PITTSBURGH, June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The United
Steelworkers (USW) today said that members of local unions
representing Arconic (NYSE: ARNC) workers at the company's
facilities in Davenport, Iowa;
Lafayette, Ind.; and Massena, N.Y., have granted their negotiating
committee the authority to implement a strike if necessary at those
three facilities covered by a master agreement.
The strike authorization votes were conducted during meetings at
each location over the course of the past several weeks. USW
members have continued to work under the terms and conditions of a
contract that was set to expire on May 15,
2019, when the USW and Arconic agreed to a temporary
extension, subject to termination by either party with 24-hours'
notice.
USW International Vice President Tom
Conway, who chairs the union committee, said that
negotiations between the USW and Arconic broke off with the company
demanding major economic and non-economic concessions that the
union considers excessive and unnecessary.
"Although we hope to resolve the outstanding issues without a
work stoppage, our members have delivered a strong message through
their overwhelming support for strike authorization," Conway said.
"We are prepared to fight for the fair contracts we have earned and
deserve."
"Through decades of hard work and personal sacrifice, USW
members have made these facilities among the most productive in the
world," he said. "When bargaining started, we hoped that management
would come prepared with proposals that respect these workers'
contributions to the company's past, current and future
success."
"Instead, Arconic is scheming to extract deep concessions from
hourly workers while at the same time orchestrating a $1.5 billion stock buyback designed to reward a
few senior executives and short-term investor, Elliott Management,
at the expense of practically everyone else associated with the
company," Conway said.
The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals,
mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and
the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of
workers in public sector and service occupations. For more
information, visit http://www.usw.org.
More information, contact: Tony
Montana – 412-562-2592; tmontana@usw.org
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SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)