MAY 6, 2011:NWLP
5/3/11
9:54 AM
Page 10
...Koch brothers own Georgia-Pacific
(From Page 1)
Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Wauna.
The mill makes Brawny, Sparkle and
Mardi Gras brand paper towels; Quilted
Northern, Angel Soft and MD toilet pa-
per; and Vanity Fair, Zee, Brawny and
Mardi Gras napkins; as well as house la-
bel products for retailers like Costco,
Target and Safeway.
Prescott says the main sticking point
in bargaining is a management demand
that employees pay “per-dependent” for
health coverage, replacing the current
one-size-fits-all model. GP pays for-
profit United Health to administer its
self-insured employee health benefit,
and employees pick up 25 percent of the
cost. That percentage wouldn’t change
under the management proposal.
“Going from a composite rate where
everyone, regardless of family structure,
is paying the same for health care to a
system where people are going to be
charged based on the number of children
they have … that’s a sea change in the
way our members absorb the 25 percent
premium share,” Prescott said.
“It’s my belief that per-dependent
pricing is a Koch philosophical issue that
has permeated bargaining,” Prescott said.
“It’s not economic. It’s purely related to
social engineering. It’s one of those lib-
ertarian ideas where they want to drive
home the costs of having children.”
Prescott said the union repeatedly ex-
pressed frustration with the proposal, but
the company so far won’t budge. Mem-
bers authorized a strike in votes tallied
April 25. The next bargaining session is
set for May 24.
Meanwhile, workers at three GP
warehouses in Portland have also au-
thorized a walk-out. IBU, a division of
the International Longshore and Ware-
house Union, represents about 110 GP
workers at three Portland warehouses.
About 80 members at Front Avenue and
Rivergate Industrial District warehouses
work under a contract that expired
March 2010, and 30 members at a Kel-
ley Point warehouse work under a con-
tract that expired March 2011. Bargain-
ing for the former has been under way
since February 2010.
The two sides disagree on how to
cope with investment losses the IBU’s
multi-employer pension fund suffered
during the financial meltdown of 2008.
To preserve benefits, GP would have to
make up for the losses by increasing its
pension contribution 6 percent a year
from its current $8.25 an hour. GP is
proposing that the last two increases in
the proposed four-year contract come
out of employee wages.
GP also wants an annual limit of 10
percent on how much more it will con-
tribute to the health and welfare trust
through which IBU members get their
health insurance. This year, health care
insurance rose 18 percent at the trust,
and forecasts are for increases above 10
percent in coming years. Workers’ con-
tribution to health insurance costs went
from 0 to 25 percent over the last five-
year contract and is now $276 a month
for family coverage.
IBU sent notice of intent to terminate
the contract, meaning workers could
strike at any time.
In retaliation, IBU alleges, GP dra-
matically cut how much product it ships
through the Kelley Point warehouse.
Normally, GP ships by barge from the
Wauna mill to Portland warehouses.
Now, IBU leaders say, 80 trucks a day
from Wauna are heading to GP facilities
in California. [The change began before
an April 22 accident in which a cargo
ship ran into and damaged the Wauna
dock.] IBU has filed an unfair labor
practice charge with the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) protesting the
change — saying GP is punishing work-
ers for the vote, causing them to fear fur-
ther retaliation, and that the company
didn’t bargain over the change.
IBU also says GP tried to muzzle lo-
cal leadership: On Dec. 2, GP forced
bargaining committee chair Dave
Franzen, under threat of termination, to
sign a “last chance agreement” pledging
to treat managers with dignity and re-
spect or be fired without recourse to the
normal grievance process. Nothing in
the union contract allows a sanction of
that kind. IBU protested, but GP refused
to bargain over any aspect of the agree-
ment, IBU charges in an unfair labor
practice filing over the action.
A third charge alleges that GP is fail-
ing to bargain in good faith, instead
adopting a “take it or leave it” posture
that is not helpful to reaching agreement.
The charges could give workers a lit-
tle extra protection if they strike: em-
ployers are allowed to permanently re-
place workers in “economic” strikes, but
not in strikes called to protest unfair la-
bor practices. GP management has com-
municated that its planning will make
any work stoppage “invisible” to cus-
tomers.
Further bargaining is scheduled May
10 and 11 for the Kelley Point unit.
E
E
FR
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PAGE 10
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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WWII GERMAN OR JAPANESE military
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rifles, pistols, etc. 503-852-6791
DISHWASHER, 503-252-4151
‘American Made’
in the Northwest
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MAY 6, 2011