Steelworkers at Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. in Bridgeville are threatening a strike because they have not been able to reach a new labor contract with the company, a union representative said Friday.
The 240 members of the United Steelworkers Local 9531 gave union leadership authorization to call a strike, said James Watt, a USW staff representative. Workers could walk out after giving sufficient notification for an orderly shutdown of the plant, he said.
The union's bargaining committee met Friday to discuss the status of contract talks before holding two membership meetings, Watt said. He declined to comment on details of the negotiations.
The union has been working under an extension of its former five-year contract, which expired on Aug. 31. But the union notified the company it was canceling the extension and gave Universal Stainless a 24-hour notice on Monday that its members might walk off the job, Watt said.
Paul McGrath, general counsel for Universal Stainless, which makes semi-finished specialty steel products, declined to comment.
Workers at Universal Stainless want a contract similar to one won by the USW at Latrobe Specialty Steel Co., said John Ross, a member of the bargaining committee that negotiated the contract that expired in August. Wages, pension benefits and health care costs remain outstanding issues, Ross said.
The contract at Latrobe Specialty Steel provides for pay scales ranging from $20 an hour to $26 an hour, with annual average salaries of about $56,000. The Latrobe steelworkers won their contract in July after a strike and lockout that lasted 81 days.
"We're the lowest paid steelworkers around," Ross said.
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