Harrison steelworkers rally ahead of contract's end with Allegheny Technologies

About 75 United Steelworkers union members held a rally Friday afternoon outside of Gate 6 at Allegheny Technologies Inc. in Harrison, calling for a better labor pact than the one that expires at midnight Saturday.

The contract affects about 1,300 workers at nine locations. Negotiations started in January.

The agreement that is set to expire was approved in 2016 after a six-month lockout, the first in the company’s history.

USW members outside of the Harrison plant Friday chanted: “What do we want? Fair contract. When do we want it? Now.”

The union, in a negotiation update, claims ATI is proposing substandard wage increases and health care concessions “even though the labor cost of our insurance for ATI has decreased each year since 2015.

“The company needs to get the message once and for all that we have earned and deserve a fair contract that acknowledges the hard work and sacrifice that steelworkers have made to keep ATI in business,” the union’s update said.

The union and ATI will resume at 9 a.m. Saturday and continue to 11:59 p.m., according to Todd Barbiaux, president of Steelworkers Local 1196, which represents union employees at the Harrison steel mill.

Natalie Gillespie, ATI spokeswoman, said the company is “working diligently” to reach a fair contract “that supports the long-term sustainability of ATI and is fair to our employees.”

“Our employees are among the best-paid in the communities in which we operate, and our proposal offers a contract in which they will be better off financially every year,” she said. “We all agree we need to control the cost of health care inflation. Our proposal calls for ATI to continue to bear the vast majority of health care costs and increases. But we need our employees to help control health care inflation, too.”

According to the union, several ATI customers, vendors and investors have reached out to it “because they are worried about an interruption in services.”

“We have assured them all that our union is dedicated to the collective bargaining process and labor peace, and we have encouraged them to contact the company directly,” the union said in its statement.

Gillespie said ATI will continue to meet its commitments to customers during contract talks.

Barbiaux and ATI technician Dave Brestensky said they both went through the labor strike at ATI in 1994 and the lockout of 2015.

Brestensky, of Freeport, said, “We are prepared to do it all again if they do not give us a fair contract.”

After the 2015 lockout, Barbiaux said, “I know we worked hard to build strength and unity with the company to put out a good product and a good safety program. Somehow, the company has put a crack in that unity.”

ATI reported $4.12 billion in sales for 2019, up 2% from 2018 and up 4% excluding divestitures.

It reported business segment operating profit of $380.7 million, or 9.2% of sales, and that it generated $250 million in cash from sales of non-core assets.

The net income attributable to ATI was $257.6 million, or $1.85 per share, with adjusted net income of $165.1 million, or $1.21 per share.