| 2021 Allegheny Technologies strike | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | March 30 – July 13, 2021 (3 months, 1 week and 6 days) | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by | Disagreements between union and company over terms of new labor contract | ||
| Goals |
| ||
| Methods | |||
| Resulted in | Union agrees to new labor contract that addresses their original concerns | ||
| Parties | |||
The 2021 Allegheny Technologies strike was a labor strike involving about 1,300 workers for metals manufacturing company Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI), all unionized with the United Steelworkers (USW). The strike began on March 30 and ended on July 13 with the ratification of a new labor contract. Strikers returned to work by July 19. According to the Northwest Labor Press, the strike was among the country's largest for 2021 by number of strikers involved.[1]
In 2020, ATI was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the company reporting over $1 billion in losses for that year. In February of that year, the company's labor contract with the USW (which represented roughly 1,300 employees in nine facilities) expired, but citing the pandemic and a general lack of progress in negotiations for a new contract, the union agreed to extend the expired contract until February 2021. By January of that year, negotiations had resumed, but like before, neither side could come to an agreement, with the main issue concerning the company's health care plan. The company was pushing for workers to pay a monthly premium, while the union was steadfast in objecting to premiums, arguing that adding premiums would negate the pay increase offered in the new contract. Additional issues included concerns over outsourcing and opposition to changes to the company's scheduling and overtime system. On March 5, several days after the extended contract had expired, workers voted to authorize strike action, and on the morning of March 30, they performed a walkout and began picketing.
Over the next few months, the company and union held on-again off-again negotiations, during which time the main point of contention continued to be the health care plan. In late May, federal mediators became involved, by which point the two sides had settled almost all other issues. On July 6, following several days of intense negotiations, the union announced a tentative agreement with the company that included a guarantee of no premiums in the workers' health care plan. Workers voted to accept the agreement on July 13 and returned to work by July 19. The new contract has generally been seen as a win for the union, as it addresses all of the issues they had had with the company's original proposals. At the same time, the union estimates that the strike cost the company millions of dollars, with the company posting a $49.2 million loss for the second quarter of 2021.
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