Kaiser, Union Set Bargaining Session
Extending their self-imposed deadline in one more effort to reach agreement on a new contract, Kaiser Aluminum and the United Steelworkers have scheduled another day of negotiations next week.
Local and national negotiators will meet in Houston on Aug. 10 to attempt to reach a final contract. If they fail, the remaining issues go - as scheduled - to an arbitration panel on Aug. 21. The schedule provides for an arbitration ruling early in September and return to work later that month.
The parties previously had set Aug. 2 as the bargaining deadline. Progress in the talks in Las Vegas apparently prompted scheduling the extra session.
Neither side would share details Thursday about the progress of the talks, which affect 2,100 Spokane Steelworkers at two Kaiser plants and another 800 at three other plants.