TRUMBULL COUNTY Locked-out RMI workers lose their '05 vacations

The union will seek to have the vacations reinstated if and when talks resume.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WEATHERSFIELD -- As of today, locked-out workers at RMI Titanium have forfeited their vacation for 2005.
Under terms of the workers' expired union contract, workers off the job for more than six months out of the year lose their paid vacation for the following year. The six-month deadline was midnight Wednesday for the 360 locked-out workers.
Todd Weddell, president of United Steelworkers of America Locals 2155 and 2155-7, said the vacation forfeiture will save the company about $750,000, based on an average of three-and-a-half weeks per worker. Vacation is based on seniority and ranges from two weeks for new hires to five weeks for those with 25 years or more.
If employees return to work in the second half of this year, Weddell said, they'll qualify for a maximum of one week of vacation in 2005.
RMI spokesman Richard Leone referred questions to David Paull, vice president of administration, who could not be reached.
Locals 2155 and 2155-7 have been locked out over a contract dispute and manning informational pickets since Oct. 26.
When the two sides return to the bargaining table, Weddell said, he will add the vacation issue to the items being negotiated. "It would be a show of good faith, if nothing else, if the company would agree to reinstate the vacations," he said.
No talks are scheduled. The union and company last met about three weeks ago.
Charge dismissed
In another matter, RTI International Metals, RMI's parent company, reported the National Labor Relations Board has dismissed an unfair labor practice charge the USWA had filed.
The NLRB found no basis for the union's claim that it had the right to audit the company's confidential financial records. Union officials had argued that the company should open its books to a USWA auditor to prove its claim that the company needs to cut $3.5 million a year in operating costs to remain profitable.
Weddell said the locked-out workers are collecting payments of between $170 and $190 every two weeks from the USWA Strike and Defense Fund, and additional payments are available for some hardship cases.
Funds from a penny collection drive supported by area businesses and other fund-raising efforts are being used solely to help support locked-out workers, he said.
Weddell acknowledged, however, that some union members have been forced to file for personal bankruptcy protection because of the lockout.
Supporting leadership
Though Local 2155 and 2155-7 members are angry and weary, Weddell said, he's confident that the majority still strongly support the union leadership.
"I know there are people out there who are very upset that we still haven't gone back to work, and I don't blame them," he said. "Unfortunately, it's majority rule, that's the way it has to be. I believe, by the feel of the crowd, that the majority supports what we're doing."
Workers' would get a three-year pay freeze followed by modest raises in the fourth and fifth years under RMI's most recent contract proposal. Weddell said the company also wants a two-tiered work force in which new hires would get lower pay, a 401(k) retirement plan instead of a pension and would pay 10 percent of their health-care premiums.
vinarsky@vindy.com