ABI Workers and Allies Present Their Case to Alcoa Shareholders at Pittsburgh Annual Meeting
Close to 200 ABI workers and allies demonstrated in the
streets of
Pittsburgh on May 8, where Alcoa's annual meeting of shareholders was
being held. The demonstrators called for a negotiated agreement and an
end to the 16-month lockout. Workers also addressed the shareholders'
meeting, backing up their demand that the company
negotiate a collective agreement acceptable to those who do the work.
Alcoa's headquarters are located in Pittsburgh. The fact
that 200 of
the 1,030 ABI workers made the 13-hour bus trip shows their
determination to uphold the dignity of labour and their community.
The workers met with members of the Alcoa and Arconic
unions in the
United States to discuss their experience and share their concerns.
Arconic was formed out of the splitting of Alcoa in 2016 into two
separate entities. Alcoa has retained the extraction and production of
bauxite and the production of alumina and primary aluminum while
Arconic focuses on the processing of aluminum and other light metals
into manufactured products for the aerospace, automobile and other
sectors.
The workers also met with USW International President
Leo Gerard,
who said the union is pressuring Alcoa to sign a collective agreement
that is acceptable to the ABI workers. Steelworkers in the U.S. are
currently trying to negotiate a master agreement with Alcoa and
Arconic. Gerard said the USW has told the employer representatives that
the Bécancour conflict is damaging their own negotiations and
making
them more difficult.
ABI workers were accompanied by a delegation of
steelworkers from
the Rio Tinto aluminum smelter in Alma who are members of USW Local
9490. U.S. workers from Alcoa and Arconic joined with them to
demonstrate
in the streets of the city with flags and banners raised. They ended
their demonstration in front of the doors of the hotel
where the annual meeting of shareholders was being held.
Equipped with shareholders' proxies, workers intervened
in the Alcoa
meeting to tell shareholders that the lockout, which has now lasted
more than 16 months, is unacceptable to all concerned. An international
USW leader told shareholders that it is striking that the name Alcoa is
associated with problems in so many places where it operates.
He mentioned Australia, Spain and now Canada. In Australia in 2018,
Alcoa demanded and received approval from the state Labour Relations
Tribunal to cancel the collective agreement covering 1,500 workers.
Alcoa and the state Tribunal used a fraudulent and arrogant pretext
that the collective agreement does not allow the company to be
flexible and competitive in global markets. At the end of 2018, Alcoa
announced the closure of two smelters in Spain, provoking a fight that
workers and their communities continue to wage.
Clément Masse, President of USW Local 9700
representing the ABI
workers, also spoke at the shareholders' meeting. He told Workers'
Forum that his speech raised the values that Alcoa claims to
defend. "I
told them that Alcoa says that one of the values it defends is the
environment. I asked them 'what does Alcoa do with the social
environment?' I told them that the social environment has deteriorated
with the conflict that has affected the community. Many people are
affected. This has to be taken into account too." President Masse also
told shareholders that the Alcoa plant in Bécancour performs
well, the
workforce has great expertise, and shareholders are losing a lot of
money for no reason. They have everything to gain by demanding Alcoa
executives sign a negotiated agreement to end the lockout. Alcoa CEO
Roy Harvey responded that he was concerned, but made no further comment.
According to Clément Masse, shareholders listened
attentively to the
message from the workers, and some came to shake hands with them
following their intervention. ABI worker representatives also met with
two executives from Alcoa's Pittsburgh headquarters and presented their
concerns.
 
 
This article was published in
Number 18 - May 16, 2019
Article Link:
ABI Workers and Allies Present Their Case to Alcoa Shareholders at Pittsburgh Annual Meeting
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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