Alcoa, union reach tentative agreement

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Inside INdiana Business) – Pennsylvania-based Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) and the United Steelworkers union have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract. The steelmaker says the four-year contract would cover some 1,700 workers at five U.S. locations, the majority of whom are located at its Warrick Operations in southwest Indiana.

The USW says negotiating committee delegates will now return to their local unions to conduct membership information meetings and arrange ratification votes. The union did not provide a timeline for those votes.

Details of the proposed contract are not being made public by the union until members have had an opportunity to review it with their representatives, according to the USW.

“The proposed contract builds on decades of collective bargaining progress with hard-fought economic and non-economic improvements,” Michael Millsap, director of USW District 7, said in a news release. “Our members have earned and deserve fair wages, benefits and working conditions.”

Alcoa says the two parties agreed in May to honor the existing contract while negotiations for a new one could continue without a work stoppage. 

The USW also represents Alcoa employees in New York, Arkansas, Washington and Texas.