Alcoa, UAW1050 reach a 4-year labor contract

Alcoa Inc., the world's largest producer of aluminum, on Sunday announced that it has reached a tentative deal with United Auto Workers Local 1050 for a new 4-year labor contract at its Cleveland, Ohio facility.

The Pittsburgh, United States based aluminum producer said if the deal gets the formal sanction, it would help end a 7-week old strike, and sending employees back to work likely on January 2, 2007.

The agreement is endorsed by the union's negotiators and a majority of the Executive Board, UAW Local 1050 said. On its website, the Local depicted that if the contract is ratified its 830 workers at the plant, who have been on strike against Alcoa for 48 days, would return to work on Jan. 2.

Besides the active workers, who make aluminum forgings for the aerospace industry and aluminum wheels for car and heavy truck manufacturers at Alcoa’s Ohio facility, the UAW also includes more than 650 retirees.

Details of the agreement will be reviewed at Union ratification meetings to be held on December 27, 2006.

Besides the management related issues, like followed by management every second on the job to make sure that they are being productive, arrogance on the part of supervisors and managers, telling the workers how to do their jobs when they have never done it before themselves, the main issues that forced the union to go on strike are the increased amount of money they will have to pay for health care and the unacceptable attendance and scheduling policies.

Under the old contract, which expired in the end of September, workers were not paying any money out of pocket for health care, while, under the new contract Alcoa workers were asked to pay the first thousand dollars of health care services they use, and after that, Alcoa had to split the cost 90/10.

The company also intended to cut into the pension plans of retirees who were guaranteed total coverage for life.

In November, an International Association of Machinists (IAM) at the Cleveland Works facility, which makes forged parts for cars, trucks and airplanes, had ratified Alcoa’s new 4-year labor agreement that covered 45 workers. The IAM workers received a $1,500.00 signing bonus upon ratification.

The UAW, however, had rejected the same agreement.

Shares in Alcoa slipped 6 cents Friday to close at $29.24.