The company said it wants to simplify the program by aligning worker incentives with the management incentive it can modify without union input.

"Management justifies its proposal to switch all hourly employees to the new and ever-changing Operations Incentive Plans as an effort to make sure that we are all 'pulling on the same oars together,'" USW said. "But their proposal does not explain how this would work. In fact, the proposal is simply for language that would 'enable' the company – without union involvement – to modify and consolidate the existing union incentive plans however they see fit."

The union said the company has not given it enough information about how the proposed incentive program would work.

"In short, if we agree to this 'enabling language,' we don’t really know what we’re signing up for," the union said in an update to members. "And, that seems like that’s management’s plan. Perhaps we would be able to grieve incentive changes, but the company’s idea is that management would largely be free to modify the existing incentive plans however it sees fit."