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Master Agreement Contract Ratified
On June 22nd, members of the United Steelworkers of America (USW) from across the 15 Master Agreement locations ratified the agreement that had been tentatively reached between Alcoa and the USW during negotiations in St. Louis that ended May 31st. The new four-year contract provides a competitive framework to allow Alcoa to effectively compete on a global basis. It protects the interest of everyone – our employees, our customers, and our investors, improving employment security for our employees and protecting the communities they live in.
Both sides agreed to structural changes in employee and retiree health care programs that will help reduce the escalating cost of providing health care coverage to employees and retirees. The new plan calls for employees and retirees to share in the cost of these programs through deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, and monthly contributions.
While new hires will still have the same wage and benefit structure as current employees they will have different pension benefits.
This new agreement provides an overall package that is intended to improve the competitiveness of our master plant locations and help increase employment security. If you’d like to learn more about the negotiations, please go to: www.alcoanegotiations.com.
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Alcoa Foundation Cultural Ambassadorship Summer Institute for Global Education
On June 23, 2006, the Evansville African American Museum announced the Alcoa Foundation Cultural Ambassadorship Summer Institute for Global Education. The program is giving 50 inner-city youth, ages 8-11, an opportunity to “travel the globe” this summer thanks to a $16,000 grant from Alcoa Foundation in 2005.
The program has engaged children from the neighborhood to learn more about the world around them through activities at the Museum; tours of global studies programs at the University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana; walking tours of historic sites; interviewing business leaders and elderly community members; and keeping a daily journal along with photos from their activities.
During the final week of the program, the new ambassadors will design and construct an exhibit from their summer institute collection to be shown during the opening of the museum this fall. The ambassadors will also serve as docents, or tour guides, during the opening week.
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Lithographic Sheet a Key To Warrick Operations’ Future
In 2005, Warrick Operations began planning for how we could fully enter the lithographic sheet market, making it a key part of our overall product mix. Those plans include moving a lithographic cleaning line from Alcoa’s Davenport Operations and make other improvements valued at more than $46 Million. Construction is slated to start in August and will be complete by August, 2007.
The lithographic sheet market refers to the most common printing process used in the graphics industry worldwide. Warrick Operations will supply rolled aluminum sheet to companies like Kodak Polychrome Graphics, who process and cut the sheet into different-sized plates for their customers. The end-users etch that sheet with an image this is ultimately used to apply ink to newsprint, magazines, and other printed products.
The investment will bring 40 new jobs to the plant with a potential for others to be created depending on other contracts and volume levels. Moving the line to Warrick and making modifications in other parts of the plant will enable us to become a leading supplier of lithographic sheet in North America.
This is a significant investment, and the creation of 40 jobs is substantial in today’s manufacturing environment. The Warrick County Council recognized the value of the project when they granted tax phase-in for the investment in December 2005. Alcoa leadership appreciates the continued support for projects like this and understands the importance of partnering with the community to maintain a sustainable business.
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Six Area Seniors Awarded Alcoa Foundation Sons and Daughters Scholarships
Each year, Alcoa Foundation awards scholarships to the sons and daughters of Alcoa employees across the United States. In 2006, the Foundation awarded 77 scholarships – six of them to the children of Warrick Alcoans. The students each received a $6000 scholarship and were honored along with their parents at a dinner at Rolling Hills Country Club on May 24th. The annual event gives Warrick leaders an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of the students and share in the pride of their parents.
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Environmental Improvement Project Continues Making Progress
Work continues at the Warrick Power Plant to install scrubbers on all four production units. It was nearly one year ago when Alcoa announced the $400 Million investment that will ultimately reduce the environmental impact of the Plant by more than 50%. The construction project will continue until 2010 with the first scrubber coming online in 2008.
These photos taken in June show progress on the first of two new “chimneys” that will be installed as part of the project. It will contain the exhaust flues for units 1, 2, and 3, and be 380' tall when completed – approximately the same height as the two shorter chimneys currently on site.
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These Girls Have OPTIONS – Future Engineers Visit Warrick
Each summer the University of Evansville hosts the Options program to help high school girls see the opportunities available through careers in engineering and computer science. Seventeen participants spent the afternoon at Warrick Operations on June 26th exploring what engineers do at Alcoa. During lunch, they heard from plant managers about career options before using a balloon game to learn the principles of lean manufacturing and the Alcoa Business System (ABS). Each student was then paired with a female engineer working at Warrick for a mentoring session and personal tour of the plant.
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