How Mike Da Prat's going to change Local 2251

With almost 3,000 members, it's the largest bargaining group at Algoma Steel Inc.

Early Wednesday morning, United Steelworkers of America Local 2251 declared Michael Da Prat (shown) as its new president.

It was an upset victory over incumbent Tom Bonell, who drew just 453 votes to Da Prat's 743. Official results.

"The members gave me a strong mandate that they wanted change," the broad-shouldered plate-mill worker tells SooToday.com.

And Da Prat is confident he can deliver on his campaign promise to restore control of the big local to its rank-and-file members.

Representing Algoma Steel's production, maintenance and clerical workers, Local 2251 has voted to empower its own membership, Da Prat says.

After he's sworn in next month, one of Da Prat's first initiatives will be to try to eliminate department steering committee co-chairs.

He's bothered that the co-chairs are not elected, but are appointed by the local executive.

Wants executive to deal directly with stewards

Shop stewards are elected. So is the union executive.

But the co-chairs form a layer between the executive and the rank-and-file, two entities that Da Prat says should be dealing directly with each other.

He wants to go back to a modified form of the system used at ASI from 1992 to 1994, when each member of the executive was responsible for one of area of the plant, and dealt directly with shop stewards.

"They want the empowerment that every member of most other, if not every other union, has. They want the right to decide on all major issues, the right to hold their representative accountable through an election process."

"They want to get back to a union where they have control of the representatives from the top down."

Other key issues in Da Prat's campaign:

- retaining retirement windows option for members wishing to use them

- preserving all seniority rights members presently have, including job security and access to better jobs

- upholding the contracting-out language of the collective agreement regarding all jobs

- improving on wages and benefits

Da Prat and his new executive at Local 2251 will be sworn in on May 21.