Alcan officials still hope for agreement with steelworkers

RAVENSWOOD - Company officials with the Alcan plant in Ravenswood are hoping an agreement can be reached with the United Steelworkers when both parties return to the bargaining table at the end of the month to try to come up with a new contract agreement.

Representatives from management and Local 5668 United Steel Workers of America are expected to return to the bargaining table Tuesday to work on another collective bargaining contract for around 700 hourly employees after union members rejected a proposed contract earlier this month.

"With more than two-thirds of the Alcoa union employees ratifying a new four-year agreement, Alcan-Ravenswood urges the United Steel Workers Union Local 5668 to return to the table on Tuesday, June 29, with the goal of the parties quickly reaching agreement in order to protect our customer base," a company spokesman said in a prepared press release. "The current extension expires midnight on Wednesday, June 30, 2010."

The issue of work reorganization has been widely discussed.

Company officials describe the proposed offer as a process which calls for a joint union/management committee to be established to identify and recommend for implementation ways to work more efficiently and create opportunities to fully utilize and further develop employees' skills and competences. Union representatives have said they felt the concept could allow for additional layoffs and contracting out of certain jobs. Company officials have said it is solely about improving the manufacturing process.

The company spokesman said the company's offer still includes health coverage and an hourly wage increase for each year of the contract and pension benefits.

"The Alcan-Ravenswood offer preserves a generous free-to-employee health insurance plan - worth thousands of dollars to each employee - in addition to providing an increase in hourly wages and pension benefits in each year of the two-year agreement," he said. "In exchange, all the company is asking for is a joint union-management work reorganization committee to identify ways to make the plant more efficient, which is essential to becoming more competitive in world markets.

"The company has stated repeatedly that no one affected by work reorganization will be laid off - however - it has also said that it would not make any further significant investments in the plant until the new offer, including work reorganization, is ratified."

Union President Jason Miller could not be reached Sunday for comment.