PAGE 18 | December 18, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
...ATI steelworker lockout expected to continue over the holidays
From Page 1
the picketers cross the road to
dry off in front of a propane
heater under a canvas canopy on
a strip of private land. There are
coffee urns and camp chairs, and
bark dust to stop the mud. Hand-
painted signs give passersby a
summary of what’s going on:
“Locked out. Not walked out.”
Close to 2,200 workers at 12
Allegheny Technologies Incor-
porated (ATI) facilities in six
states have been locked out
since Aug. 15 — including 180
at the Albany plant. In contract
bargaining that began in May,
ATI gave the union a sweeping
list of demands, including an
end to the pension and retiree
health insurance for new hires,
and a significant increase in
what workers would pay out-of-
pocket for family health cover-
age: Premiums would go from
zero currently to $215 a month
by the end of the contract, and
annual deductibles would rise
by up to $400 a year.
“It was all, ‘this is what we
want, and you’ll take it,’” said
Local 7150 president Josh Hall,
who served on the union bar-
gaining team. “There was no
bargaining in good faith.”
When the union didn’t jump
to take that offer to a vote, ATI
locked out all 2,200 union work-
ers in the multi-facility bargain-
ing unit.
SMILE: YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE
SHOT — This sign greets picketers at
the entrance to ATI Albany.
I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
The Steelworkers maintain their
picket line, in four-hour shifts, from
5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., five days a
week, and welcome visits from sup-
porters. But they’ll take a break
Dec. 18 to Jan. 4. On Dec. 19, the
union is sponsoring a family Christ-
mas party at Pix Theater in Albany,
followed by bowling at Highland
Bowl in Corvallis.
Picketers say they think a
strike or lockout was ATI’s plan
all along. In the weeks leading
up to the June 30 expiration of
the union contract, the company
EARLY MORNING ON THE ATI PICKETLINE: From left to right: John Goosen, Joe Barton, Shane Jones, Steve Bum-
gardner, Karl Krupicka, Jeff Thomas, Josh Hall, and Jim Wright.
prepared for picketing by in-
stalling fences and cameras and
painting a white stripe showing
the property line at the Albany
mill. Managers even took re-
“They already had a game plan and they were going to
cut our throats regardless. There’s no respect at all for the
people who work here. They’re heartless sons of
bitches.”
placement workers through the
plant to look around.
“They already had a game
plan and they were going to cut
our throats regardless,” said
picketer Greg Shaffer, 57, who’s
worked 20 years at the plant.
“There’s no respect at all for the
people who work here. They’re
heartless sons of bitches.”
The National Labor Relations
Board is investigating the
union’s charges that ATI was
never serious about negotiating
an agreement.
USW international Vice Pres-
Turn to Page 22
— Greg Shaffer, 20-year employee at the Albany titanium plant
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Labor Day!
Holiday
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