Uppercut From Kaiser’S Haymaker Striking Workers Shocked To Hear Up To 900 Jobs Could Go

Kaiser Aluminum’s chief executive officer says he would like to shed twice the number of jobs proposed earlier for elimination.

Striking Steelworkers have refused a management proposal to eliminate 400 hourly jobs companywide.

But meeting with analysts and industry specialists this week, CEO George Haymaker said the company would be more profitable if it eliminated 600 to 900 hourly jobs.

Based on what the company has learned while operating the plants with a reduced work force of salaried and temporary replacement workers, it sees possibilities for reducing the work force and becoming more efficient, said Susan Ashe, Kaiser spokeswoman.

“There’s a great deal of potential there,” she said. The move would allow the company to reach “full business potential.”

The United Steelworkers union, which went on strike Sept. 30, is crying foul.

“If these reports are true, they are a continuing sign of the bad faith with which Kaiser has approached these negotiations,” said David Foster, chief negotiator for the Steelworkers.

More than 3,000 Kaiser workers at five plants have been on strike since their four-year contract expired. Issues of disagreement included the company’s proposal to cut or contract out about 400 hourly jobs at the five plants.

Haymaker’s comments raised the stakes.

No specific job-cut totals have been projected for the two Spokane plants, but since more than 2,100 of the striking workers are at the Mead and Trentwood plants, such cuts would eliminate hundreds of the hourly jobs here. That could have a significant impact on the local economy.

The union said Haymaker’s statement was a surprise.

“This is the first I’ve heard of such a radical and ill-conceived proposal,” Foster said Friday. “This behavior is a clear and unequivocal sign that this company is trying to thwart a lawful bargaining process.”

The union said it first learned of Haymaker’s statement when an industry magazine called for comment.

“To say something like this in that kind of forum without raising it at all with the union at any point in time is clearly not in good faith,” said John Duray, Steelworkers spokesman.

When union locals heard about the comments, they were surprised and angry. They added it’s interesting that Haymaker made the comment the same week the company sent out a letter advising employees how they could cross the picket line and resign their union membership without incurring union discipline or losing their jobs.

“It seems to be coinciding with the idea you can cross the picket line with no consequences,” said Larry Strom, vice president for Mead Local 329.

The extent to which the “productivity improvements” will be made will have to be discussed with the union, Ashe said.

The two sides have not returned to formal negotiations since the strike began. The chief negotiators say they plan to meet next week to again discuss resuming bargaining.

Hannelore Sudermann can be reached at (509) 459-5419 or by e-mail at hannelores@spokesman.com.