(LACKAWANNA, NEW YORK) – Non-Union Workers employed at Welded Tube USA have voted to Go Union and will be represented by the United Steelworkers (USW) Union, USW District 4 Organizing Coordinator David Wasiura tells WNYLaborToday.com.

The Workers are employed at the state-of-the-art casting mill that is located in Lackawanna - just outside Buffalo.  It opened in September 2013.

The two-month USW Organizing Campaign commenced after the Welded Tube USA Workers approached the Union, Wasiura said.

“They ‘wanted a protection of their rights on the job and a level playing field with management,’” Wasiura told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.

Workers employed on the Canadian side at a Welded Tube Plant in nearby Ontario are also represented by the USW, he said.

Once the local Union Election is certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Wasiura said the USW will approach Welded Tube USA management to “set up some bargaining sessions so we can work towards a fair contract for both sides.”

The Welded Tube USW organizing victory was the second in several weeks for the USW here in Western New York. 

In mid-August, and after a four-month-long Organizing Campaign, 38 Non-Union Workers at one of the Imerys’ Chemical Plants in Niagara Falls voted by a 63% margin for USW representation.

The Workers at Imerys sought Union-representation in search of better pay and health and safety, Wasiura told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper at the time.

“The Workers came to the USW ‘because they wanted a voice at the table,’” he said.  “They ‘wanted basic rights in the areas of pay, wages and benefits.’”