THE I.S.U. UPDATE

President’s Corner
By: Mark Glyptis

Local Negotiations

Presently all stewards are meeting weekly with their local management on outstanding union local demands. This can be a lengthy process due to differences of opinion on the importance of each issue. We appreciate your patience as we proceed through negotiations and will keep you informed as much as possible.

Membership Meetings

When the main table negotiations begin, there will be membership meetings scheduled regularly to update you on key issues. We would request that you make every effort to attend. This will help you to become familiar with the issues being negotiated and dispel rumors that routinely circulate throughout the mill. Please attend!!!

Illegal Imports

As you know, illegal imports are still flooding our markets. We hope that the new administration will now listen and provide the relief to stop the illegally subsidized steel imports. There have been numerous bankruptcies in the steel industry due to these imports, with rumors of more to come. The government should represent those people who elected them to serve instead of protecting Wall Street and foreign interests.

S.U. B. Fund

We have just been notified that as of week ending February 3, 2001, there will no longer be SUB available for any employee who has less than 20 years of service with the Company.
Any employee who is involved in a short work week and has less than 20 years of service, will also not receive SUB benefits for that week. The S.U.B. Fund, as of February, 2001, will be at -52%.

I.S.U. Member Receives Honor
By: Mike Vitello

Jack Yost, WeirTec Tool & Die employee, was recently honored as one of West Virginia’s outstanding democrats. This award recognizes local party officials and volunteers whom Democratic leaders feel have contributed most to the party’s efforts. Mark Glyptis stated, "Jack is a dedicated union brother and is very deserving of this recognition. We are all very proud of his accomplishment". Those in attendance acknowledging the accomplishments of Jack were: U.S. Senators Robert C. Byrd and J. Rockefeller (WV), U.S. Representatives (WV) Alan Mollohan, Nick Rahall, Governor-elect Bob Wise, and U.S.

BLOOD BANK WINNERS

Congratulations to the following winners of Blood Bank certificates ($200 each) for the December 7th, Blood Drive:

Leonard Cassella
Charles Cline
Domenick Tonacchio

The next blood drive is scheduled for February 22, 2001. Please make every attempt to donate. Thank you for your participation.

Boxing

Congratulations to John "Macho Midget" Bailey for his unanimous decision of No. 2 ranked IBF opponent Joel Perez from Texas. The fight was held December 29, 2000, at the Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort. Bailey fights in the 140 lb. division.
Bailey is the son of retired Machine Shop employee Gilbert Bailey, of New Cumberland, WV.

Layoffs as of 01/20/01

Hourly (short term)           90
S.N.E.                                  1
Professional                       2

Management notifies the Union on a week-by-week basis of any prospective layoffs.

Employee Involvement

By: Ed Conley

In the past year, Steel Tec, one of our biggest Hot Roll customers, noticed an increase in defective steel being sent to them from Weirton. Due to this slide in quality, Steel Tec decided to dramatically reduce the orders placed at Weirton. Tom Thayer, SS Area Manager, called together a cross section of hourly Hot Mill employees, Metallurgical, QA Sales, Technical Service and Operating management to correct the problems. A series of meetings began in August at the GO to brainstorm for ideas to improve our product and our ability to meet this customer’s needs.
Through employee involvement, ideas were looked at, investigated, and included into the scheduled outage in November, 2000, or were addressed immediately. Three temporary work instructions were implemented and then changed to Standard Operating Practices to allow us to have a better understanding on how we are doing during a Hot Mill critical surface run.
This Weirton Steel team then met with upper management from Steel Tec to discuss our ideas to improve the product. A very good exchange took place between Weirton Steel and Steel Tec personnel.
"Biddy" Bates of Steel Tec, and a proponent of employee involvement, commented that this is the proper way to address problems, and he believes that if other steel plants had implemented similar hourly and salary cooperative efforts their steel companies would be more secure.
This is a big Hot Roll customer, and we should be notified in the near future if our efforts have been successful. Hopefully, this will increase our steel supply to their business. Look for more information in future I.S.U. Updates.
A special thanks goes out to our Union members involved in this effort. They are Bart Boggia, John Montgomery, Joe Krzeczolski, Bill Swanson, Steve Spensky, Chuck Bolner, Charlie Mick, and Kevin Hileman.

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of previous ISU Updates,
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