LOUISVILLE, Ohio — The United Steelworkers union announced July 13 that striking workers had ratified a new four-year contract with Allegheny Technologies Inc. The union said it “raises wages, provides lump-sum payments and protects affordable, high-quality health care for current and future workers.”
Some 1,300 workers at nine plants have been on strike since March 30. Union members will begin returning to their jobs July 19, the company said.
Workers are expecting overtime when they return. “For the first 90 days, it’ll be 84 hours a week, no days off,” striker Dave Burgess told the Militant.
The union said “the new contract preserves premium-free health insurance coverage without the second, lower tier of health care for new hires the company wanted.”
A summary of the contract released by the union said workers entitled to early pensions will get them, which affects workers at the No. 3 finishing mill in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania; the Waterbury, Connecticut, plant; and the Louisville plant, which ATI says they will shut down.