Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 2015)
PAGE 22 | December 18, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ... ATI Albany steelworkers: Locked out but standing proud From Page 18 ident Tom Conway, the union’s lead negotiator in talks with ATI, says the company justified its demand for concessions by pointing to the downturn in steel: Prices globally are in a sustained slump in large part be- cause of a surge of exports from China, which is accused in sev- eral pending trade complaints of selling steel below the cost to produce it. But Conway says ATI’s proposal — slashing worker benefits — is a perma- nent solution to that temporary problem. “It’s undeniable there’s some pressure, but the company has decided they’re going to use this as an opportunity to try and strip things out of the labor agree- ment that have been there for generations and that have noth- ing to do with the crisis,” Con- way told the Labor Press by phone. Not everyone at ATI is being asked to make sacrifices. Last year ATI gave CEO Rich Harsh- man a 70 percent raise, to nearly $8 million, and paid its stock- holders a 72-cent dividend. “That’s a heck of a racket when you can run your business at a loss and give yourself a big bonus,” says picketer Karl Krupicka, 52. A 27-year em- ployee, he came prepared for the weather in full rain gear and a miners light. When I ask picketers about the scabs, and the executives who hired them, I hear surpris- ingly little profanity — just dis- appointment, and a sense of be- trayal. “I don’t ever remember a more disgusting day than the first day they first paraded all those vans in front of us,” says Jim Wright, Local 7150 vice president and a 37-year em- ployee at the plant. Wright said the lockout took him by sur- prise. He thought the company was bluffing. Under the canopy, the pick- eters reminisce about the days when their plant was a stand- alone company called Oremet (Oregon Metallurgical Corpora- tion), and CEO Carlos Aguirre would visit the shop floor to talk to workers. Back then they earned company stock with every paycheck. ATI bought Oremet in 1997 for $560 mil- lion. Now it’s playing a game of hardball, attempting to starve them into accepting far-reaching concessions. The two sides have met just once since the lockout began — a Sept. 11 session with a federal mediator; USW says ATI re- fused to discuss anything but its last offer. Locked out workers in Ore- “I don’t ever remember a more disgust- ing day than the first day they first pa- raded all those vans in front of us.” — Jim Wright, 37-year employee at the plant DRY SOCKS: THE FIRST REQUIREMENT OF ANY CAMPAIGN Karl Krupicka and Joe Barton use a camp stove to get dry after several hours of picket duty in a winter rain storm. gon are eligible for unemploy- ment insurance at least through February, and picketers say they’re determined to hold out. “You either sacrifice the pres- ent, or you sacrifice your entire future,” says millwright Scott Youngberg. Some, however, won’t be go- ing back. Conway says nation- ally as many as 200 workers who were eligible for retirement decided in the weeks leading up to the contract expiration that it was time to retire. And others — particularly millwrights and electricians who possess rela- tively transferable skills — have found jobs elsewhere since the lockout. Several hours after I arrive, the sun comes up and the rain breaks, and the picketers re-es- tablish their line of signs along the road, garnering regular honks from passing trucks and cars. “When we get all through with this,” says Wright. “We’re going to be a tougher union.” Checks made out to USW 7150 can be sent to the union hall at 1400 Salem Ave., Albany, 97321, with a note indicating the contribution is to support the locked-out workers.
