"It feels great!"

That's how Pittsburgh 24M Pres. Louis Blauth summed up his local's wall-to-wall organizing victory at the U.S. Can plant in New Castle, Pa. on Aug. 7.

The representation election, in which Local 24M prevailed 23 to 8, covered workers in metal lithography production as well as maintenance workers.

Blauth said the campaign began when a worker at the plant contacted Local 24M for help. Keith Postlethwaite, the local's organizer for the past year with the help of the International's 50/50 subsidy program, went to New Castle for meetings with the workers.

Blauth said the major issues for the U.S. Can workers include seniority, wages and pensions. "They have a 401(k) that is probably worth about a 201(k) right now," he said.

Despite the overwhelming vote in favor of the union, the company is still fighting the election, Blauth said. He said U.S. Can filed an objection with the National Labor Relations Board's Region 6.

Blauth said he thinks the company's appeal to the NLRB is a frivolous tactic to delay bargaining. He said the company hired a "high-priced law firm from Chicago to fight the union. We think the money would be better spent giving it to the people in the shop than giving it to an attorney."

Anticipating a second fight stemming from the company's attitude toward bargaining a first contract, Blauth said, "we celebrated for a week following the election. It's the first victory we've had in a long time and it really feels good."

But now the local and the worker representatives at U.S. Can are hard at work preparing for the next round of getting a contract. "We're trying to work through it to get to the bargaining table," Blauth said of the board appeal.

Blauth said Postlethwaite "did a super job. Keith met with workers at the plant day and night because they have a three shift operation."

GCIU Organizing Director Bert Haft said Postlethwaite "has been very persistent. His persistence paid off. He is to be congratulated for his continued growth as an organizer."

Haft said the campaign also "is a good demonstration of what the International's organizing programs–including training and the 50/50 subsidies–are all about."