Steelworkers Solicit Help From Council

Tue., Dec. 15, 1998

By Hannelore Sudermann hannelores@spokesman.com

A handful of striking Kaiser Steelworkers made a plea to the Spokane City Council Monday to do whatever it could to end the strike.

“This is a dilemma we’re not used to in Spokane,” said Dale Findlay, a 20-year Kaiser employee who works at the Trentwood plant. She also serves on the union’s crisis committee and deals with striking workers buckling under the pressure of house and car payments.

“There won’t be a lot of Christmases for Steelworkers this year,” Findlay told the council.

She was joined by 10 others - Steelworkers and members of the Peace and Justice Action League. They urged the council to adopt a resolution encouraging Kaiser to work with the union to reach a fair-labor agreement.

Mayor John Talbott said it would take two weeks to hold a first reading on a resolution. Instead, he’ll write a statement of support on the council’s behalf to both the union and Kaiser.

City Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers said she would write her own letter in support of the striking workers. “We need to help them stay in Spokane,” she said.

Kaiser has invited the Steelworkers’ chief negotiator to meet in San Francisco on Thursday to go over the union’s most recent offer and to view a new proposal from the company.

The strike began on Sept. 30 and has idled 3,000 workers nationwide including 2,100 in Spokane. Few are expecting the new company offer to be enough, said Stan White, a 30-year Trentwood worker. “We don’t really have a lot of hope for this one.”

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