PITTSBURGH — A Nov. 18 march in support of some 40 Iron Workers Regional Shop Local 851 members on strike at Erie Strayer since Oct. 4 brought out members of seven different area unions and family members. They included members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, union roofers, Teamsters, United Electrical workers and others.
”We have had overwhelming support from this community,” striker George Crawford told Erie News Now. “We’ve had multiple people drop us down care packages, anything from venison to canned goods to donuts.”
Tracy Cutright, vice president of Local 851, told the Militant in a phone interview that the company has moved up a few cents from its original offer of five to 15 cent raises over five years. But the strikers are still demanding a three-year contract, with raises of 60 cents the first year, retroactive to when the contract ran out April 1, and 50 cents each of the following two years; a $600 signing bonus; and, for the first time, a dental plan.
“The company says that the workers can stay out another month, but they still won’t get a dental plan,” Cutright said. “We’ll keep fighting. The workers need dental insurance.”