100 Days And Still On Strike As Time Grinds On, Kaiser, Union Appear No Closer To Settlement

Dan Russell, president of the United Steelworkers local at Mead, sees his members come to the union hall with hope in their eyes.

He hates to disappoint them.

But it has been 100 days since Kaiser Aluminum’s hourly workers set down their tools and walked out of Spokane’s two aluminum plants.

What do they have to show for it? And when will it end?

Kaiser and 3,000 striking Steelworkers nationwide continue their face-off over a labor contract, having made only preliminary steps toward full negotiations.

The two sides still appear miles apart on contract issues such as job security, retirement benefits, wages and control.

The union claims the Steelworkers sacrificed to keep their company going through tough times in the 1980s and now it’s their turn to benefit from Kaiser’s recent profitability. The strike began when the four-year labor contract expired Sept. 30.

The union first offered its contract proposal Dec. 1. Kaiser quickly rejected it, saying it would have been forced to employ more workers than it needs and that the contract uses language to tie the company’s hands on job elimination and the contract ing out of work.

About two weeks later, Kaiser offered a 1,000-page proposal. The union said it was worse than the offer that prompted the strike.

Although last year was Kaiser’s most profitable ever, it’s a small business struggling to compete with much larger players, such as Reynolds and Alcan, company leaders say. Kaiser needs to be more efficient and have more flexibility with its hourly workers. Since the strike began, the company has become more aware of where and how it can make changes.

Company officials say their efforts to weather the strike and the challenges faced during negotiations will be worth the effort.

“When people look back on this even 15 years from now, the conclusion will be that what we went through here was unfortunate in the near term but was good for the future,” said Ray Milchovich, Kaiser president and chief operating officer.

But now, 2,100 striking Kaiser workers from Spokane and North Idaho and their families are eking by with the jobs they can find and $100-a-week support checks from the union.

The company view

Kaiser says it’s surviving the strike as well as it expected with the help of 1,300 temporary workers and 500 salaried employees between the Mead and Trentwood plants.

“With the exception of three curtailed potlines (two at Mead, one at Tacoma) … the plants were all at 100 percent of pre-strike levels of output for the month of December in terms of production,” Milchovich said. Kaiser is paying replacement workers $13 to $18 an hour.

Initially, the replacements were housed in trailers at the plants, but the workers gradually moved elsewhere after Kaiser ended its lockdown.

According to the company, those jobs are considered temporary.

Milchovich said Kaiser hasn’t lost or gained any customers since the strike began. He said he hasn’t heard that any customers are dissatisfied.

As for rumors that Kaiser is trying to rid itself of the union, Milchovich said the company tried to extend the contract after its expiration date to give both sides time to bargain without a work stoppage.

“The company’s objective then and now continues to be to get a labor agreement,” he said. “I have sincere concern and compassion for the 3,000 families that are headed into the 100th day of the strike.”

The union view

“It’s important to understand at this point that we are going to lose some jobs,” said Russell, the Mead union president. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Russell worries about his own seniority. He has worked at Kaiser for 20 years, most recently as a crane operator. Under Kaiser’s latest proposal, which includes expanding job descriptions and opening up departments, he could be moved to a more physically taxing or less desirable job.

“It all boils down to what’s left and what happens to those that are left,” Russell said. “I don’t want to have the legacy of being the last president of Local 329 at Mead.”

His thoughts are shared by the workers in Spokane; Tacoma; Newark, Ohio; and Gramercy, La.

“We’re seeing some very frightened, scared people,” said Trentwood worker Dale Findlay, who works on the crisis committee.

Many outside Kaiser, including the replacement hires, have been asking why the idled workers don’t find other jobs.

Some have. But most longtimers will surely want to return to the company where they’ve spent their careers and that hurts their prospects for finding outside work. One picket on the Kaiser Trentwood line said he’s been denied two jobs because prospective employers were scared off by the Kaiser listing on his resume.

“Right now, the majority of them have over 20 years of service with this company,” said Mike McIntyre, vice president at the Trentwood union local. “They don’t want to have to go in and start all over. That would probably be the number one issue on why somebody would stick around.”

Other members are coping by taking part-time jobs, leaving town to work or retiring earlier than planned. And there are those who simply hope they’ll get their jobs back. Russell watches them come into the union hall every day looking for word that the company can’t operate without them, that the strike is near an end. “You can see it in their eyes,” he said. “They’re always looking for something positive.”

Community response

Meanwhile, the Steelworkers have appealed to the Spokane City Council and the county commission to help negotiations resume.

The union has placed pickets at Kaiser’s corporate offices in Pleasanton, Calif., and company headquarters in Houston, hoping to get the attention of the communities where Kaiser’s decision-makers live and work.

Milchovich has met with Spokane business and community leaders to talk about the status of the plants and to discuss the impact of the strike. He’s told them his objective is to get the work force back to the plants.

Businesses, particularly those near the plants, are feeling some impact from the strike.

Scott Maclay, of Maclay and Costello for Remax, has received a few phone calls from striking workers wanting to talk about selling their homes. He expects a few sales if the strike continues, and doesn’t think he’ll have problems finding buyers. “I think our economy is strong,” he said.

Earlier this week, in an unusual move, a group of regional religious leaders issued a joint plea for resolution.

Elected officials have also lent their voices to the call for a quick ending. Among them, Mayor John Talbott, Gov. Gary Locke, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Congressman George Nethercutt have contacted both sides, asking them to resume negotiations for the sake of the community.

And maybe, after 100 days, comes hope.

Chief negotiators and officials from Kaiser and the union have agreed to meet in Chicago for several days, beginning Monday. They will review Kaiser’s latest proposal and possibly consider a new contract offer from the union.

Graphic: Points of contention in Kaiser strike

This sidebar appeared with the story: Chronology of the 100-day Kaiser strike A chronology of events in the Kaiser strike, which enters its 100th day today. Aug. 9: Kaiser advertises for temporary workers, offering $1,400 to $2,000 per week. In the meantime, the company and union locals discuss individual bargaining agreements. Aug. 31: Kaiser wins a major contract to supply aluminum to Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Sept. 1: Negotiations for a new contract that covers five Kaiser plants, including Mead and Trentwood, start in Minneapolis. Sept. 5: Kaiser installs improved fencing and security cameras at its plants. The union advises members to take care of medical and dental needs before their labor contract expires. The union files complaints charging the company with unfair labor practices. Sept. 21: Trailers and portable toilets are moved to the plants. Steelworkers make picket signs. Sept. 24: A chlorine leak at Trentwood hospitalizes 11 workers. Sept. 30: The four-year contract expires at 4 p.m. Buses filled with temporary workers wait in the wings. Steelworkers gather at union halls to hear from negotiators. Kaiser makes an 11th-hour final offer which is unanimously rejected by the union’s local presidents. About 8 p.m., 3,000 Kaiser workers at five plants, including 2,100 in Spokane, go on strike. Temporary replacement workers and salaried employees operate the plants. Oct. 2: Union leaders and top Kaiser officials visit Spokane, but neither side meets to talk. The union holds a member meeting in the Ag Trade Center while Kaiser leaders tour the plants and meet with media. Oct. 3: Mead workers apply for unemployment benefits. Trentwood workers follow suit a week later. Nearly all are later denied. Oct. 6: Kaiser asks a federal mediator to intervene to help restart negotiations. Oct. 9: Top negotiators for both sides meet informally in Minneapolis to “open communications.” After several hours, the two sides adjourn without setting another date. Oct. 14: The union files additional unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board in San Francisco. Oct. 19: Kaiser douses speculation that its Trentwood mill is for sale. Oct. 21: AFL-CIO President John Sweeney visits picket lines and offers support. Kaiser negotiators meet in Chicago. Oct. 22: Kaiser is denied a temporary restraining order against strikers at the Mead plant. The company claims the strikers are throwing objects, including potatoes, at vehicles leaving the plant. Oct. 26: Kaiser negotiators meet in Minneapolis to discuss a return to negotiations. Pickets are located at the company’s office complex in Pleasanton, Calif. Oct. 30: Kaiser CEO George Haymaker says the company would be more profitable if it shed 600-900 hourly jobs, up 400 from its original proposal. Several replacement workers file complaints with the state Department of Labor and Industries for wages claimed due. Nov. 11: Steelworkers and California environmentalists express mutual dislike for Charles Hurwitz, whose company, Maxxam, owns 63 percent of Kaiser’s stock and Pacific Lumber Co., which harvests redwoods in Northern California. Nov. 30: The union offers Kaiser a contract proposal to guarantee improvements for the company and job security for the workers. Kaiser says it’s unacceptable. Nearly 150 Steelworkers board buses destined for the company’s corporate offices in Northern California. Dec. 1-2: - Traveling strikers visit the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Kaiser president Ray Milchovich’s gated residential community in California. The next day, they march outside the company’s corporate offices in Pleasanton. Dec. 3: The Steelworkers visit Scotia in Humboldt County, Calif., where Pacific Lumber is headquartered, to discourage lumber workers from coming to Spokane as replacement workers. Dec. 7: Steelworkers and members of the environmental group EarthFirst! attempt to block the arrival of a ship carrying aluminum ore to the Port of Tacoma. Dec. 9: Kaiser President Ray Milchovich meets with Spokane’s community and business leaders to assure them the company is well and he is interested in ending the strike. Dec. 17: Company and union representatives meet in San Francisco. Kaiser presents a comprehensive contract offer and production improvement plan. The union leaves the meeting after 45 minutes, claiming the company wants to change mutually agreed upon bargaining rules. The union later rejects the contract offer. Dec. 31: The Spokane Sheriff’s Department decides to continue its full-time presence on the picket lines in 1999. Jan. 4: Kaiser and union agree to meet in Chicago on Jan. 11.