Kaiser Talks Break A Day Early

Negotiators for Kaiser Aluminum and the Uni- ted Steelworkers ended bargaining Thursday, a day earlier than planned.

But both sides described the talks in Washington, D.C., this week as “constructive,” a word rarely heard in the 15-month labor dispute.

These sessions differed from other talks since the labor dispute started Sept. 30, 1998. For the first time, Kaiser President and CEO Ray Milchovich was directly involved.

Some Steelworkers took his presence as a good sign, even though today is the one-year anniversary of Kaiser’s lockout of 2,900 Steelworkers at five plants. At this time last year, the company rejected the union’s offer to return to work under terms of the expired contract until a new one could be negotiated.

That left 2,100 Steelworkers at two plants in Spokane out of work while Kaiser continued to operate plants with salaried and temporary workers.

Despite the early end to this week’s sessions, the two sides agreed to meet again on Jan. 24 in Houston.

“Those talks will include the same negotiating team that participated in this week’s meetings,” said Kaiser spokeswoman Susan Ashe.

Milchovich, attorney Jeremy Sherman and the company’s top negotiating team met Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with the union’s national negotiators, Bernard Kleiman and Ron Bloom, and with David Foster, the Kaiser Steelworkers’ chief negotiator.

Presidents from the union locals at the five plants involved in the talks took turns attending the meetings.

“There remains a wide gap between the parties.” Ashe said. “Clearly, these discussions were how to narrow that gap.”

Speaking on behalf of the Steelworkers’ team, Larry Strom of Spokane said from Washington, D.C.: “We’re encouraged by Ray Milchovich’s commitment to be there.”