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Economy

Arconic Workers Approve Strike Authorization

Steelworkers Local 105

Workers at one of the Quad Cities largest employers are willing to go on strike if they can't agree on a new contract. Thursday members of Local 105 of the Steelworkers Union, who work at the Arconic plant in Riverdale, approved a strike authorization for their leaders.

President of the local, Brad Greve, says the current contract was set to expire on May 15th, but the union and Arconic agreed to extend it. And he thinks they'll resume negotiations soon.

"I'm confident that we will get to the point where the company will understand they are making money and we're not going to give them concessions. They need to come forward with a positive contract."

Local 105 represents about 1,900 hourly workers at the Quad Cities plant, and there are a total of 3,300 affected at Riverdale, and three other Arconic locations in New York, Indiana, and Tennessee.

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.