Union at Latrobe Specialty Steel File Labor Charges
Posted on: Thursday, 15 May 2008, 00:00 CDT
By Joe Napsha
The United Steelworkers union at Latrobe Specialty Steel Co. said today it filed unfair labor practice charges against the steelmaker, claiming that its strike became a lockout on May 9 when its offer to return to work was rejected.
USW Local 1537, which represents 360 workers at the company, filed the charges Monday with the National Labor Relations Board in Pittsburgh.
Gerald Kobell, director of the labor board's Pittsburgh office, could not be reached for comment today.
The union, which went on strike May 1 when its a contract expired, said that its members voted the night of May 8 to return to work without any conditions.
Prior to the strike, but after steelworkers overwhelmingly rejected a new three-year contract offer, the steelmaker proposed that its workers remain on the job under a three-month extension of the old agreement.
The company rejected the union's offer to return to work, saying that it allowed for another strike or work stoppage, which would have disrupted production.
Latrobe Specialty Steel, which produces steel for the aerospace and defense industries, declined to comment on the unfair labor practice charges, spokeswoman Lisa Pierce said today.
The union also charged that the company unlawfully terminated workers' health insurance benefits when the strike began, has engaged in unlawful surveillance of peaceful picketing, has failed to provide relevant information to the union, and has generally bargained in bad faith.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume Thursday under a federal mediator.
The company has continued production using a temporary workforce hired through a staffing agency.
(c) 2008 Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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