RAVENSWOOD PLANT THREATENING BANKRUPTCY - Company Wants New Union Contract

(12/08/2002)

The United Steelworkers at Ravenswood's Pechiney Rolled Products plant will vote Friday on a new contract offered by the plant owner. The Union's international staff are urging members of Ravenswood Local 5668 to approve the contract. The local has turned down two previous proposals. Pechiney has wanted to renegotiate and extend its current contract instead of negotiating for a new contract when the current one expires next year. The company is also threatening bankruptcy without a new agreement, as it has asked for reducing health benefits. Pechiney is a subsidiary of Paris-based Pechiney S-A, one of the world's largest aluminum producers. The company this month is laying off 202 workers, about 17 percent of the aluminum rolling mill's work force, as part of a $9 million-dollar restructuring. Many workers live in Calhoun and surrounding counties.

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