Potlatch Workers Reject Proposal For Changes To Medical Benefits

Union workers at Potlatch Corp. are standing united against the company’s proposed changes to their medical benefits.

More than 80 percent of 1,150 United Paperworkers International Union members in the Lewiston area voted on the Potlatch offer Wednesday and Thursday, and 98 percent of them voted to reject it.

And of the 929 who cast ballots, 96 percent voted to strike if necessary.

“The members felt the company’s medical plan proposal was inadequate,” Vince Stroops, United Paperworkers representative, said in a prepared statement Friday. “The current plan has no employee premium. Under the proposed plan members would be subject to a substantial premium for the same coverage.”

The union plans to contact Potlatch and ask for a meeting, Stroops said.

“We are confident the company will meet and continue discussions,” he said. “Our objective is to get a fair contract.”

Potlatch spokesman Michael Sullivan had little to say Friday.

“We can confirm what’s on the (negotiations) hotline is essentially correct as far as we know,” he said.

The last strike at Potlatch Corp. in Lewiston was by the woodworkers in 1948, Sullivan said.