Steelworkers end strike at Cascade Steel; talks continue
Union election results
in new leadership at
Local 8378
McMINNVILLE — United Steel-
workers (USW) ended its strike at Cas-
cade Steel Rolling Mills April 20, but
there’s still no agreement on a new
union contract.
About 300 members of USW Local
8378 took part in the strike, which
lasted 12 days. The mill was shut down
when workers walked of the job, and re-
mained out of operation during the
strike. Cascade, located in McMin-
nville, Oregon, is a subsidiary of Port-
...UO faculty
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not oppose the organization effort nor
did we support it. We simply recog-
nized the rights of those who chose this
route.”
Berdahl continued that “within that
process, we wanted to insure the pro-
posed bargaining unit was appropriate.
That is why we worked with the union
leadership to make certain that the bar-
gaining unit is defined early on. We
now have certainty and we can move
forward.”
land-based Schnitzer Steel Industries.
USW national spokesperson Tony
Montana said returning to work was a
strategic decision based on the potential
consequences to members of remaining
on strike.
After talking with lawyers for the na-
tional union, the bargaining committee
made an unconditional offer to return to
work at 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 20. But
Cascade told most employees not to
come back to work until the following
Monday, and the company waited until
then to restart the mill. As a result, 20 to
50 workers may lose their family health
insurance coverage for the month of
May, because they will not have worked
the required minimum 84 hours in April.
The two sides’ most recent labor
agreement expired April 1. Officially,
the strike was in protest of alleged labor
law violations, including a refusal by
the company to bargain in good faith.
The National Labor Relations Board is
still investigating the violations. In the
meantime, USW says some progress
has been made in contract talks.
The two sides met April 25, and will
next meet on May 7 at the Portland of-
fices of the Federal Mediation and Con-
ciliation Service.
The strike’s end came three days af-
ter Local 8378’s internal union officer
election, in which two-term incumbent
president Joe Munger lost to challenger
Ed Rush; the tally was 108 to 130.
Munger’s term ends May 15, at which
point he plans to return to his job as a
crane operator at the mill. Munger said
he expects to remain active in the union,
as well as the Marion, Polk, Yamhill
Central Labor Council and the Oregon
AFL-CIO. In other results, Robert
Smith outpolled incumbent Monte
Hansen to win election as vice presi-
dent; Joe Ybarguen was elected record-
ing secretary; Jim Blue, financial secre-
tary; and Scott Henning, treasurer. The
five top officers make up the local’s Ex-
Teamsters
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ecutive Board. All terms of office are
three years. Of the local’s elected of-
fices, president is the only full-time paid
position.
USW is planning a rally at the com-
pany’s Portland headquarters on May
11 at 10 a.m.
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