United Steelworkers agrees on a strike against Alcoa and Arconic if negotiations over new contracts do not move forward

Nearly 500 members of the local chapter of the United Steelworkers union at Massena cast their votes Friday night in support of a strike against Alcoa and Arconic as negotiations over new labour contracts with them broke off in mid-May.

However, the leaders insisted that they are “not going in there wanting to strike” or “any kind of work stoppage” but “they want to negotiate”.

"What [the vote] is supposed to tell people is, the union is unified and fighting for what they believe in," Mark Goodfellow, president of United Steelworkers Local 420 said. "They want a fair contract from Alcoa and Arconic."

The workers according to him will continue to show up at the plants as usual under the last contract terms for now.

In the U.S. more than 4,000 Alcoa and Arconic employees are represented by United Steelworkers and it includes several hundred workers at the aluminium plant in Massena, including the smelter, casthouse, and a finishing facility. If negotiations with Alcoa and Arconic do not move forward, United Steelworkers leaders can call for a strike.

The last major strike at Massena happened in 1986 and though a strike was authorised in 2010, it did not take place.

The demerger that took place in 2016 in Alcoa making two companies Alcoa and Arconic is one of the reasons that is standing as a hurdle in signing a new contract. As both the companies operate from the same Massena facility, each one will have to sign a separate contract with the labour union and both the companies are negotiating on different terms, especially Arconic which is working aggressively on cost cutting.

Arconic and Alcoa didn’t officially comment on the news.  However Arconic said to a newspaper that it’s been negotiating in good faith to “reach an agreement that’s fair to our employees, allows our business to grow, and continues to provide our customers with advanced materials.”

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