said one worker on the picket line.

“We’ve had an average of a 3 cents per year raise since 1986,” said Chuck Raber.

Local cops have made two waves of arrests of strikers charging 17 people with breaking court injunctions limiting the number of pickets. The first came as workers gathered after hearing that scabs were entering the plant. A large contingent of cops arrived, including from surrounding counties.

Tom Bauer told the Militant that the arrests only occurred as the majority of workers had moved away from the plant entrance. Workers were held for two days before being released. More than 100 members of the USWA and others picketed outside the sheriff’s office seeking freedom for those arrested.

The strikers are getting support from other workers involved in labor disputes. A packed USWA informational meeting on December 3 heard solidarity greetings from striking Presby nursing home workers in Washington, Pennsylvania.  
 
 
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