THE overwhelming rejection by 700 members of United SteelworkersLocal 5668 of the contract offered by management at ConstelliumRolled Products in Ravenswood seems out of synch with economicreality.
The nation's economy is sluggish, with the gross domestic productgrowing at an anemic rate. Many economists fear a recession byyear's end.
The union membership's hang-up appears to be the company'srequest for them to begin paying a small part of their healthinsurance premiums beginning in 2014. The proposed weeklycontributions would be half the national average for employee shareof premiums.
Constellium workers currently pay no part of their premiums andenjoy minimal co-pays.
In exchange the company offered a $4,000 ratification bonus pluswage changes that would yield $5,014 for production workers over thefive-year contract. For maintenance workers, the amount would be$9,873 over the five-year contract.
On top of that, the company is offering 2 percent in annual wageincreases, which would give the average worker $15,157 over the five-year contract.
The company has been forthright in stating it must tamp downhealth insurance costs. It is far from alone as health costs risefaster than the rate of inflation and people consume more care.
But a majority of the 700 workers represented by the union voteddown the proposal.
Workers have that right. But the economic reality is that high-paying jobs are rare and getting rarer in West Virginia andthroughout the United States and the world.
