The United Steelworkers Union and Alcoa have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract for 10 of the aluminum maker’s facilities, including one in eastern Iowa. Mike Nicholas is financial secretary for Local 105, which represents about 1,700 hourly workers at the Davenport Works.
He calls the new five year agreement “a pretty good deal for our members.” It includes wage increases each year. “Our insurance premiums are remaining the same as today for the life of the contract,” Nicholas says. “There are no premium increases for our active members or for our retirees.”
The union achieved another major goal, according to Nicholas, because there will continue to be one system of wages and benefits for all workers, instead of establishing a second, lower-tier system for new hires.
John Riches is a spokesman for Alcoa in the Quad Cities. “We think we reached a package that is positive for employees and competitive for our business,” Riches said. “That was really the goal going into those negotiations.”
The union is now scheduling meetings to explain the tentative contract, with ratification votes likely in the next couple of weeks. The union and the company completed their negotiations around 11 p.m. Thursday, about one hour before the previous contract was scheduled to expire.