HUNTINGTON — There appears to be no settlement in sight as the strike by union workers against Special Metals in Huntington enters its second month.
“This is day 36. With the strike at Cabell Huntington Hospital getting all the attention, we feel a little like the forgotten strike,” United Steelworkers Local 40 President Chad Thompson said Friday, referring to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199 workers in the service and maintenance units at the hospital who began their strike Wednesday.
About 450 union workers began the strike at Special Metals on Oct. 1 after the union and company failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the previous three-year agreement that expired Sept. 30. On Friday, the union workers continued to picket outside the plant on Riverside Drive.
Special Metals is the largest nickel alloy plant in the world. The facility is owned by Berkshire Hathaway and its billionaire CEO Warren Buffett and operated by subsidiary Precision Castparts (PCC).
Thompson said the two sides have negotiated only once since the strike started.
“We’re not close at all,” Thompson said. “We are actually in a worse place than we were over a month ago when we walked out.”
Thompson said several issues are being negotiated.
“We’re talking about health care, wages, seniority and some safety issues in the plant,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the company has a proposal regarding how managers move workers around from job to job and the length of time some have been on particular jobs.
“It’s spelled out in the contract we had already how we do that, but they are wanting to change that,” he said. “We want to make sure that the people are training on the job, that are programmed properly, so they don’t get (themself) hurt or killed or somebody else hurt or killed.”
Thompson said they also don’t want untrained workers messing up the company’s product.
The facility produces alloys critical to military jet engines and commercial aircraft, deep sea oil rigs and other equipment for operation in high-temperature and -pressure environments.
Thompson said the stress level for workers is pretty high.
“When you’re out in the cold by a fire barrel every day or every other day wondering when you’re going to go back to work, if you’re going back to work, it can be pretty stressful,” he said.
The company issued a statement on the Monday after the strike began.
“We believe we proposed a fair offer prior to the union discontinuing negotiations. Once the existing collective bargaining agreement expired, the union decided to strike. We are executing our contingency plans to continue to operate our plant,” David Dugan, director of corporate communications at Oregon-based Precision Castparts, Special Metals’ parent company, said in the prepared statement. “We intend to continue to negotiate with the union in good faith so that we can reach a fair agreement that will place us on a path to a better future in Huntington.”
The company did speak out when it was reported that law enforcement was called to the picket lines at least half a dozen times since the strike began. No arrests were made and Cabell County Sheriff Chuck Zerkle called the incidents minor, but the company said it would call police if striking workers violated the law.
The sheriff said at the time there were some “minor” traffic issues reported regarding trucks being blocked by striking workers while trying to enter the plant.
Special Metals said then its contingency plans are in place to keep the plant operating while striking union workers picket outside.
“The safety of our employees, contractors and suppliers remains our top priority as we continue to operate our facility,” Dugan said in an email. “As the union conducts its economic strike, we will continue to report improper or illegal conduct on Special Metals’ property.”
Thompson said an injunction was issued and there have been no other incidents reported.
“These were very minor issues, and we have all of that straightened out now,” he said.
On Friday evening, Dugan issued a new statement.
“Special Metals continues to negotiate with the union in good faith so that we can reach a fair agreement. Both parties met Wednesday, November 3, and our next in-person negotiations are scheduled in December. At the meeting this week, Special Metals offered to continue the negotiation process by email in the interim and is awaiting response from the union. Meanwhile, we intend to continue operating our facility,” he said in an email.
Thompson said the support the striking workers are receiving from the community is greatly appreciated.
“People, businesses and other local unions have really come out in full support of us,” he said. “They have brought food and products to our union hall to help our workers get through this difficult time. They have also made monetary donations to the union’s strike and defense fund. We couldn’t ask for anything better from our community than we have received here.”
Thompson said the bottom line is that union workers want a fair contract.
“This is my fourth contract negotiation with the company, and we just want this contract to be in the same realm with all the other contracts we have signed with the company,” he said. “We don’t want to spend four times more on insurance premiums than we do right now. When you start raising premiums three times, four times what they’re paying right now … you can’t add $1,000 a month to a family and expect people to be OK with that. They want to take workers’ vacations and cut their retiree life insurance and do away with some of the provisions and the way people get assigned. It’s just too much all at once.”
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