Regarding Archie Atkinson's letter “ATI fixing past mistakes” : He never worked in a steel mill yet feels eminently qualified to judge those who have and those who still do.
Here are just some of the working conditions at the ATI plants where we work:
• We start with a safety huddle. Before the United Steelworkers union, steelworkers died almost daily.
• We wear hard hats and safety glasses, but if a crane cable snaps and tons of equipment crash, they won't help.
• We wear safety shoes, but they're useless if a ram motor crushes your foot.
• We wear Kelvar gloves and wristlets to prevent severed fingers and slashed wrists.
• We use earplugs because it's really noisy.
• We don't work office hours. We work all hours, on all days, in all kinds of weather.
If Mr. Atkinson understands what we do, he'll wonder why we do it and for much less pay than he earned in an air-conditioned office.
He accused us of having “greedy demands.” He should google “L. Patrick Hassey” and become enlightened. Hassey, our previous CEO, “earned” nearly $100 million in five years, then retired in 2011 with a golden parachute package worth $40 million.
Now that's greed, Mr. Atkinson. We are just ordinary folks trying to earn a decent living without losing our lives in the process.
Dave Finley
Leechburg
