Kaiser Rejects Proposal No New Bargaining Talks Have Been Scheduled

The Steelworkers Union offered a new contract proposal Tuesday, but Kaiser Aluminum officials quickly said the offer was unacceptable.

The company added that no new bargaining talks are scheduled.

The union’s chief negotiator, David A. Foster, said its proposal, called the “Employee Protection, Job Realignment and Early Retirement Incentive Program,” is “an approach to productivity that guarantees continuous improvement for them (the company) and real job security for our members.”

The union said the new proposal, presented in Minneapolis, would increase wages and benefits “in most areas comparable with the company’s chief competitors at ALCOA and Reynolds Aluminum.” Specific details were not released.

Foster said the union “has been frustrated for weeks by the company’s insistence that they needed productivity improvements, on the one hand, and by their inability, on the other hand, to give us contract proposals that reflected those needs.” He said this proposal addressed all outstanding issues, including increased productivity.

However, a Kaiser spokeswoman said the proposal, the first made by the union since the steelworkers’ contract expired Sept. 30, was “woefully inadequate.”

In a statement, Kaiser said “the proposal does not meaningfully address the concerns Kaiser has previously articulated to the union, including the productivity gains that are essential for improving the competitive position of each of the five affected plants.” Some 3,000 hourly workers have been on strike, including 2,100 at Mead and Trentwood.

Kaiser said Tuesday’s proposal dealt with productivity issues “in a way that Kaiser had previously informed the union was unacceptable.” The company also said the new proposal “would have imposed additional restrictions on the company’s ability to improve productivity,” and that it “contained the most onerous contracting-out restrictions in the metals industry.”

The company added that the economics of the new proposal were “virtually unchanged from Sept. 30.

“We care about our business and we care about the welfare of our employees,” said Kaiser spokeswoman Susan Ashe. “We are very disappointed that this is the best the union can do in terms of an offer.”

The union said it is displeased that the company will not agree on a date to return to negotiations.

“I believe we gave the company a reasonable proposal that created a framework for settlement,” Foster said. “I am deeply disappointed that Kaiser representatives have reneged on their offer to bargain around the clock in order to get an agreement.”

Kaiser said it is reviewing the situation “in light of today’s disappointing events.”

The company said it will keep using temporary replacement workers and salaried employees in Spokane, Tacoma, Gramercy La., and Newark, Ohio.