RMI TITANIUM Workers won't strike, even if they reject final pact offer, union says
The company said workers will lose their signing bonus if they don't ratify the package.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WEATHERSFIELD -- Union leaders at RMI Titanium say they won't strike Saturday, even if workers reject what the company has called its final contract offer in voting this weekend.
"We will continue to work if the contract goes down," said Todd Weddell, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 2155.
The union doesn't like taking concessions because members don't believe the company is asking salaried employees to accept similar cuts, he said, & quot;but we want to do our jobs. We want to keep talking Workers might face a lockout if the contract is rejected, Weddell said, based on comments company officials made at the bargaining table.
David Paull, vice president of administration for RMI, wouldn't say what might happen if employees vote the pact down and then show up for work Monday morning, but he said the company can't wait any longer to make cost-cutting changes.
"We're hopeful that the vote passes," Paull said. "We think we've given them a good proposal in the best interest of all the parties.
"We need to move forward and reduce costs and we're not in the position to continue under the status quo. We're not willing to just continue extending the agreement."
If workers reject the package Saturday, Paull added, a $1,000 signing bonus will not be paid.
Contract changes
About 400 hourly workers, members of USWA Locals 2155 and 2155-7, will vote Saturday on the proposed contract, which would include a pay freeze for the three-year life of the agreement and extensive changes in work rules and job assignments.
Weddell and Ray Raschilla Jr., chairman of Local 2155-7, said they presented the offer in a series of meetings with workers Wednesday but did not endorse it.
RMI officials have said the company needs the concessions to make the titanium mill competitive.
Pensions and profit-sharing would be unchanged, sick pay would increase and life insurance would increase for employees as well as retirees. Workers would not pay toward their health insurance premiums, but some copayments for prescriptions and doctor visits would go up.
Anger and resentment
News reporters were not allowed to attend the informational sessions, but union trustee Ron Misel said many workers reacted with anger and resentment.
"They're not happy people," he said.
Frank Reno of Girard, a machine operator at RMI with 24 years of seniority, argued that RMI has been making money until recently, yet its employees have repeatedly been asked to accept pay freezes.
"I'm looking at a company that's made millions of dollars in profits in the last four years and has $57 million in the bank, and they're crying poverty," Reno said. "I'm like everyone else -- I can't afford a strike. I've got bills to pay, but at some point you've got to draw the line. I'm a 'no' vote, definitely, but we're going to keep it peaceful this time."
Reno was referring to the unions' last contract dispute, which resulted in a bitter, sometimes violent 6 1/2-month strike in 1998 and 1999. A strike also preceded the locals' previous agreement in 1995.
Larry Groves of Howland joked that he won't benefit from the company's offer to increase life insurance until he no longer needs a job.
"My kids need for me to be around a while, and a pay raise would help them out a lot more right now than life insurance," said the 15-year veteran machine operator.
vinarsky@vindy.com