By Tom Yerace
Published: Wednesday, September 5, 2012, 12:56?a.m.
Updated 13 hours ago
TARENTUM ? Union workers at the Pittsburgh Glass Works in East Deer will vote Sept. 13 on the company?s latest contract proposal.
The 218 workers represented by the United Steel Workers of America heard details of the proposal Tuesday in meetings at the VFW Post on Fourth Avenue.
Brian Markiewicz, president of USW Local 126, said it is hard to tell if the proposal will be ratified or rejected as two others have been.
?People are sitting there thinking through it,? Markiewicz said. ?I really couldn?t tell you which way it will go.?
?I think health care has been the biggest stumbling block, but I think we have that knocked over,? Markiewicz said.
Rich Bordick, 55, of Kittanning, who has worked at the plant since 1978, discussed the proposal after emerging from a session late Tuesday afternoon. He sees forced overtime as a major issue.
?Just today, 14 people got forced to work 16 hours,?
Bordick said angrily. ?(Workers) are in there right now arguing with the international reps about it.?
He said it is a by-product of two other factors. One is the company?s reluctance to hire enough workers to operate the plant that manufactures glass for the auto industry. He said five crews are needed and right now there are three.
?They need five more people per crew now, and they?re talking about hiring a fourth crew,? he said. ?They don?t have enough people now.?
He said so far this year, the only time off he has gotten is holidays such as Easter, July 4th and Memorial Day.
?I didn?t even get Father?s Day off,? Bordick said. ?You can?t treat people like this.?
The second factor is the company?s inability to keep newly hired, younger workers because they don?t offer enough in wages and benefits, according to Bordick.
?They jumped them from $10 to $12 an hour with health insurance that is basically catastrophic coverage,? he said.
Catastrophic health care pays for medical costs but only after the person covered by it pays out big money in deductibles.
He conceded that while the company did provide more in wages for older workers, they will end up paying more for a health care plan that is basically the same.
With the burden of mandatory overtime, the wages and benefits for young workers are not enough incentive for them to stay, he said.
Two weeks ago, Bordick said the company hired 10 employees and only six remain.
When asked if he thought the proposal would be ratified, he replied, ?The younger people need the jobs so bad, but I?m not sure about whether it?ll be ratified.?
Bordick said as it stands now, he probably would not vote to ratify the proposal.
Kim Goughneour of New Alexandria, a 30-year employee, said she would like to retire, but she is concerned about health care.
?They want us to pay 30 percent of the drugs,? she said. ?If you?ve got cancer, you?re wiped out.?
?I?m a diabetic, I?ve got to take maintenance drugs,? Goughneour said.
?I don?t want to see a strike, but this company is ruthless,? Bordick said.
Markiewicz was confident that even if this proposal is rejected, an agreement will be reached.
?Sooner or later, we?ll get a deal done,? he said. ?Our goal is to get a contract. We don?t want to put people out on the street.?
Tom Yerace is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4675 or tyerace@tribweb.com.
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