NOV. 7, 2008
:NWLP
11/5/08
10:04 AM
Page 8
Steelworkers ratify new contract at Halsey mill
Union solidarity helps
restore main provisions
of former Pope & Talbot
contract
HALSEY, Ore. — Union solidarity
— national and international — pro-
duced a big win for 95 Steelworkers at
the Cascade Pacific Pulp LLC paper
mill here.
Following protests that stretched
from Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley
to the swank Twin Cities suburb of
Wayzata, Minn. — home of the private
equity investment firm that bought the
mill — members of Steelworkers Lo-
cal 1189 got a new six-year contract
that not only restores virtually all job
rights, but immediately cuts the
worker share of health care premium
costs from 50 percent to 20 percent.
The contract was ratified Oct. 16 by
a 5-1 ratio. It will expire Oct. 31, 2014.
The Oregon workers’ campaign
drew support from Minnesota unions,
when Local 1189 leaders flew to the
Land of 10,000 Lakes to bring the
contract struggle to the front door, lit-
erally, of the head of Wayzata Invest-
ment Partners, a specialist in private
equity and hedge funds.
The United Steelworkers also
mounted solidarity campaigns abroad.
Wayzata bought the plant last June
for $31 million after longtime owner
Pope & Talbot filed for bankruptcy.
There was not a successorship clause
in the union contract, so Wayzata
forced all workers to reapply for their
jobs under the terms offered by the
new owner. Wages and benefits were
cut 12 to 28 percent, out-of-pocket
health care insurance costs tripled, and
the traditional pension plan was elimi-
nated.
That led to the union protest in the
Twin Cities suburb — where the
workers were surprised and gladdened
by the large turnout, honking horns
and favorable press coverage.
Local 1189 Financial Secretary
Jim Gourley said the union was able
to get a contract “because of the soli-
darity of our membership, our com-
munity allies, and USW brothers and
sisters from Canada and Minnesota.
They supported us in our rallies at
Wayzata headquarters in Minnesota
and at the plant gate.”
USW negotiators were “very suc-
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cessful in not only improving the
package, but getting it front-loaded as
well,” District 12 Representative Fer-
nie Mirelez told the Minneapolis La-
bor Review. The company “knew they
weren’t dealing with just a small local
in Halsey, Oregon, but with allies
throughout the country.”
One of the most important provi-
sions the union obtained was succes-
sorship. If Wayzata sells the pulp mill
in the future, the new owner will have
to abide by the existing union contract
for the term of the agreement, and
workers would get to keep their jobs.
The new pact provides for an im-
mediate 12 percent wage increase.
Workers will be paid the difference be-
tween their old wage rate and new
wage rate for the five months they
were without a contract. Wages will
increase 2 percent in each of the next
two years. In 2011, 2012 and 2013,
pay raises will be based on the average
of wage increases negotiated at other
Pacific Coast mills.
The company agreed to pay a 50-
cent-per-hour shift differential for the
7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift instead of its
original proposal to start payment in
2009. An additional 25-cents per hour
will be added Nov. 1, 2010 instead of a
year later. Approximately 75 percent
of the membership is affected by the
change.
Prior to the new agreement, work-
ers had to pay 50 percent of their
health care premiums. In the new pact
workers will immediately pay 20 per-
cent of the cost. This increases to 22
percent in 2010 and 25 percent in
2012.
...Machinists settle Boeing strike
(From Page 1)
for current and future employees, pen-
sion improvements, and work-rule
changes designed to improve produc-
tivity.
Medical costs will remain the same,
ensuring no new out-of-pocket ex-
penses for current or retired workers.
In the first offer, much of the lump
sum payment would have been spent
to pay for medical cost shifting, the
union said. That money now stays in
workers’ pockets.
And, after not receiving a general
wage increase for four years, Machin-
ists won a 15 percent wage hike over
the next four years. Workers with
fewer than six years of service re-
ceived a raise from $12.72 to $15 an
hour.
Additionally, workers will get a
bonus totaling at least $8,000 over the
next three years. The first year lump
sum of 10 percent of previous year’s
earnings or $5,000, will be paid by
Nov. 7, 2008.
On the pension side, Machinists
will receive an increase of $11 over the
first three years of the contract (from
$70 to $81 per month for all years of
credited service), and an additional $2
in the final year. Petroff said it is the
largest dollar increase in union history,
and leads the aerospace industry.
Boeing retreated from its take-
aways and proposals to cost-shift med-
ical benefits, and reverted to the 2005
contract levels and language, thus
eliminating language that would have
been detrimental to retirees currently
on retiree medical benefits.
Also as part of the settlement agree-
ment, insurance and benefits will be
considered continuous for all returning
employees and their dependents. Boe-
ing will return all insurance premiums
that were paid during the strike and all
valid insurance claims will be paid.
But the improvements in job secu-
rity are “the major achievement of the
deal,” Petroff said. “We have pre-
vented external suppliers from coming
in to our factories and doing jobs that
IAM members have done.”
Except for final assembly of the
787, outside vendors are limited to de-
livering products to designated areas
only. From there, bargaining unit em-
ployees will track use, disbursement,
acquisition, and/or inventory of parts,
materials, tools, kits and other goods
or products.
“This agreement is the result of
hard work and great sacrifice by many
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Local 1189 was able to retrieve all
the contract language under the old
contract with Pope & Talbot, except
for a few minor modifications. Those
with 15 years or more of service under
Pope & Talbot and Cascade Pacific
will automatically get five weeks of
vacation without having to re-earn it
under the new owner.
The defined benefit pension work-
ers had under Pope & Talbot will be
replaced by a Steelworkers 401(k)
plan. Cascade Pacific will match up to
6 percent of a worker’s contribution
beginning Nov. 1, 2008. This will in-
crease to a 7 percent match on Nov. 1,
2011, and an 8 percent match on Nov.
1, 2012.
(Editor’s Note: Press Associates
Inc. and the Minneapolis Labor Re-
view contributed to this report.)
NO FEE WITHOUT RECOVERY
621 SW Morrison, Portland
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people,” said IAM Aerospace Coordi-
nator Mark Blondin. “But no one de-
serves more credit than the workers at
Boeing, who conducted themselves
with dignity and determination
throughout this ordeal. On behalf of
the entire negotiating committee, I
want to say it has been our honor to
serve as their representatives.”
• Of Lodge 63’s 1,244 members
who work at Boeing in Gresham,
only two crossed the picket line.
• The 57-day strike is the sec-
ond-longest of the Machinists’ four
strikes against Boeing in 20 years.
• The Machinists filed several
unfair labor practice complaints
with the National Labor Relations
Board alleging that Boeing tried
“direct dealing” with members. As
part of the settlement, all ULP
charges were withdrawn.
• Over the last five years, Boeing
has enjoyed $13 billion in net prof-
its.
• Boeing has a commercial
backlog of 3,725 planes to build,
currently worth $275 billion.
• Industry analysts estimate that
the company lost at least $2 billion
in profits due to the strike.
• Boeing reported that its third-
quarter profit was off 38 percent be-
cause of the strike.
• Some 20,300 engineers and
technical workers at Boeing, repre-
sented by the Society of Profes-
sional Engineering Employees in
Aerospace Local 2001, began nego-
tiations Oct. 29 after eight months
of preliminary talks.
NOVEMBER 7, 2008
