Five months to the day after Wheatland Tube Co. union employees struck the company's Wheatland plant they decided it was time to end the walkout.

By a 261-150 vote on Sunday, members of United Steelworkers Local 1660 ratified a new three-year labor contract. The local represents 470 production and maintenance workers at the pipe and tube plant. Workers struck April 28 after their previous contract expired and they were unable to reach a deal with the company.

This marks the end to the longest strike in Wheatland Tube's history and one of the longest local strikes in recent memory.

"I'm just happy it's over,'' said Michael Munger, president of Local 1660 after announcing results of the vote at Fatima Hall in Farrell.

Workers' reactions to the proposal were in sharp contrast to their reactions to the offer they rejected two weeks earlier. Most of the workers said they didn't like this latest contract but believed the terms weren't going to get any better.

"It seems like we were going nowhere,'' said Fred McCleery, an eight-year veteran at the plant.

That's understandable, Munger said of workers' sentiments.

"I wish we would have gotten a better contract,'' he said.

Overall, Munger expected a much closer vote. But after pondering the outcome he and other union leaders said there were a number of factors for getting a large majority.

"People are hurting. People need to get back to work,'' Munger said.

Also, the company said months ago there would be layoffs because of poor business conditions.

"The fact that not everyone is coming back shows they don't need you,'' Munger said.

William Kerins, vice president at Wheatland Tube, said he was grateful workers ratified the contract.

"I'm pleased the (union bargaining) committee recommended it this time and that gave me some assurance we would probably see it pass,'' Kerins said. "We're pleased to get back to work and get things back to normal. This has been a difficult time for employees and their families as well as the company and the local economy. We're glad to see it resolved.''

Workers will begin returning over the next several weeks with the first batch to begin on Wednesday, Kerins said.

"We want to get as many people back to work as quickly as possible,'' he said.

He expected to see more than 300 workers return in coming weeks but said more than 100 would likely be laid off.

"The current business climate doesn't support all of the workers returning now,'' Kerins said. But with the contract being approved those workers will be eligible for unemployment compensation and health insurance, he added.

Two weeks ago workers rejected what the company called its "final offer'' in a 230-184 vote. But a proposal negotiated last week had the union bargaining committee's recommendation. That recommendation was absent in the prior contract vote.

"When the committee recommends it that was it,'' said Dominic Vadala, a member of the bargaining committee. "It's not what they offered us. It was only a slight improvement.''

Throughout the strike, health insurance for employees, retirees' insurance and a new hiring program which would grant future workers fewer benefits were the main stumbling blocks.

There were several improvements in the new contract but a key factor was health insurance.

The contract includes a 95-5 preferred provider organization plan. Workers will pay 5 percent of the cost for all in-network services. However, rather than starting in January like the previous offer, the contract calls for the 5 percent payments to begin in January 2005.

Like the previous contract offer, workers for the first time will have a co-pay on insurance premiums totaling $50 a month. They will get wage increases of 40 cents an hour in the first year, 30 cents the second year and 50 cents in the third.

Vadala said he didn't like the contract in large part because it includes less than the company offered union workers at its Sharon pipe and tube plant about a year earlier. The company countered that proposal, which was rejected by a different USW local, couldn't be offered at the Wheatland plant because business had deteriorated rapidly since then.

After both votes at the Wheatland plant, union leaders were surprised by the number of no-shows -- 59 on Sunday and 56 two weeks ago.

"It's hard to believe,'' Munger said, "that for something of this magnitude....''

For the past six weeks the company has been operating on a limited scale using non-union workers who were mostly supervisors. While that angered union workers, equally upsetting to them was the hiring of security guards who frequently videotaped workers on the picket line.

"The security workers will be gone by the time people return to work on Wednesday,'' Kerins said.

As part of the deal with the union, the company said it wouldn't take any disciplinary action against workers for events on the picket line.

Even with the new contract the company still has obstacles to overcome. For the fiscal year-to-date pipe and tube imports account for 60.4 percent of the American market and in July, the latest month available, imports rose to 63.9 percent, Kerins said.

"That, coupled with a dwindling market and high employment costs, we'll have to find a way to be a major competitor in other ways. We'll have to find ways to reduce costs in other ways.''

Agreeing to the terms of the contract came with a stiff price tag, he added.

"Even with this agreement, total employment costs at the Council Avenue facility are the highest at all Wheatland Tube locations and we feel they're the highest among our competition as well,'' Kerins said. "We're hoping the union and their representatives work with us to reduce those costs in some fashion so we can continue to provide good-paying jobs with excellent benefits.''

In addition to its local plants, Wheatland Tube operates plants in Warren, Ohio; Chicago and Little Rock, Ark. The Wheatland plant produces standard pipe for gas lines, water lines, structural fencing and galvanized rigid conduit.

Both sides acknowledged it will take time to get over the emotions that were wrapped up in the strike.

"Regardless, we welcome them back. We're glad to have every one of them back,'' Kerins said.

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