AK Steel workers OK new contract

Members of UAW Local 3303 at AK Steel in Butler, Pa., have overwhelmingly approved a new six-year contract.

The agreement, ratified in July and covering 1,400 workers, provides wage increases, retains retiree health care benefits and ties production incentives to wage increases.

“The best thing is the contract gives our members employment security,” said Jim Gallagher, president of the local’s AK Steel unit in UAW Region 9.

AK Steel workers at the Butler plant in western Pennsylvania formed their own independent union in 1933, and in 2003 they affiliated with the UAW. This is the first contract the workers have negotiated as UAW members, Gallagher said.

“One of the biggest differences for us in going to the bargaining table is being able to use UAW resources,” Gallagher said. “Before, we had to hire our own consultants to help us with things like Social Security or benefits. When you have to hire outsiders, you never know what you’re going to get.”

Added Gallagher, “With the UAW, all we had to do was pick up the phone.”

The new contract reduces the number of pay levels from 24 to five. Workers who previously earned $16.15 per hour in base pay will make $18.33 an hour when the contract goes into effect, and up to $19.83 an hour by the time it expires.

“We have six weeks of vacation for 30 years’ seniority and 11 holidays,” said Gallagher. “Those are the highest in the industry.”

Before this contract, Gallagher said, productivity incentives remained at a fixed rate. Now they will increase as wage increases kick in. Also, the new contract offers workers more cross-training opportunities, new grievance procedures and stronger health and safety language.

Through the new contract, AK Steel will now fund a $9.25 million Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association (VEBA) plan that will help defray the cost of retiree health care. Also, there is a revamped 401(k) plan with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 5 percent from the company.

“We are very happy with this,” Gallagher said. “We’ve got 1,400 people who know they’ve got good jobs and job security, especially when you take a look at what’s going on in the country with employment.”

The contract in Butler follows a new six-year agreement between the UAW and AK Steel’s Zanesville (Ohio) Works plant.

In May UAW Local 4104 members overwhelmingly ratified a labor agreement covering about 200 hourly production and maintenance workers.

Both plants produce finished stainless steel for automotive and other applications.

Sandra Davis