May 30 -- Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum maker, and the United Steelworkers union said they are working to reach a labor agreement before expiration of the current contract tomorrow night.
"Still hard at it," Jim Robinson, the union's lead negotiator, said in an e-mail from the talks in Cincinnati today. He declined to offer more details.
Kevin Lowery, a spokesman for Alcoa, offered no details on the talks in an e-mail today. Gerald Dickey, a spokesman for the union that represents almost 6,000 workers at 11 plants, said he didn't have any information on the status of the negotiations.
Alcoa and the union are working to avoid the first strike at plants covered by the contract since 1986. The union has said that it would resist New York-based Alcoa's initial contract proposal that would have more than tripled health-care costs for some families.
The union yesterday said it was confident it could achieve a "fair" contract by the expiration of the current contract at midnight U.S. central time tomorrow. Both Alcoa and the union yesterday declined to offer details on any updated proposal.
豫公网安备41010502003434号