Benefits Lost, But Not Hope Unemployment Runs Out For Locked-Out Kaiser Workers

For 50 years, Kaiser Aluminum’s Steelworkers have held some of the best-paying jobs in Spokane.

But this week, they could become eligible for welfare.

On Monday, union officials met with the state Department of Social and Health Services to talk about public assistance for the 1,900 locked-out Steelworkers. They wanted to know if union members, most of whom haven’t pulled in a paycheck since last September, could qualify for support for needy families and for food stamps.

For most of the Steelworkers, unemployment benefits will run out this week.

Families with dependent children who don’t have much in savings may qualify for public assistance, but it isn’t going to take the place of unemployment benefits, said Debbie Schomer, deputy administrator for DSHS in Spokane.

“In a lot of cases, we can’t even help people scrape by,” Schomer said.

Everyone, however, could be eligible for basic health-care services, Schomer said.

The Steelworkers began drawing up to $410 a week in unemployment checks in January after they offered to return to work unconditionally and Kaiser locked them out.

They were among more than 64,000 unemployed people statewide last week drawing checks from the unemployment insurance trust.

Applicants have to be able and available to work and must certify that they have been actively seeking work.

State assistance would require even more: Steelworkers will have to participate in the WorkFirst program, which requires them to volunteer or spend 30 hours a week training or looking for a job.

But many say they already have been looking. Some have left the area for jobs. Others have done everything from check addresses for the Census Bureau to deliver telephone books. Many work construction or laborer jobs.

Trentwood strike captain Ron Burke estimated only about 200 of the union members from Mead and Trentwood have found other full time jobs.

“And most of them are craftspeople,” said Dan Sampson of Trentwood. “We’re losing some of our best people.”

Right now most union members get $150 a week from the USWA’s international headquarters. Both the Mead and Trentwood locals are holding back small portions of that support for emergencies. At least some people at Trentwood who did not report for picket duty did not get the “gift” checks, although union leaders insist it is not a payment for picket duty.

The International Steelworkers have paid nearly $5 million at Mead and more than $7 million at Trentwood in strike benefits so far and plan to step up spending on food and other crisis benefits.

“We can go a few more weeks,” said Tim Charbonneau, who manages strike assistance for the Mead workers. “In fact, I think we can go quite a bit longer.”

But many families have suffered.

Sue Dennison, a single mother with five children at home, has applied for work with delivery services to hospitals, but has yet to be hired. Many employers are reluctant to hire a Kaiser worker who may return to the plant any day.

After 23 years at Kaiser, Dennison is tapped out. She will lose a $338 weekly unemployment benefit. She has already filed her paperwork for state assistance.

All five children start school next month, but there is no money for new shoes or supplies. Her oldest son will attend Gonzaga University on scholarship, but has no money for books or other basics. Nobody drinks soda in the Dennison household. There have been no pizzas, videos or even car trips this summer except to Spokane businesses to apply for jobs.

“Kaiser isn’t just my job, it supports them. It supports all of us. Our household is very stressed out.”

Dennison’s father and uncle both retired from Kaiser. A brother, married with three children, and a sister are also locked out. Before the strike, Dennison worked as a laborer, operating a crane on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. graveyard shift in order to be home with her children at daybreak. An older child stayed with the little ones while she worked. Three of the five have been legally under her guardianship since a relative abandoned them five years ago.

When the Steelworkers at five plants went on strike, Dennison had all five children at home plus two toddler grandchildren. She sold everything from the children’s stereo to clothes to her china hutch to pay bills. When her 1981 Chevy caught fire, the union replaced it.

She relies heavily on the union food bank at Trentwood, which buys food from the Spokane Food Bank for 14 cents a pound and then distributes it to about 800 people a week.

Union food bank organizer Ted Waldo and Lynn Rouleau of the crisis committee are among those bracing for the weeks ahead.

“Everyone is concerned,” said Rouleau. “I’m not sure how people are going to make it.”

Rouleau has struggled to find work, as well. One wood mill company at the Industrial Park wanted him to sign a contract saying he would stay one year. That could mean losing his job at Kaiser, his employer of 21 years. Instead, he keeps looking and improvising. He cleans the dance studio where his daughter has trained for 10 years in exchange for her lessons. And his wife is looking for work.

Many have skills particular to Kaiser. Rouleau is a furnace operator in the remelt department at Trentwood, a hard and dirty job unique to aluminum production. Even clerical and technical jobs can seem specialized.

Debbie Combs has worked 11 years arranging the shipment of aluminum worldwide for Kaiser. Since the lock-out, the work of her one-woman department has been contracted out and is slated for elimination. After she applied more than 20 places without luck, the married mother of three signed up for a Spokane Community College class for road construction flaggers. But she keeps volunteering every day at the union and waiting for the dispute to end. Many employees, including members of the bargaining unit, will likely not have jobs in the end.

“I just want closure,” Combs said. “The worst part is not knowing.”

Union negotiators and Kaiser officials will meet in San Francisco next week to continue contract talks. But as of last Friday, both sides said they were a long way from an agreement.

Some of the members wouldn’t sign up for public assistance because there’s a stigma attached, Burke said. “But this is basically to keep us alive while we’re waiting for this to resolve.”

Sue Dennison has learned to accept help: from the union, East Valley School District and the Humane Society who have donated everything from Easter baskets to dog food.

But she broke a tooth 11 months ago and cannot go to the dentist. She has no health insurance and no idea how her son will start college. He wants to defer going a year, but she’s insistent.

“It’s not fair to the kids,” she said. “We’re family. We’ll make it.”