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> October 1, 1998
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> Kaiser Plant Steelworkers Strike
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> A.P. INDEXES: TOP STORIES | NEWS | SPORTS | BUSINESS |
>TECHNOLOGY | ENTERTAINMENT
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> Filed at 12:59 a.m. EDT
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> By The Associated Press
>
> SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Some 3,000 United Steelworkers members
>in three states went on
> strike Wednesday night after talks with Kaiser Aluminum Corp.
>failed to produce a new contract.
>
> The old contract expired at 7 p.m. EDT, but the two sides
>extended the deadline as union leaders
> considered a new proposal during talks in Minneapolis.
>
> But those leaders decided the proposal was unacceptable, and
>workers began leaving their posts at
> Kaiser plants at about 11:30 p.m. EDT, said Larry Strom,
>acting president of USW Local 329 in
> Spokane.
>
> No new talks were scheduled.
>
> ``I'm hoping sometime these negotiators will get together
>again, but apparently the situation was not
> resolvable at this time,'' Strom said.
>
> Kaiser spokeswoman Susan Ashe confirmed from Spokane that a
>strike was under way. She
> refused to comment further, saying the company would make a
>statement later.
>
> The proposal the company offered Wednesday was contingent on
>the union not going on strike and
> the union negotiating committee recommending ratification,
>Ashe said.
>
> The enhanced offer will now be withdrawn, she said,
>
> Union spokesman John Duray said from Minneapolis that Kaiser's
>latest offer did not eliminate a
> plan to lay off about 400 people at its Spokane plants.
>
> ``They want to eliminate 400 jobs and call it job
>protection,'' Duray said.
>
> The major addition in the new proposal was that the company
>was offering to redeem all shares of
> Series A stock that workers were issued several years ago in
>lieu of pay raises and improved
> benefits during one of Kaiser's economic downturns.
>
> The stock was a sort of interest-free loan from the workers to
>the company, Strom said.
>
> Company president Ray Milchovich and United Steelworkers of
>America president George Becker
> met in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, but failed to reach an
>agreement.
>
> Customers ranging from The Boeing Co. to soft-drink can makers
>were closely following the talks.
>
> The contract covers more than 3,000 union members in five
>plants, including three in Washington
> state. The two biggest plants, the Mead smelter and Trentwood
>rolling mill, employ about 2,005
> union and 465 salaried workers in the Spokane area. Other
>mills are in Tacoma; Gramercy, La.; and
> Newark, Ohio.
>
> Union officials say the workers were asking for parity in
>wages and pensions with employees of
> similar-sized aluminum companies, such as Alcoa and Reynolds.
>
> The union contends Kaiser's wages and benefits are below
>industry averages because workers made
> pay and pension givebacks to help the company weather
>financial rough spots in the 1980s.
>
> Kaiser, the nation's fifth-largest aluminum manufacturer, is
>63 percent owned by Houston-based
> Maxxam Inc., which is controlled by Texas financier Charles
>Hurwitz.
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David M. Walsh
P.O. Box 903
Redway, CA 95560
Office and Fax(707) 923-3015
Home (707) 986-1644


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