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(Bob, it’s not a “war of words.” It’s about negotiating a fair contract.)
On February 19, ATI responded to our Membership Update and claimed to “fact check” our update. Here are the current Facts--not the ATI Fiction.
ATI claims to remain focused on reaching a “competitive” (as they define competitive) agreement, yet your bargaining committee has been waiting for over a week, with a week left before expiration, for the next management proposal.
ATI says they are not seeking a concessionary contract.
They claim to seek an agreement that offsets increases with cost savings elsewhere. They demand we pay for health care increases over 3.5% per year, and they estimate costs will increase by a minimum of 7% per year. At the same-time, they demand a four year contract with no wage increases. Sounds like concessions to your Negotiating Committee! If conserving cash is so important, why do management executives and the board continue to get increases?
- While management demands a four year contract, supposedly in the interest of so-called sustainability, the executives of the company are each compensated millions of dollars each year. Since 2016, they have received substantial wage increases and lump sum bonuses, but now they want us to accept no wage increase for four more years.
- Likewise, the Board of Directors (who attend a few meetings a year) are each compensated more than any USW member, and the Board of Directors have enjoyed an average increase of 4.5% per year over the last three years.
ATI says they have not ignored our proposals – including local issues.
How does that stack up against management’s continuous efforts to deny local issue demands at the Office and Technical Unit, Louisville and Lockport? These issues impact employment security, the right to shutdown benefits, reduction of contractors and the unjustifiable reduction in incentive earnings opportunities. We are still waiting on information requests and their rationale for their demand to replace USW members with outside contractors.
ATI says they are not attacking existing benefits like retirement security, supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB) and sickness and accident benefits (S&A).
This raises serious concerns within the USW. Obviously, management can’t read (which is a problem). We did not say they were attacking all the above issues. We said the USW has fought for decades to win such benefits, and we are not going backwards! But for the record, they are playing games and denying our brothers and sisters in Louisville, Waterbury and #3 Finishing in Brackenridge their right to an immediate shutdown pension.
Management is telling Wall Street that it’s a permanent shutdown, and the company takes non-cash accounting write-offs but tells our members it’s an “idle” and uses that strategy to avoid and delay paying immediate pensions to eligible workers for years.
In unity,
Your USW/ATI Negotiating Committee
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