Workers at the Mon Valley battery manufacturer Eos Energy voted to join the United Steelworkers on Thursday. 

“The United Steelworkers were elected to represent you as their union,” wrote Eos CEO Joe Mastrangelo in an email to workers late Thursday. “The company will fully support your choice. We look forward to partnering with USW to help our company achieve its full potential.”

According to USW Communications Director Jess Kamm, 70% of workers voted to unionize.

Now, the 850,000-member union will collectively bargain on behalf of Eos’ 160 new union members. 

PublicSource reported on the effort to organize at the company before the election.

Last year, Eos was granted a conditional commitment for a loan of almost $400 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. The money would pay for the company to increase its production of industrial, grid-scale zinc-bromine batteries designed to store the electricity generated from renewable sources like solar and wind — a product increasingly in demand amid a national rush to decarbonize.

Mastrangelo previously cast doubt on the union’s ability to support an upstart clean energy company like Eos. 

In an email to workers on Saturday before the vote, Mastrangelo wrote: “I only ask that you consider if the USW is the right union partner to allow each of you and Eos to reach its full potential.” He questioned if the USW would offer training programs specialized for the energy market, or if the union could help Eos secure future investment. “How can the USW help Eos grow in the energy market?”

Union supporters said they were organizing for greater workplace stability and protections and a say in how green manufacturing is built in the Mon Valley. Before the election, the company said it was “pro-union,” but three union organizers were terminated earlier this year, each with pending cases before the National Labor Relations Board that allege unfair labor practice. The company denied the allegation that the terminations were related to the union organizing effort.

“We’ve been here and paved the way,” said Dante Williams, an assembly technician who lives in Duquesne. “Had they treated us fairly, we wouldn’t have needed a union.”

Workers interviewed by PublicSource said they believed unionizing would help to stabilize a hectic workplace and foster goodwill among workers. “It would be a better place,” Williams said. “I want the company to grow. I want to see it thrive.”

Photographs by Quinn Glabicki.

Quinn Glabicki is the environment and climate reporter at PublicSource and a Report for America corps member. He can be reached at quinn@publicsource.org and on Instagram and X @quinnglabicki. 

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Update: Eos Energy workers elect to join Steelworkers

by Quinn Glabicki, Pittsburgh's Public Source
September 5, 2024

<h1>Update: Eos Energy workers elect to join Steelworkers</h1> <p class="byline">by Quinn Glabicki, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />September 5, 2024</p> <p>Workers at the Mon Valley battery manufacturer Eos Energy voted to join the United Steelworkers on Thursday.&nbsp;</p> <p>“The United Steelworkers were elected to represent you as their union,” wrote Eos CEO Joe Mastrangelo in an email to workers late Thursday. “The company will fully support your choice. We look forward to partnering with USW to help our company achieve its full potential.”</p> <p>According to USW Communications Director Jess Kamm, 70% of workers voted to unionize.</p> <p>Now, the 850,000-member union will collectively bargain on behalf of Eos’ 160 new union members.&nbsp;</p> <p>PublicSource <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/eos-energy-battery-united-steelworkers-union-vote-summer-lee/">reported on the effort to organize at the company before the election</a>.</p> <p>Last year, Eos was granted a conditional <a href="https://www.energy.gov/lpo/articles/lpo-announces-conditional-commitment-eos-energy-enterprises-produce-next-generation">commitment</a> for a loan of almost $400 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. The money would pay for the company to increase its production of industrial, grid-scale zinc-bromine batteries designed to store the electricity generated from renewable sources like solar and wind — a product increasingly in demand amid a national rush to decarbonize.</p> <p>Mastrangelo previously cast doubt on the union’s ability to support an upstart clean energy company like Eos. </p> <p>In an email to workers on Saturday before the vote, Mastrangelo wrote: “I only ask that you consider if the USW is the right union partner to allow each of you and Eos to reach its full potential.” He questioned if the USW would offer training programs specialized for the energy market, or if the union could help Eos secure future investment. “How can the USW help Eos grow in the energy market?”</p> <p>Union supporters said they were organizing for greater workplace stability and protections and a say in how green manufacturing is built in the Mon Valley. Before the election, the company said it was “pro-union,” but three union organizers were terminated earlier this year, each with pending cases before the National Labor Relations Board that allege unfair labor practice. The company denied the allegation that the terminations were related to the union organizing effort.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Eos_Union-4.jpg" alt="Two workers, one male and one female, operate machinery in an industrial setting. The male worker moves a large plastic container, while the female worker stands in front of a computer terminal." class="wp-image-1308433" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Battery making at Eos Energy's Turtle Creek facility in February 2023.</figcaption></figure> <p>“We’ve been here and paved the way,” said Dante Williams, an assembly technician who lives in Duquesne. “Had they treated us fairly, we wouldn’t have needed a union.”</p> <p>Workers interviewed by PublicSource said they believed unionizing would help to stabilize a hectic workplace and foster goodwill among workers. “It would be a better place,” Williams said. “I want the company to grow. I want to see it thrive.”</p> <p><em>Photographs by Quinn Glabicki.</em></p> <p><em>Quinn Glabicki is the environment and climate reporter at PublicSource and a Report for America corps member. He can be reached at quinn@publicsource.org and on Instagram and X&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.instagram.com/quinnglabicki/"><em>@quinnglabicki</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/eos-usw-summer-lee-unions-workers-green-manufacturing-turtle-creek-vote/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1308479&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/eos-usw-summer-lee-unions-workers-green-manufacturing-turtle-creek-vote/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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