Lockout Tentatively Over
About 100 local workers have been picketing at the South End's ATI Flat Rolled Products in New Bedford. After weathering a half of year of storms, both manmade and by Mother Nature, the workers could be headed back to work! A Standard-Times story reports a that a union vice president announced Monday evening that a tentative agreement has been reached. Now, the union will present the latest development to the workers of United Steelworkers Local 1357 to vote on.
If workers ratify this, the lockout will be over and the workers will return back to their jobs. The strike, that has attracted support from this talk show host, city leaders and politicians, has affected 2,200 employees in 12 plants across the country.
The hopeful news comes after months of concerns over disagreements on healthcare, staffing levels, overtime time and other issues. It will be great news to see these local workers get back to work after sacrificing a lot.