NLRB Charges Allegheny Steel Lockout Unfair

February 21, 2016
By Steven Wishnia and Neal Tepel  

Pittsburg, PA – The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Allegheny Technologies Feb. 12, alleging that the company bargained in bad faith before it locked out United Steelworkers members last August.

The company, a Pittsburgh-based manufacturer of specialty metals, has kept 2,200 workers off the job at 12 plants in six states, running them with management personnel and strikebreakers. “This complaint validates every significant charge the USW has made against ATI from the beginning,” Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard said in a statement Feb. 13, accusing the company of “a pattern of intimidation, manipulation and bad-faith bargaining.” The complaint alleges that Allegheny officials threatened union members that they would lose their jobs and benefits if they did not accept the company’s contract proposal, and implied that the strikebreakers it planned to hire ”would steal [union] employees’ possessions and leave the plant in shambles.” A hearing will be held May 23 in Pittsburgh. Read more