Locked out workers rally for help

RMI rewarded employee support by locking them out, one union official said.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
NILES -- J.W. Aleshire says it isn't easy trying to get by on just $200 to $300 a month.
That's what he's down to, said the 32-year employee of the RMI Titanium plant in Niles, which locked its 350 workers out 210 days ago.
"We just get by," said Aleshire, 60, one of about 300 people who turned out for a rally in Waddell Park for the members of United Steelworkers of America Locals 2155 and 2155-7 employed at RMI.
A union official said 120 of the locked out families are at the point where they need outside helped to pay their bills and put food on the table.
Union officials say RMI has failed to bargain in good faith.
The two sides met for seven hours Friday "and we made no headway whatsoever," Todd Weddell, president of both locals, told the crowd.
The rally drew some state and international union leaders as well as representatives of other regional unions to the park. They urged the RMI workers to remain strong and to hold out until the company is willing to negotiate.
Company wants concessions
RMI has said it needs concessions that will save the company about $2.8 million a year over five years to remain competitive in the market. The company said it offered a contract that wouldn't change wages, pensions or profit-sharing for current employees but would result in new employees being paid at a lower rate and paying 10 percent of their health-care premiums.
The attitudes of corporations is getting worse, said Bill Burga, Ohio AFL-CIO president, who called on Tim Rupert, RMI president and chief executive, to "get to the [bargaining] table and get real."
Labor needs to take back Ohio and this country for the working people, and the only way to do that is through politics, Burga advised the crowd.
The workers were there when RMI needed them to lobby Congress against unfair imports and when they were needed to work extra hours, said David McCall, USWA District 1 director.
The company has returned the favor "by locking us out," he said.
U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, and state Rep. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-61st, attended the rally, with Strickland blaming President Bush for labor's problems by supporting the outsourcing of jobs and backing trade laws that allow Russia to flood the American market with titanium.
The country needs a president that supports working people, he said, adding, "We are fighting a war for our families and our communities."
"Be strong. Be firm. Don't give in, don't give out and, by God, don't give up," he urged.
Told workers to fight
Boccieri urged the workers to fight for the America they believe in, one that won't lock them out of their jobs or out of their future.
"You helped build America," he told the crowd.
Union officials said support for the locked out workers has been strong, with thousands of dollars in donations coming from other unions to booster the lockout fund. That money goes to help workers and their families who can't pay their utility bills or make a house or car payment, union officials said.
gwin@vindy.com