Steel negotiation collapses; strike gets underway
Steel wage negotiations collapsed today with less than 10 hours remaining before the midnight strike deadline.
R. Conrad Cooper, chief industry negotiator, turned down a last-minute union bid to avert a strike. He said no further meetings had been scheduled for today.
More than 500,000 steelworkers stood ready to shut down steel production in 24 states at midnight. The strike would be the sixth in the postwar period, and could be one of the longest and costliest in history.
The industry turned down a union proposal to change the wording of the present contract to encompass technological progress.
However, Cooper said this was not enough, and that the union’s stand on other problems and economic matters leaves “no possibility of agreement.”
Cooper said it is a “mockery” for the union to pretend it wants to reach an agreement before the deadline while refusing to agree to a contract extension.
He told reporters the strike is already started. He said the steel furnaces will be shut down by midnight.
This continues the Appeal’s review of news stories and headlines during its Sesquicentennial year.
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