Reject Alcoa deal, local suggests

When Local 104 United Steelworkers members vote on a proposed employment contract this week, they'll have a choice to make: should they vote according to their local leadership's recommendations, or should they fall in line with the national negotiating committee?

The contract covers 6,000 union members at 11 Alcoa locations, including 1,500 workers at Alcoa's Warrick County plant.

Union members will vote Thursday whether to accept or reject the contract. If accepted, the contract would run until May 2014.

The union's negotiating committee is recommending its members accept the contract, which covers health benefits, wage rates, seniority rules, work rules and other issues.

But David Willett, president of Local 104, said he's advising his members to reject the contract.

"It's a concessionary package for our members," said Willett, who took part in the negotiations.

According to a contract summary posted on the United Steelworkers Web site, union members now pay $20 per month for health insurance, whether they have single or family coverage.

Under the proposed contract, members would pay $22 a week for single coverage or $32 a week for family coverage in 2011. The amounts increase each year, topping out at $35 per week for single coverage and $47 a week for family coverage in 2014.

The proposal also calls for wages to increase by an average of $1.08 per hour between now and 2014, which is about a 1.2 percent increase each year.

Willett said he's unhappy with the too-small wage increase and that the insurance provisions bring higher premiums and a lower level of benefits.

But Gerald Dickey, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers' national office in Pittsburgh, said the contract represents the best the union could negotiate, given a depressed market for aluminum.

"When times get hard, you do the best you can."

Even though the union had to compromise on health insurance, Dickey said, the plan as negotiated is much more favorable to union members than the one Alcoa had proposed.

And, Dickey said, the union prevailed on two other important contract points — preserving seniority rules and preventing Alcoa from using a lower pay scale for newly hired union workers.

"We really believe it's the best contract we could negotiate, and we do recommend ratification," Dickey said.

This is not the first time Local 104's leadership has diverged from the national union's recommendations.

In 2006, Willett said, Local 104 recommended members vote against a proposed Alcoa contract. The national union recommended a vote in favor of the contract, and the contract passed.

Members of all 11 local organizations will vote Thursday, and the contract will be accepted or rejected based on that vote.

Voting results are expected by Friday morning.

If the contract is rejected, Dickey said, it's likely that the negotiating committee would go back to the bargaining table.

Alcoa spokesman Kevin Lowery would not speculate on what would happen if the contract is rejected.