Seagate finds fertile ground in the Steel City
03/01/2001
Chris Anderson
PITTSBURGH—Seagate Technology Inc.'s decision to build a research facility here is providing opportunity to two distinct classes of workers. There are the researchers whose job it is to divine what devices will store data 10 years from now and steamfitters whose skills are needed to provide the piping and ventilation for the facility.
The new building, slated to open later this year, will replace Seagate's existing research facility in Pittsburgh that employs about 90 people. The current building, like the new one, has ISO Class 4 (Class 10) cleanrooms and should be attractive to other tech companies once Seagate moves out. "Let's put it this way, I think the landlord of that building will have a big smile on his face when we move out," says Herb Blomquist, vice president and deputy director for Seagate.
 Seagate's Pittsburgh facility. |
At Steamfitters Local 449, the Seagate project is welcome work for a union that has seen its membership ranks dwindle by 40 percent since the heady days of the 1970s when steel was the engine of the local economy. While Seagate's research building needs only a relative few steamfitters compared to a full-fledged wafer fab or other manufacturing plant, the company's arrival has provided new skills to the union's members.
As a result of Seagate coming to town, Local 449 set up night training classes in orbital welding. To date, more than 70 members of the union have completed the training. In addition, the union signed a no-strike agreement with the contractors to ensure that once construction started on the Seagate project, the union would staff it until completion.
"It's not the same world as it was in the past," says Ken Broadbent, business manager of Local 449. "If we want to get these kinds of companies coming to Pittsburgh we need to give them these kinds of assurances."
Blomquist says the union did a good job of stepping up to the plate to make sure the project is a success. "They provided the training to their members to make sure they had the skills necessary," he says.
But Broadbent is realistic that this is only the first step to convincing large-scale manufacturers that the work force is available to help build production plants. "One of the things with orbital welding is that you can only learn so much in the classroom, you have to be out in the field to really learn how to do it right," says Broadbent.
Because the research facility was a smaller project, the union didn't need to deliver a couple of hundred steamfitters. "I don't want to give the illusion that we could have taken on a large construction project for the semiconductor industry right away," Broadbent says. "But we are able to mobilize a workforce and provide the training that is needed through our apprentice school and training center."
 The exterior of Seagate's new research facility in Pittsburgh. |
The United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, the national arm of the union, also lent a hand to Local 449 both via a grant to buy an orbital welding machine and loaning another to use for training. "They are very aware of the (shortage of steamfitters) because members do most of the orbital welding for cleanrooms work across the country. So they have equipment available for training and regional training centers to train our instructors."
Further, Broadbent says, the union understands the needs of its customers and is willing to provide the kind of specialty labor agreements, including no strike guarantees, as needed. "There is so much money involved in these industries that they can't afford a labor problem and they don't care whether it's union or not," he says. "They just want the job done on time. So we have to move into modern times and assure them that our people will be trained and will be on the job until it is done."