Workforce Fighting for the
American Dream
Elliott Group, a 103-year-old maker of advanced centrifugal compressors and steam turbines, is expanding its United Steel- workers (USW) workforce and investing $110 million into a US factory that was once a candidate for closure. Tat’s the result of a remarkable turnaround in labor-man-
agement relations at Elliott’s main US manufacturing plant that was sparked by a local union that did not want to die. “Te American dream is still alive here and we fought
hard for it,” USW Local 1145 Unit President Alan Rudick said aſter welcoming a group of new workers to Elliott’s sprawling plant in Jeannette, a small Western Pennsylvania city with an industrial heritage. “Every one of those guys had a smile on his face,” Rudick
said of the 10 new employees he had just met. “Teir whole world is going to change now because they have decent jobs with vacations and benefits and they’ll learn valuable skills they can take anywhere in the world.”
Jim McKay Editor, USW@Work
United Steelworkers Communications Dept. Pittsburgh
Just a few years ago, the plant was so run down that tarps
and umbrellas were employed in the factory to keep rain from falling through holes in the roofs onto machinery. Machine tools and other equipment were for sale. Worker morale was low. Contentious labor-management
relations had leſt a poor impression on Elliott’s Japanese owner, Ebara Corp., which had directed local management to change the business model and shrink the Jeannette operation. Ebara had purchased Elliott in 2000. “It was going to close, really, at least the manufacturing
side. We were losing money and the owners were just in de- spair,” said Anthony Casillo, the recently retired chief operat- ing officer.
Renewed Life Today, there is renewed life. Elliott has attracted foreign investment, is adding to its manufacturing workforce and has
USW Local 1145 Unit President Alan Rudick (left) and Timothy Wilkinson, Local 1145 unit griever, (right) are among a new group of union leaders who worked with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, CEO Yasuyuki Uruma (center) and other members of Elliott management to find a less contentious form of labor-management relationship.
86 Energy Manufacturing 2013
Photos by Steve Dietz courtesy of USW
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