WEATHERSFIELD RMI workers report to locked-up plant

Union leaders say they want to return to the bargaining table.
By SHERRI L. SHAULISand CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
WEATHERSFIELD -- Dressed for work, carrying signs reading "Corporate greed lives here" and waving to passers-by who honked vehicle horns in support, about 30 day-shift workers stood under dense clouds this morning across the street from the RMI Titanium plant's locked gates.
Company officials had called the workers at home Sunday, instructing them not to report to work today because of a "work stoppage," said Todd Weddell, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 2155, representing production workers.
The calls followed the union's rejection Saturday of what the company has said is its final contract offer.
"They're calling it a work stoppage," Weddell said. "We're calling it a lockout."
Union leaders also called members Sunday, asking them to report for work as usual. He said about 15 to 20 showed up for Sunday's third shift but were not allowed in.
Weddell said union officials contacted a federal mediator after Saturday's vote, but no new negotiating sessions were scheduled as of early this morning.
"Those of us who got a chance to say anything told them we would be here for work," said Madeline Ferrante of Niles, a clerical worker who's been with the company 33 years.
Umbrella in hand, she said when she arrived this morning she was told she was not allowed in. She made a point of checking in at the guard's station so they knew she was ready to work.
"[The guard] said, 'Work stoppage. No work,'" she said.
Union's stance
Union leaders said last week they did not plan to strike if the package was rejected but would ask the company to return to the bargaining table.
"We're prepared to meet with them anywhere, anytime, any place," Weddell said, adding the union has asked the federal mediator who had been assisting with the talks to help set up another meeting.
Weddell said the union set up informational pickets, but they would not stop nonunion employees, customers, visitors or delivery vehicles from moving in and out of the plant gates.
Some salaried workers were seen arriving with duffle bags Sunday night and may be planning to stay at the plant around the clock, he said.
Weddell said this morning this is the first time in recent memory that RMI union employees willing to work were locked out, but picket lines are nothing new at the mill.
The union's last agreement was reached in 1999 after a bitter, 6 1/2-month strike, and workers were on the picket line for a week before reaching the previous agreement in 1995.
"This is the third contract in a row this has happened," he said. "Here we are again."
Clerical worker Bill Neff of Boardman, who was on the negotiating team in 1995, said things are different this time.
"We are willing to continue bargaining," said Neff, who has been with RMI 23 years come Nov. 10. "But they won't talk. I've never seen anything like this."
Contract vote
Production workers voted throughout the day Saturday, rejecting the company's proposal 177-110.
Weddell said technical and clerical workers rejected the package by a larger margin, but the vote count for that smaller group represented by Local 2155-7 was not available.
Locals 2155 and 2155-7 negotiate together and represent about 400 hourly workers.
RMI officials could not immediately be reached, but they have said the company needs concessions to make the mill competitive.
David Paull, RMI's vice president of administration, estimated the last offer would have saved the company between $2 million and $3 million a year.
The company's contract offer included a three-year wage freeze and a $1,000 signing bonus. The company would continue to pay all health insurance premiums.
The proposal did include changes in work rules and job descriptions, however, and workers would have seen increases in their out-of-pocket costs for health care.
RMI employees scheduled for the midnight shift Saturday and the day shift Sunday went to work as usual after the voting, Weddell said. Those on the afternoon shift Sunday were asked to leave at about 7 p.m., he said, and those who arrived today found the plant gates locked.
"We expected it, but we just didn't know when," Weddell said. "We thought maybe it would be next weekend."
vinarsky@vindy.comslshaulis@vindy.com