NEW YORK (Reuters) - United Steelworkers Union members at facilities representing about one-fifth of the domestic workforce of Alcoa Inc. (AA.N) overnight ratified a labor pact with the world's largest aluminum producer, a company spokesman said Friday.þþAbout 9,000 Alcoa workers at 15 plants across the United States are covered by the master agreement, which was agreed upon on May 31 just minutes before the prior five-year deal was due to expire.þþUnion locals began voting on Thursday on the new four-year contract, which included annual wage increases and pension increases, and stuck to a single health-care plan instead of a tiered benefits plan, according to the union's Web site.þþA majority of total votes cast was needed to ratify the deal. Under the master agreement, employees at work by July 22 are eligible for a $1,500 ratification bonus.þþEarlier this week, newly-organized union workers at Alcoa's engineered products plant in Cressona, Pennsylvania, voted to ratify their first labor contract since becoming organized.þ
Source: NY Times
