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Talks to begin next week as 220 Steelworkers hit picket line over unresolved contract issues
By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Thursday, Oct 04, 2007
Striking Steelworkers at the PTC Alliance Corp. steel tubing plant in Alliance and company officials have agreed to meet next week with a federal mediator.
Union and company negotiators will meet Oct. 10 at an Alliance hotel with a mediator, said Mike Johnson, president of United Steelworkers Local 3059.
Some 220 Steelworkers have been on strike since their contract expired at midnight Sunday. The strike is mainly over unresolved noneconomic issues, including contract language that would make sure workers retain jobs if the privately owned company is sold, Johnson said.
''We feel a sale is imminent,'' he said.
Indications include what Johnson called recent ''window-dressing'' improvements PTC Alliance made at the plant, saying the company had not invested much money into the facility the last several years.
The company declined to comment regarding Johnson's suspicions that it will be sold soon.
The union has sent a letter to the company saying it is willing to continue negotiations but has not heard back, Johnson said at one of the picket posts outside the plant.
''There's nobody who really wants to be out here,'' he said.
PTC Alliance, based north of Pittsburgh, issued a statement saying it had agreed to federal mediation. The union on Tuesday said it had been contacted by a mediator offering to help renew negotiations.
''We are committed to reaching a consensual agreement with the United Steelworkers that is in the best interest of the company, its employees, and its customers,'' Cary Hart, chief operating officer of PTC Alliance's North American Tubing business, said in a prepared statement. ''We trust the union has the same goal.''
The company said it is continuing production at the plant and continues to take in orders. The plant is being staffed with salaried employees. PTC Alliance has 10 other factories.
''Our management team at the (Alliance) plant is doing a great job ensuring orders are filled with the highest possible quality standards,'' Hart said. ''Orders continue to come in on a normal schedule and there have been no cancellations. It's business as usual at the Alliance, Ohio, plant.''
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
Striking Steelworkers at the PTC Alliance Corp. steel tubing plant in Alliance and company officials have agreed to meet next week with a federal mediator.
Get the full article here.
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