MCDONALD STEEL NLRB ruling: Two unions will represent workers

Employees rejected three previous attempts to form a union at the plant.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
McDONALD -- It's official. McDonald Steel employees are represented by two unions, Teamsters Local 377 and the United Steelworkers of America.
The National Labor Relations Board certified the joint union representation after a three-person NLRB panel determined that the unionization vote passed last October. The certification affects about 200 full-time and part-time production and maintenance employees.
Workers at the steel bar and specialty shape production facility voted down three previous attempts by the Steelworkers to form a union in 1991, 1993 and 1997.
Bargaining expected: Teamster organizer Rick Kepler said the unions expect McDonald Steel management to begin bargaining with employees in light of the NLRB ruling. He said McDonald Steel earned healthy profits in 1998 and 1999, but its workers haven't seen a pay increase in four years.
Bill Farragher, a McDonald Steel spokesman, said the company would not comment because it has not yet received notification from the NLRB.
A preliminary vote count showed 78 workers favored the proposed joint representation and 74 opposed it, but the company and the union challenged five other ballots cast. A sixth was not marked and therefore was considered to be void.
The votes were sealed until the NLRB could rule on the challenged ballots, and a simple majority was required.
Teamsters and the USWA arrived at the joint representation plan, with the support of the AFL-CIO, as a compromise to settle a jurisdictional dispute between the two unions.
Organization effort: The Teamsters local had begun an organization effort at the plant in the fall of 1999 after USWA's three unsuccessful attempts to organize the workers. At that point the Steelworkers challenged the plan, saying it had the sole right to represent workers in the basic steel industry.
Union leaders have said they plan to negotiate a single contract for the employees and will jointly represent them when grievances are filed.
McDonald Steel, which is 40-percent employee-owned, was formed in 1981 and operates in the former U.S. Steel McDonald Works.