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E-mailSteelworkers file charges against Latrobe Specialty Steel Co.
The National Labor Relations Board in Pittsburgh will conduct an investigation to determine the validity of the charges that the USW Local Union 1537 filed Monday against the steelmaker, said Gerald Kobell, regional director of the labor board's Pittsburgh office. If the charges are determined to be valid and the dispute can not be settled, the board will conduct a hearing, Kobell said.
The union, which represents 360 workers, said its members voted the night of May 8 to return to work without any conditions. The company said it rejected the union's offer to return to work because that would have permitted workers to go on strike again, which would have disrupted production.
Before the strike began May 1, the steelmaker proposed that its workers remain on the job under a three-month extension of the old agreement. The union had overwhelmingly rejected a three-year contract to replace that pact.
Latrobe Specialty Steel, which produces steel for the aerospace and defense industries, declined to comment on the unfair labor practice charges, spokeswoman Lisa Pierce said.
The union and the company are scheduled to return to the bargaining table tonight under the auspices of a federal mediator.
The union also charged that the company has engaged in unlawful surveillance of peaceful picketing, failed to provide relevant information to the union and generally bargained in bad faith.
An initial charge that the company terminated the workers' health benefits was not accurate because the health insurance coverage remains in effect 30 days after a strike begins, Kobell said.
The company has continued production using a temporary work force hired through a staffing agency.
