259 Workers To Be Laid Off At Allegheny Technologies Plant

MIDLAND, Pa. (KDKA/AP) - Allegheny Technologies Inc. will lay off 259 union and salaried employees when it idles a western Pennsylvania plant in January due to low prices for specialty steel.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Thursday that the layoff figure was in a notice ATI filed with the state.

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The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker has locked out workers at 12 plants in Pennsylvania and five other states since Aug. 15 over a contract dispute. The company announced last month that it planned to idle the plant in Midland, Beaver County, and that it will idle its Bagdad plant in Gilpin Township, Armstrong County, in April, until the plants can generate acceptable profits.

The plants employed nearly 600 workers combined before the lockout. It's not clear how many management and replacement workers have been keeping them running.

KDKA's Andy Sheehan recently talked to some of the locked-out employees at an ATI plant in Brackenridge who were going through the holidays without a paycheck.

Earlier this month, the National Labor Relations board claimed the lockout was illegal, but ATI released a statement saying, "We have acted properly throughout these negotiations. We look forward to presenting our evidence in the proper venues."

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