SEPT. 19, 2008:NWLP
9/16/08
10:45 AM
Page 3
Union leaders from Oregon paper mill travel to
Minnesota, denied a meeting with new owners
Investment firm buys
bankrupt Pope & Talbot,
forces workers to ‘re-
apply’ for jobs, then cuts
wages and benefits
By STEVE SHARE
WAYZATA — Oregon’s Willam-
ette Valley is a long way from the
shores of Lake Minnetonka, lined by
the palatial homes of Minnesota’s
wealthiest business leaders. Nonethe-
less, two union leaders from United
Steelworkers Local 1189 from Halsey,
Oregon traveled all the way to Min-
nesota last week seeking a meeting
with Patrick C. Halloran, head of
Wayzata Investment Partners, a private
equity firm that purchased their plant
in June.
“Do they have any idea what’s go-
ing on out there?” asked Leon C.
Harlson, president of Local 1189.
USW Local 1189 represents about
120 workers at Cascade Pacific Pulp.
Previous owner Pope & Talbot
filed for bankruptcy last November
and shut down the mill May 9, 2008.
The plant — and workers — sat idle
for seven weeks until Minnesota-
based Wayzata Investment Partners, a
private equity group, purchased the
paper mill for $31.2 million and re-
sumed operations under a new name.
Restarting the plant should have
been good news for the workers, but
the mill’s new Minnesota owners fired
all the workers. Workers who wanted
to return to the plant had to “re-apply”
for their jobs — and take pay cuts of
12-28 percent. The new owners also
eliminated pensions and tripled health
care costs.
IN MEMORIAM
SEPTEMBER 19, 2008
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Howard; son Jim; and six grandchil-
dren.
Remembrances can be sent to the
American Heart Association.
A rally supporting workers at the Halsey mill will
be held Sunday, Sept. 21, at 1 p.m. at the
Steelworkers Local 1189 union hall, 1125 W. First
Street, Halsey, Oregon. For more information,
contact Jim Gourley at 541-206-9544.
ing on, horns honked from a passing
U.S. Postal Service letter carrier’s
truck and from a semi-trailer truck. A
reporter and photographer from the
Lakeshore Weekly News were on the
scene. A dozen police stood watch.
Despite the fact that Harlson and
Besaw had come all the way from
Oregon, no one from Wayzata Invest-
ment Partners would meet with them.
In fact, the door to the building was
locked, with a local police officer
standing guard, and the two visiting
union leaders weren’t allowed inside
to deliver a letter requesting a meet-
ing.
As Harlson, Besaw and supporters
waited, Lt. Mike Murphy of the
Wayzata Police Department offered to
help and took the letter inside. He re-
turned to announce that he had
“served” the letter, presenting it to
Wayzata Investment Partners’ corpo-
rate attorney.
Satisfied that at least the letter was
delivered, Harlson, Besaw and their
supporters dispersed, as the chant
“we’ll be back” echoed in downtown
Wayzata.
Backed by their international
union, USW Local 1189 promises a
continuing campaign to seek justice
for the workers at Cascade Pacific
Pulp.
USW Local 1189 is asking Min-
nesota union members to contact
Wayzata Investment Partners to urge
them to settle a fair contract at Cas-
cade Pacific Pulp. Contact: Patrick C.
Halloran, Wayzata Investment Part-
ners, 701 East Lake Street, Suite 300,
Wayzata, MN 55391. Phone: (952)
345-0700. Fax: (952) 345-8901.
(Editor’s Note: Steve Share is editor
of the Minneapolis Labor Review.)
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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Leo G. Ly-
man, a 55-year
member and re-
tired business
agent of Sheet
Metal Workers
Local 16, died
Aug. 22, at age
81.
Lyman joined
Local 16 as an apprentice in Novem-
ber of 1953. He completed his appren-
ticeship in December of 1957. He
worked at several union shops and
taught apprenticeship classes until he
was elected as a business representa-
tive in June of 1982. He served in that
post until July of 1989.
Lyman was born April 8, 1927, in
Garner, Iowa. He served in the Navy
during World War II. He lived in
Salem before moving to Portland.
In 1972, he married Patricia Hay-
ward.
Survivors include his wife; daugh-
ters Cindy Lyman and Georgia
Wayzata Investment Partners has
dragged out negotiations for a new
contract with USW Local 1189, bring-
ing Harlson and Local 1189 negotiator
Randy Besaw to Minnesota to request
a meeting in-person with managing
partner Halloran.
Harlson has worked at the plant for
20 years, Besaw for 25 years.
“The mill started in 1969 and there
are some people who started there
who are still working there,” Besaw
said.
“The workers are devastated by the
rehiring process they’ve put everyone
through,” Harlson reported.
A certified letter that Local 1189
sent Aug. 15 to Wayzata Investment
Partners was signed for but never an-
swered, so Harlson and Besaw made
the trip to Minnesota.
Sept. 8 they found themselves on
the sidewalk outside the offices of
Wayzata Investment Partners in down-
town Wayzata — joined by 50 Min-
nesota union members who turned out
in a show of solidarity, chanting and
waving signs.
To be sure, a union demonstration
on Lake Street in posh downtown
Wayzata is not your everyday sight:
Traffic slowed to observe, curious by-
standers inquired about what was go-
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