NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 19, 2015 | PAGE 7
Machinists at Bodycote
battle for first contract
TOP: Bodycote employee and new
Machinist Union member Brian
Almeida (left), talks with union
business reps Will Lukens, Joe
Kear, and Ron Teigen during a sol-
idarity rally June 8. Workers are
having a difficult time securing a
first contract at the plant, which
“heat treats” aerospace parts. Pre-
cision Castparts is its largest cus-
tomer.
By Michael Gutwig
Editor & Manager
CAMAS, Wash.—Forty work-
ers are still trying to get a first
contract at Bodycote, a multina-
tional corporation that provides
thermal processing services.
The company operates 180
plants in 26 countries. Of the 50
facilities in the U.S., the Camas
plant, which “heat treats” aero-
space parts, is only the second to
unionize. The other union facil-
ity is in Ohio with United Auto
Workers.
Workers in Camas voted last
June to join Machinists District
Lodge W24. The campaign was
a difficult one, with Bodycote
hiring a union-buster, and using
all the anti-union tricks in the
book. Following the union vic-
tory, the company engaged in a
number of unfair labor prac-
tices, retaliating against support-
ers by changing their work shifts
and break times. The Machinists
filed and won two unfair labor
practice complaints with the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board
(NLRB).
When bargaining began last
August, the company flew in an
attorney from Oklahoma. The
attorney was rarely able to meet,
and when he did, refused to put
proposals in writing. Those ac-
tions led to another unfair labor
practice complaint, which the
union also won.
Talks have moved slowly
since then, with fewer than a
dozen items agreed to, said Will
Lukens, a business rep for Ma-
chinists District W24.
Solidarity rallies have been
held (the most recent was June
8), and last month workers
strongly supported a prelimi-
nary strike vote. The union also
filed another NLRB charge
against the company for directly
bargaining with employees, and
for failing to maintain status quo
by unilaterally discontinuing an-
nual pay raises. The NLRB is
currently investigating the com-
plaint.
In bargaining held June 9-10,
Lukens said minor progress was
made on articles pertaining to
grievance procedures and sen-
iority, but nothing was finalized
in writing.
“They were a little upset with
our solidarity rally on June 8,”
he said. “Their attorney went
into stall mode, and wanted to
talk about disciplining an em-
ployee for coming out during
his break to participate in the
rally.”
Lukens believes the company
is still surface bargaining, hold-
ing out for a decertification vote
after the one-year anniversary of
the election (the NLRB ex-
tended the anniversary date by
four months, pushing it to Octo-
ber).
But workers are getting impa-
tient. They want a first contract.
At the June 8 solidarity rally
there was even talk of a strike
action to get the company to
stop stalling.
“It may have to come to that,”
Lukens said.
More bargaining is scheduled
July 22-23.
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