Steelworkers ratify pact ending Kaiser lockout
By Mary Owen
Locked out United Steelworkers union members at Kaiser
Aluminum have ratified a unique tentative agreement that will
get them back to work after nearly two years on the picket
lines. It contains a back-to-work agreement that will
displace scabs hired by Kaiser during the lockout. The pact
protects retirees' health insurance and improves safeguards
against contracting out.
It also preserves the workers' claim for potential back
pay retroactive to January 14, 1999--the date Kaiser locked
the workers out after they offered to end their four-month
strike. And Kaiser will immediately reinstate health
insurance for all locked-out workers and their families. The
pact was ratified by a 74 percent margin.
"This has been an epic struggle for our union and the
labor and environmental movements in the Americas," said
David Foster, who chairs the Steelworkers' Kaiser Negotiating
Committee.
"Without the incredible support of the labor movement in
the Northwest and through out the country and the
inspirational support of environmental organizations and
activists, this day would not have come."
The agreement does not settle all the issues, however. The
pact calls for the Steelworkers to continue negotiating
outstanding items with Kaiser throughout July-- including a
union wage demand for 48 cents more per hour than Kaiser
wants to pay.
The union and company will submit "last best offers" on
unresolved items to arbitrator Seymour Strongin during an
August 21-25 hearing. The arbitrator will then have 21 days
to render his binding decision, clearing the way for the
workers to return to their jobs after a heroic 22-month
struggle.
"The Kaiser Steelworkers will long be remembered for their
progressive and far-reaching alliance with environmentalists
around the country...to bring corporate accountability to
Kaiser's parent corporation, Maxxam, Inc.," Foster said, and
for their role in WTO protests that opened the eyes of the
world to the linkage between trade and social issues.
"Social struggles such as this one change many lives--not
only as a result of personal sacrifice--but most importantly
because the vision of social justice now burns brightly in
the heart of every Kaiser Steelworker," he added.
In their struggle for a contract, Kaiser Steelworkers
waged a multifaceted campaign against Kaiser and Maxxam. They
organized a boycott of Kaiser products prompting Pepsi,
Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch and other companies to stop
purchasing Kaiser metal. They successfully lobbied the
Bonneville Power Administration to adopt a Good Corporate
Citizenship Clause, requiring Kaiser and other companies to
adhere to labor, environmental and regulatory standards in
order to buy power at low rates.
And they joined with environmental groups to form the
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment, which made
headlines protesting Maxxam's Pacific Lumber logging
practices.
Kaiser also suffered a blow during the lockout when a
major explosion rocked its Gramercy, La., plant while
inexperienced scabs were operating it.
On June 30 the National Labor Relations Board formally
charged Kaiser with illegally locking out the 2,900
Steelworkers "to pressure and coerce" them into accepting the
company's illegal take-it-or-leave-it contract proposal. The
workers will seek full back pay retroactive to January 14,
1999. A hearing has been set for Nov. 13.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS
:: SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page