Pact OK brings $30M to RMI

paThe company plans $30 million in upgrades to the titanium mill.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

WEATHERSFIELD — RMI Titanium Co. and its union are celebrating five years of labor peace after agreeing to a contract extension with pay raises.

RMI’s parent company, RTI International Metals, said Monday that a labor contract that was to expire Jan. 31, 2010, has been extended to June 20, 2013.

Dawne Hickton, RTI vice chairwoman and chief executive, said the deal “represents a cooperative spirit between management and labor that paves the way for solid new business development and growth well into 2010 and beyond.”

RTI said it would invest $30 million in the Weathersfield mill because of the contract.

The deal will provide raises totaling $1.25 an hour in the final three years, said Todd Weddell, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 2155. A typical production worker now makes about $16.80 an hour.

The agreement also provides improvements in pension benefits and gives the company increased flexibility with staffing. Weddell said workers will be able to be moved to different jobs within their department.

Workers approved the contract Saturday by a vote of 240-67.

Weddell said the agreement represents a new chapter in relations between the union and the Weathersfield-based company.

“It is a clear and concise message: the Steelworkers are ready, willing and able to meet RTI’s labor needs in the future and to keep [this] facility a viable part of the corporation,” he said.

The contract covers 365 workers.

The company and union have had a rocky relationship in recent years.

In 1999, the union staged a six-month strike. When negotiations stalled in 2004, the company locked workers out for 13 months until the two sides finally agreed on a new contract.

The company said the new labor deal will help it provide titanium for long-term supply contracts that it signed last year with Airbus, a commercial aircraft maker, and the U.S. military for the production of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The $30 million investment in the RMI mill will increase melting and processing capability and upgrade current equipment.

This is a larger investment in the plant than the company previously announced. Last month, a company spokesman said that $15 million in improvements were planned for 2008, after about $8 million on upgrades was spent in 2007.

shilling@vindy.com