20th anniversary of the start of the United Steelworkers’ strike against Kaiser Aluminum.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the United Steelworkers’ strike against Kaiser Aluminum. About 2,100 hourly employees at the company’s Trentwood and Mead plants walked out in what became a bruising, two-year labor dispute.

Section:Gallery

Fri., Sept. 28, 2018

Kaiser's Spokane workers are producing more aluminum than they have in years, but don't know what to expect in contract talks.
Large rolls of aluminum are lined up on the floor of a new production line at Kaiser's Trentwood plant in the Spokane Valley. Kaiser Aluminum- Trentwood interior

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This is a spectacular aerial view of the Kaiser Aluminum Trentwood rolling mill where the hot line went into operation yesterday for the first time since the Kaiser interest leased the unit from the government. The Trentwood Plant, one of the largest in the world, houses its vast mills under one roof, covering 53 acres of ground. At the upper right are seen portions of the Spokane naval supply depot. The Spokane River is in the foreground.
New Tube Mill. Aluminum tubes are shown being produced in Kaiser Aluminum's new tube forming mill at the Tretwood Works, installation of which was announced today coincident with a tour of Northwest newsmen through the big Spokane Valley plant. The new mill, costing more than $300,000 makes 6 to 10 diameter welded tubing at speeds up to 35 feet a minute. A smaller tube mill installed in 1953 has been producing 2 to 5 inch tubing for farm irrigation and oil field service lines. The mill was designed and constructed for Kaiser by McKay Machine company, Youngstown, Ohio and the Air Reduction Company, Inc.
Kaiser Trentwood Aluminum worker, Randy Bayuk, used to be a maintenance supervisior before the strike, now as the labor dispute enters its second week he is helping run the "80 Mill.", a rolling mill used to press aluminum ingots flat.
A Kaiser employee watches the automated handling machinery move a massive 10-ton slab of heated aluminum to the rolling machine Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016 at the Kaiser Aluminum Trentwood plant in Spokane Valley. Because it is one of the largest energy users in the region, company officials are concerned about Initiative 732 which proposes a carbon tax on users of energy. Company officials say that their melters and furnaces are extremely efficient and use natural gas or hydropower from the region's dams.

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David Foster (front right) and Dan Russell (front left) speak of the steelworkers concerns at a press conference at the Spokane Convention center on Friday afternoon. Kaiser employees Dan Sampson (left rear) and Steve Simms (right rear) listen at the back of the room.

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It was an overflow standing room only crowd at the Carpenters Hall as local Steelworkers listen to David Foster and their negotiating team explain an offer to settle the 21 month old strike against Kaiser. Foster and his team brought the offer to Spokane for 2 presentations to the workers who have been locked out by Kaiser.

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Steelworkers chief negotiator David Foster ( center in blue ) stands with striking workers at their meeting Thursday to discuss an agreement to end the 21 month Kaiser lockout. Spokane local members met with Foster and other negotiators at the Carpenters Hall in the morning and in the vally in the afternoon.

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Shortly after negotiations broke down between labor and management, strikers walk the picket line at Kaiser's Mead works Wednesdany evening.

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An employee of Pacific Lumber Company give the thumbs up to Kaiser strikers walking a picket along the fenceline of the sprawling mill complex in Scotia, California Thursday.

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A Spokane County Sheriff's deputy works security during the Kaiser Steelworkers rally Saturday morning next to protest signs outside the main gate at Trentwood.

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Hundreds of steelworkers from around the nation joined forces as they marched down Sullivan Rd. enroute to Kaiser's Trentwood Plant Saturday afternoon.

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In front of the Mead plant, Kaiser workers try to illicit support from passingmotorist on Hawthorne Rd. Over 2000 workers from the Mead and Trentwood aluminum company walked off the job after the 4 p.m. shift ended.

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Spokane County worker Pat Riley pounds fence posts along Euclid Ave infront of the Kaiser Trentwood plant on Friday afternoon. Snow fencing was added to keep the strikers off the street.

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Spokane County sheriff's deputy Randy Strzelecki scolds union pickets at the east entrance to the Kaiser Trentwood plant after deputies found a tire puncturing device.

Sandra Bancroft-Billings Sr
At the front gate of Kaiser Aluminum corporate headquaters in Pleasanton, California, 150 striking steelworkers cheer their resolve to get the company to settle the labor dispute. 150 striking Kaiser workers from Spokane and Tacoma walked a picket line for several hours cheering cars that honked in support.

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One year ago James Smith who is a father of five children walked out of Kaiser Aluminum.

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Locked out Trentwood steelworker Kevin Cowell is a regular and strong presence on the strike line.

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Celebrating an alliance of labor and the environment, Steelworker Don Kegley and activist Felony participate in a sham wedding at a Steelworker rally at Kaiser Aluminum. Along with a number of Kaiser Steelworkers, they will be protesting the actions of big business at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle this fall.

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Hundreds gathered outside the Trentwood Plant at 8:15 p.m.

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Stockpiles of material and equipment are lined up at the Kaiser Mead plant. Laying idle for years the plant and the aluminum industry in Spokane is in limbo with recent power costs.

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Plant Manager Steve Anderson walks with a visitor through one of the areas of the Kaiser Mead plant in north Spokane. Idle for many months the present power crunch threatens to end the viability of the aluminum industry in the Spokane area.

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The 'War Room" at Union Hall Local 338 has seen thousands of hours of tense closed door meetings and conference calls with union officials from around the country to hash out problems and plan stategies concerning the lock-out.

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Blue-collar loyalty to the Union and its sruggle to win the battle to preserve and protect workers rights around the country is a goal among Mead and Trentwood workers.

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Here me roar----The bravado on the strike line such as this rally at Kaiser's Trentwood Plant has drawn support of retirees and wives of striking workers.

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Replacement workers and outside contractors continue to drive through the gauntlet of locked-out union memebers.

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Anger and frustration catch up with a union worker flooded by spotlights outside gates at the Trentwood plant. Repeatedly shouting obscenities at guards atationed inside, the worker, who wished to remain anonymous, says, "I'm just getting started with this fight."

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A vigil of locked-out workers outside the gates of both plants 24 hours a day, seven days have seen highs and lows but many believe they can prevail.

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For a year the picket line has endured everything from endless winter rain showers to sweltering summer days, now concrete barriers have been installed on the picket lines at both the Mead and Trentwood plants leaving the locked-out workers feeling a certain permanence to Kaiser's stand on the labor dispute.

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Metal from the pot line rooms is sorted outsdie the old Kaiser Mead smelter, Sept. 17, 2013, in Spokane, Wash.

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A lone desk and chair await truck drivers doing paper work while scrap metal is loaded onto their rigs at the old Kaiser Mead smelter, Sept. 17, 2013 in Spokane, wash.

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The sun sets behind Kaiser's Trentwood plant Wednesday evening. Chapter 11 may be the final installment to the once mighty employer of the Pacific Northwest.

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