USW Stands for Order in Chaos Created by Century Aluminum

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May 21, 2015, 10:14 ET

PITTSBURGH, May 21, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today disputed allegations of picket line misconduct made by Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX), which locked out the 565 members of Local 9423 from their jobs at the company's Hawesville, Ky. smelter on May 12, 2015. The union further repeated its call for Century to end the lockout and reinstate the USW workforce to their rightful jobs while negotiations for a new labor agreement proceed.

The USW first learned of the company's purported problems with picketers at the same time Century notified news outlets via an email, which also included the completely false claim that union workers threatened to strike prior to the company carrying out its plan to enforce a lockout.

The union will work with law enforcement and the community to maintain orderly and lawful pickets with foremost attention to the safety of locked out workers and the public. Local 9423 is conducting regularly scheduled monthly meetings throughout the day on Thursday, where the union will review its picket line code of conduct with members, in addition to other items on the agenda, including the availability of "catastrophic" medical insurance coverage available to locked-out workers.

In its message, Century also objects to locked-out union members bringing their children to the picket line. Although management may prefer to pretend otherwise, the company unilaterally has chosen to give their parents' jobs to temporary replacements in an effort to starve their families into accepting a contract the majority of workers democratically voted to reject four times.

The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.

More information, contact: Richard Haas – (270) 314-5429 or Tony Montana (412) 562-2592

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SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)