Kaiser Lockout Triggers Benefits For Workers Steelworkers Leader Says Union’S Resolve Is Strengthening

The lockout imposed Thursday by Kaiser Aluminum qualifies members of the United Steelworkers of America for unemployment benefits, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Employment Security said Friday.

Although there may be a few exceptions, said John Welsh, almost all of the company’s 2,400 workers in Spokane and Tacoma are eligible for benefits, which union officials said could exceed $400 a week for workers at top scale.

Union officials said Employment Security representatives will be at the Local 338 hall at Trentwood next Wednesday and Thursday to help process paperwork.

“This is a large-scale event for them,” said Larry Strom, vice president of Steelworkers Local 329, which represents workers at the Mead smelter.

Strom said the lockout, which came in response to a union offer to return to work while negotiators bargain a new contract, will strengthen members’ resolve.

“I’m still baffled by Kaiser’s making a move that would result in this,” he said.

Strom said he was “walking around on eggshells” because the possibility of receiving benefits after 15 weeks on strike seemed too good to be true.

Kevin Dupus, grievance committee chairman at Local 338, said members will qualify for weekly checks that start in the “high $300s” and top out at $410.

Members also will continue to collect union strike benefits of $125 per week, minus $10 for a hardship fund. That payment will climb to $150 in another week, he added.

Jim Castroni, who was walking the picket line outside Trentwood Friday afternoon, said the state checks would allow him to take his girlfriend out to dinner or to a movie, extras he had eliminated from his budget when the Steelworkers went on strike Sept. 30.

Chris Cafaro said workers less prepared than Castroni will welcome any new income.

“There’s a lot of people really suffering,” he said.

Union and Kaiser officials alike said they were surprised at the turn of events Thursday, which followed three days of bargaining in Chicago.

Kaiser Chairman George Haymaker said the company considered the tone of the talks pleasant, but the discussions indicated the two sides were still far apart on terms.

The company wants to cut about 700 union positions from its five plants, with the bulk of those coming at either Mead or Trentwood.

Some of those jobs, Haymaker added, would be contracted out.

President Ray Milchovich said Kaiser negotiators have been very specific about areas to be cut.

The changes in plant operations, he said, would be sweeping.

Haymaker said performance during the walkout has brought the plants closer to industry benchmarks. But he acknowledged that the company’s fourth-quarter financial statement will reflect the substantial costs of maintaining operations.

“We paid a heavy price,” he said.

Kaiser plants are operating now at only 58 percent of capacity, by far the lowest in the aluminum industry, Haymaker said.

Possible restarts of potlines at Mead, Tacoma, and in Ghana would boost capacity to about 80 percent, he said.

Haymaker said the lockout was imposed to increase pressure on the Steelworkers to reach a settlement. Lockouts have expedited agreements in other disputes, he said, most recently the one between the National Basketball Association and its players.

Kaiser officials were also concerned that, once back in the plant, union workers would slow production, Haymaker added.

They could also choose to walk out again after Kaiser had sent away the 1,300 temporary workers that have helped salaried staff keep the plants going, he said.

Dupus said the union has never deliberately slowed production.

The offer to return to work, he said, was a response to calls from the community to end the 107-day dispute.

Haymaker said Kaiser does not want to bust the union. The company, he said, began contract talks early with the hope of reaching a settlement, made major concessions on the eve of the strike, and is committed to bringing back the Steelworkers when a pact is signed.

Strom said negotiators have tentatively agreed to get together in a week or so, but no location for the talks has been set.

He said he does not expect resolution until negotiators commit themselves to conclusive talks instead of encounters scheduled to last only a few days.