Business: Second Threat

As 500,000 workers in the nation's basic industry spent their days picketing or doing odd jobs at home, the U.S. this week faced another deadline that could shut down a second major industry. With contracts covering 82% of U.S. aluminum-producing capacity about to expire, the top U.S. aluminum makers—Alcoa, Reynolds, Kaiser—turned down labor's demands for the same wage package that the union failed to get from steel management. Barring a last-minute truce, the United Steelworkers (32,000 aluminum members) and two other unions (28,000 members) were ready to walk out. A stoppage in aluminum...

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