A new 4-year labor agreement between the United Steelworkers (USW) union and Alcoa covering some 6,000 workers at 11 U.S. locations has been ratified in a secret ballot vote by the membership.   

The agreement provides for lump sum bonuses of $2,250 this year, $1,750 next year; general wage increases of 2.5% in each of the following two years; and a $2 per month per year of service increase in the pension multiplier.

During negotiations, Alcoa proposed a series of changes in health care benefits which would have dramatically shifted costs to employees through reduced coverage and higher employee premium amounts. Although the proposal was designed to appear to offer greater individual choice, in reality each of the options offered only poorer coverage and higher costs ... more