Letters To The Editor

Sat., Feb. 20, 1999

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Real culprit is being recognized

The Kaiser strike is now more than 130 days old. The Steelworkers and the majority of the managers have figured it out - we are not each other’s enemy. All one has to do is research our owner, Charles Hurwitz, corporate raider.

I thank all the managers who have given money, food and support to the picketers. Your names will remain anonymous for obvious reasons.

How do our leaders from both sides stop this contrived civil war? This sham has drug on too long. Not only have the Steelworkers and management families suffered, so has the entire city. All our families have invested in the future of Spokane. The scabs and upper management who were brought in to dismantle this once vital business for an out-of-state corporate raider have no ties or future in Spokane.

Great leaders do great things. They look beyond personal and monetary gain. They do it for the benefit of mankind. They are not trained to do it but are born to do it. It will be interesting to see which leader distinguishes himself or herself from the rest. Which one of our leaders will stand up to tyranny and live their destiny - or forever be tormented by the fact that they could have. Nick Abariotes Spokane

We’re here and ready, Kaiser

Since the Steelworker strike-lockout began on Sept. 30, Kaiser has insisted that all it wants to do is bargain a fair contract. Where have you gone, Kaiser? On Jan. 13, the Steelworkers made an offer to unconditionally return to work and it was immediately rejected.

At that time, company spokeswoman Susan Ashe said, “The bottom line is, we want an agreement and the best way to get an agreement is by taking this action.”

The union has called, Ashe, yet your inaction shows that maybe you don’t want an agreement. The union said in a Jan. 23 article that it was at the company’s beck and call regarding new talks. In the same story, Kaiser President Ray Milchovich said he wants to negotiate a new contract. Where are you, Milchovich?

Even though Kaiser cannot find time to talk to the union in fair negotiations, it did find time Feb 11 to ask the Washington State Energy Commission for relief of power costs to help it during this time.

Already, Spokane County commissioners and the sheriff’s department have spent enough tax dollars on a company that hires out-of-state workers. How many local dollars have to go to California, Texas, Idaho, Alaska, Utah and Oregon? How long do Spokane County residents have to support a company’s greed?

Remember, if Kaiser takes Steelworker jobs away, it will replace them with a low-pay, temporary, transient work force, not good, decent jobs for neighbors and friends. Michael J. Hart Post Falls

Now, strikers face armed opponents

A few days ago, a trucker pointed a gun at a union worker. I now fear for my safety on the picket line.

If I were to take a weapon or camera into the plant, I would be fired. Of course, Kaiser cannot control all of the people coming into the plant, but it should be held accountable for their actions.

Prior to the strike, many employees brought in their own motor homes and campers. I’m sure some of those vehicles held weapons - stored for hunting and personal protection. I feel they are still in those vehicles, and I would fear them. As a picketer, if I showed up on the line with a rifle or pistol, loaded or not, I would be arrested for sure.

Every day dozens of cross-country truckers enter and leave the plant. I’m sure many of them are armed. I suggest that since Kaiser needed the police so badly for protection, these fine stalwarts of the law now have probable cause to stop and search every person and vehicle entering or leaving the east and north gates. If they find a weapon, they may hold it until the driver clears the picket area and then get it back. They don’t even need to arrest anyone, unless of course the person in question doesn’t have the proper permit for the proper state. I wonder if any scab from Kentucky, North Carolina or Kansas had the permits updated?

We can’t blow our horns, but they can be armed? C. Dave Lamphier, 32 years at Kaiser Aluminum Trentwood Coeur d’Alene

Kaiser just another Spokane skinflint

Kaiser strikers are not just standing up for themselves but for all of us. It’s high time the entire local work force stepped up and demanded more from employers, who pay the least and expect the most.

In the past, Kaiser was one of the few companies to reward it’s people for a job well done. We all deserve that respect.

Now,Kaiser has decided to lower the bar on salary, working conditions, benefits and security. This oncerespected firm will certainly be an inspiration to the goodold-boy business network in Spokane, which has gotten away with cheapskating employees for decades.

Nobody should have to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Where does this fit with Spokane’s bragging rights to quality of life? It’s pretty tough to find the time and money to enjoy this wonderful region if you’re working day and night for minimal wages.

I don’t imagine Susan Ashe and the upper management people have these problems or are capable of empathizing with them. Kaiser ownership and management should be ashamed of themselves. I’m sure their mothers are. Leroy F. Knousel Spokane

Union members’ ire right on target

Re: Frances Crabtree’s Feb. 12 letter, “Union members mad at wrong people,” which was based mostly on misinformation and conjecture.

Many have the mistaken impression that all Kaiser workers make a huge income. I have worked with grocery checkers who make a bigger hourly income than most grass-roots Kaiser Steelworkers.

Second, Kaiser Steelworkers are not on strike but rather are currently being locked out and refused the right to work by Kaiser officials.

Finally, due to the lies published by Kaiser officials, many believe this dispute is primarily over the effort of Kaiser Steelworkers to get more money, or as Mr. Milchovich so eloquently lied, “To be the highest-paid Steelworkers in the industry.”

The truth is that they are fighting to prevent the very thing Crabtree addressed - to keep Kaiser from giving their jobs away to outside contractors, which would be the first step toward “closing the factory and moving it overseas.” They are fighting to keep jobs here, for them and, believe it or not, for people like you.

So go ahead and bite the hand that may someday save a job for you or someone you love. Those Steelworkers will fight for you anyway. I know because I am married to a man who has been one of them for 35 years. So was his father before him. Sharon E. Coleman Otis Orchards

Notice who’s getting worst of this

Unions are always looking for sympathy for their striking workers, but the people running the union are still making full pay. Their members are barely getting by and losing everything they worked years for.

On the other hand, the replacement workers have gotten a raw deal themselves. They were hired at one pay rate by Kaiser in a binding contract and then, without notification, had their pay cut $3 an hour.

Not all workers hired were unskilled. The skilled workers are the only ones affected by the pay cut. The unskilled workers received a $1.75 an hour raise so everyone is paid the same. Kaiser brags about how well it’s doing since the strike started. The company cut hours down to 36 with the promise of overtime. (What overtime?)

There is always two sides. Kaiser is only looking out for Kaiser, not the union or the replacement workers who have kept it in business.

Kaiser, stop and smell the roses. You complained about the financial cost of the strike. Well, if you keep on the way you’re going, your replacement work force may decide to walk also. If it does, where will you be? Mary C. Cook Spokane

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