Armstrong Ceiling Workers Approve Deal

Lancaster, PA, June 20, 2007--Instead of striking Friday, unionized workers at Armstrong World Industries' Marietta ceiling plant approved a revised contract offer by a slim margin and stayed on the job, according to the Lancaster New Era.

The newspaper said that four-year deal includes a $500 signing bonus, 3 percent raises annually and a pension increase of $4 per month for each year of service.

"I explained to everybody, if this was voted down, we were going out at 11 p.m.," said Dan Beckey, president of Unit 441 of United Steelworkers' Local 285.

"The negotiating committee felt this was as far as we could go without a strike. We let the membership make up their minds...," he said. "We had a nervous time counting the votes."

The tally: 52 percent for ratification, 48 percent for rejection.

Unit 441, which represents about 310 workers at the Marietta plant, was prepared for the opposite outcome -- the first strike in its eight-year history.

It had 30 "On Strike" signs printed and formed committees to organize and schedule picketers, and to find other jobs for strikers and help them pay their bills.

Judging from the members' mood during the ratification meetings in the Marietta American Legion hall, Beckey expected those signs and committees to be pressed into service.

"I thought we were going out, by the feedback I was getting. ... There was a very large number of upset people," he said.

The unit's members rejected a similar offer last week by a two-to-one margin, despite the recommendation of their bargaining committee that they approve it.

The reason was that the offer failed to broaden retiree medical coverage to more workers. Only workers who were employed at Marietta by 1996 and meet other criteria are eligible.

The revised offer improved pensions and created a committee to smooth management-worker relations, but still didn't address the retiree medical issue.

Beckey, who again recommended ratification, said the upgrades were enough "to barely squeak it by."

Pensions for some future retirees will be boosted by an additional amount that gets negotiated in upcoming talks at five other unionized Armstrong plants. Those five include the Lancaster floor plant, where the current pact runs out in October 2008.

The management-worker relations program, run by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, is called "Relationship by Objective." Beckey hoped the program will reduce "confusion and anger" in the plant, and the high number of grievances filed by the workers.

The new pact follows a three-year contract that expired June 1.