RMI Workers OK contract after 13-month lockout

The company wants to cut operating costs by $3.5 million a year.
NILES -- After 13 months outside the plant, workers at RMI Titanium are going back to work.
The workers represented by United Steelworkers of America Locals 2155 and 2155-7 voted all day Wednesday and approved a new 62-month contract with the company. The vote total wasn't available. They had been locked out since Oct. 26, 2003, after the union rejected the company's offer.
Movement on the new contract occurred last week when the parties got back together to negotiate and talk about staffing.
There were originally 365 union members locked out; the tentative agreement reportedly would bring back 200. They would see a $1 increase in wages over the five-year life of the contract. There would be a two-tiered wage plan for newer and older employees.
RMI workers averaged $16 an hour before the lockout.
All returning workers would be required to complete a medical history questionnaire and anyone who reported an injury or illness during the lockout would have to pass a physical to return to work.
Objective
The company has said it wants to reduce operating costs by $3.5 million a year.
Commenting on the tentative agreement, David Paull, vice president of administration for RTI International Metals Inc., said: "We entered this bargaining process 15 months ago with very specific objectives designed to keep the Niles plant viable long term in an increasingly competitive titanium industry. With this agreement, we have achieved those goals."
He added that he thinks everyone with a stake in the Niles plant owes a debt of gratitude to the 100-plus management employees who worked two jobs for over a year to keep the facility in business.