Union Says Kaiser Offer Moves Bargaining Backward

Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. and the United Steelworkers broke negotiations Thursday once again without reaching agreement.

The company presented a revised proposal during the two-day session in Chicago, but the union said the offer was simply a reworked version of a previous offer. Steelworker chief negotiator David Foster called it a step backward.

“Kaiser reneged on a number of issues that we thought had been settled in our earlier discussions over the last two months,” Foster said, adding the two sides were still far apart on issues of contracting out jobs and retiree health insurance benefits.

The company, however, said the offer is improved.

“We think our proposal is a step forward,” said Jeremy Sherman, lead negotiator for Kaiser. “It’s unfortunate that they are locked in a pattern of making negative comments about what we’re trying to accomplish here.”

The labor dispute, which began Sept. 30, 1998, has idled 2,900 Steelworkers at five Kaiser plants, including 2,100 in Spokane. Kaiser said previously it wants to eliminate 700 to 900 jobs at the five plants.

The company said under its new contract offer the hourly employees working Sept. 30, 1998, at Tacoma, Mead, Newark, Ohio, and Gramercy, La., would be permitted to return to work when a new labor contract is ratified.

Kaiser said Thursday it expects it would reach its targeted employment rates at those plants because so many workers have left Kaiser for other jobs.

The revised proposal also covers the Trentwood plant, where Kaiser doesn’t expect attrition to be high enough to meet the company’s targeted work force levels.

Instead, the company has offered voluntary early retirement incentives and enhanced layoff and severance benefits for those whose jobs would be eliminated.

“They say it’s a better deal, but it’s really nothing new,” said Jon Youngdahl, Steelworkers’ spokesman.

The union will review the proposal with its local committees before preparing a response. The two sides have agreed to meet again on April 18-19 in New York City.