Why We Were On Strike at Kaiser
Aluminum
A Message to our Communities from United Steelworkers
of America
Local Union 329, Spokane, Washington
Local Union 338, Spokane, Washington
Local Union 341, Newark, Ohio
Local Union 5702, Gramercy, Louisiana
Local Union 7945, Tacoma, Washington
"Labor relations are human relations, nothing more or less. When a man is treated
like a human being, when his ability, skill, and good will are properly recognized, when
his ambitions and anxieties are given due and just consideration, he is not only capable
of superb loyalty, but of performing veritable miracles in production."
HENRY J. KAISER
It's no secret that Henry J. Kaiser is dead. Because if he were still alive, we would not
be on strike at Kaiser Aluminum.
That's because labor relations at our company used to be governed by Mr. Kaiser's
philosophy. And as a result, a job at Kaiser Aluminum used to be something special.
In contrast to many of today's corporate executives, Mr. Kaiser insisted on treating us
like "human beings," not as disposable able tools in the production process. The
company's strategy for improving productivity was based on recognizing our "ability,
skill and good will." And when you got a job at Kaiser, it was a job for life.
That approach to labor relations paid off for us and it paid off for the company.
Our wages, benefits and working conditions were among the best in the industry. And the
company's reputation as a reliable supplier of quality products was assured—because
in the old days, even the thought of a strike at Kaiser Aluminum was inconceivable.
15 Years of Sacrifice In 1983 Kaiser Aluminum was in trouble. As in many other American
industries, a crisis in the aluminum industry was eroding the company's profitability, and
things were looking grim.
Company officials came to our union—the United Steelworkers of America—and asked
for a special deal. The union responded because in 1983, loyalty at Kaiser was a two-way
street. Kaiser Aluminum had stood by us, and we were prepared to stand by the
company—in bad times as well as in good. We released the company from its obligations
under the USWA's coordinated agreements with the "Big 3" aluminum
companies—Alcoa, Reynolds and Kaiser. But everyone understood that this was only a
temporary measure. Once Kaiser had regained its profitability our standards would be
restored. In the meantime, Kaiser received wage and benefit concessions worth hundreds of
millions of dollars. We also gave the company what amounted to a long-term, interest free
loan by accepting shares of the company's preferred stock instead of a portion of our
wages. The road back to profitability was complicated by two leveraged buyouts that
saddled us with a billion dollars in debt. The lifting of the Iron Curtain and relaxation
of trade with Russia and Eastern Europe introduced trade problems as well. But we
continued to work hard for the company, increasing productivity, improving profitability
and lowering costs. And when we opened negotiations for a new labor agreement in San
Francisco on September 1, Kaiser management told us that we had achieved "best
ever" performance last year in every one of our five plants—a performance that
earned Kaiser over $168 million in 1997.
The company is now in a better position than ever to keep its word—to pay us back for
our sacrifices and hard work. Unfortunately, today's Kaiser Aluminum is not the same
company we agreed to save back in 1983. Somewhere along the line, the company forgot about
the principles of its founder—and about the promises it made to us fifteen years ago.
Breaking the Law Before bargaining even started, Kaiser acted like a company that was more
interested in provoking a strike than in reaching an agreement. They delayed local
negotiations for an entire month. Then, when the company finally did come to the
bargaining table, Kaiser made it very clear that if there was going to be agreement, it
would be on the company's terms or no terms at all.
Similar things happened in negotiations for the Master Agreement that covers five of our
plants. The company started advertising for strikebreakers weeks before bargaining was
scheduled to begin. Then, in the critical weeks leading up to contract expiration,
Kaiser's bargaining team insisted on taking fourday weekends, rather than working around
the clock to reach an agreement.
Throughout this process, the company committed a series of unfair labor
practices—violations of federal law— that made bargaining and reaching an
agreement impossible:
•They told us they needed to take radical measures to improve productivity— and
then unlawfully refused to provide us with critical information we needed to bargain over
their demands. •They told us they respected our rights—then they made a contract
offer that would punish us if we exercised our legal right to strike. •They told us
we deserved to retire in dignity after a lifetime of service to the company—then
unlawfully proposed to take away pension service from employees in retaliation for going
on strike. •They told us they wanted to work together to solve problems—then
refused to bargain over important issues like safety welding and return to work protocols.
Slashing Jobs Kaiser wants to take a meat axe to employment levels at all five of
our plants. For starters, they want:
Elimination of at least 400 jobs. From day one of these negotiations, Kaiser has insisted
on permanently eliminating at least 400 of our 3,000 jobs. Spokane would lose 178 jobs at
Trentwood and 131 at Mead. Gramercy would lose 57 jobs, Tacoma's work force would be
slashed by 32 and Newark would lose 20 jobs.
The right to contract out hundreds more jobs. The company wants either a free hand to
contract out any and all work in our plants, or specific agreement meets to contract out
at least 150 jobs— everything from janitors and painters to diesel mechanics and
laborers.
The company can't even answer our questions about how these radical plans would work. But
they've threatened to withhold much needed investment from these plants unless we agree to
their proposals.
Kaiser has also proposed the wholesale gutting of our local agreements and
understandings—agreements that provide for everything from the equitable distribution
of overtime to shift and vacation scheduling to job assignments. In many cases, these
proposals were made without justification or explanation, and could leave our plants in
chaos if they were implemented.
A Second-Class Contract The company's claims regarding our compensation are wildly
misleading. The average hourly wage at Kaiser is about $14.65 an hour, or $30,474 a year
for 40 hours a week. If you count the 300 hours of overtime we put in on the average, that
brought our total average earnings to about $40,000 in 1997.
We don't know where the company got its figures. But we suspect that they tried to add in
the costs of their various tax obligations, health insurance, retiree benefits, and even
the cost of the stock redemption we took a pay cut for!
Kaiser's real wage proposal. Kaiser's wage proposal does not improve our standard of
living. That's because only 32 cents of the company's proposed $1.50 per hour wage
increase in the first year is "new money." The remaining $1.18 is money the
company would get by eliminating our existing profit-sharing, gainsharing and metal price
bonus plans. In other words, Kaiser is taking money we already earn repackaging it and
calling it a wage increase! The real raise in the company proposal only amounts to 2.3
percent per year, less than the 3 percent annual inflation rate economists are forecasting
for the next several years. And at some locations, eliminating our bonus plans would
actually result in a wage cut!
Inadequate pension increases. The company promised us that we could retire in dignity. But
under their proposal, retirees from Kaiser Aluminum would receive pensions up to $150 per
month less than those at Alcoa or Reynolds. And the other companies' pensions will be
renegotiated in 2001, almost three years before Kaiser's inadequate proposal would come up
for renegotiations.
Retiree health insurance cap. The company proposal will cap the amount pays for future
retiree health insurance a the 1999 level. Starting in the year 2000 any increases above
the cap will be paid by the pensioner—resulting in a pension benefit decrease, not an
increase.
A five-year contract. Kaiser's proposal would lock us into a substandard agreement for
five long years with no hope of improvement. And if these negotiations and the
controversies of the past few years are any indication, five years is just too long to
trust Kaiser without being able to renegotiate.
Jobs for our Communities We would all be better off if Kaiser returned to the
policies of its founder — to a strategy of creating stable well paid long-term jobs
for our communities. That has -been our number one concern in these negotiations.
Naturally we realize that keeping our plants profitable and productive is vitally
important if we want to keep jobs in our communities. But by itself that is not enough.
Because in today s corporate rate world the drive for profits at any cost will lead a
company like Kaiser to neglect investment in its domestic plants while trying to sink
hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign adventures like the company's attempt to buy
the Venezuelan aluminum industry.
So while we are committed to working with the company to address any demonstrated need for
productivity improvements we also need guarantees that the jobs we help save and create
remain in our plants and communities. Some of the guarantees we've talked to the company
about are:
Protection if Kaiser sells our plant Our hard work has made Kaiser productive and
profitable once again. If Kaiser decides to sell our plant and take its profits out of
state or out of the country we deserve the right to keep our jobs and our standard of
living here at home.
Protection against the corporation giving away our jobs to outsiders. If a job can be done
in our plant by our work force then it should be instead of allowing some out-of-state
executive to give our jobs away to outsiders.
Parity with Alcoa and Reynolds Last but not least we think it's only fair that Kaiser
honor its promise restore our wages benefits and pensions to the industry standard. We'd
also like our contract to expire at the same time as those at Alcoa and Reynolds to
minimize any potential disruptions that contract negotiations might cause.
We Need Your Support
We've all watched the stock market soar during the past two decades, making billions for
the corporate raiders, leveraged-buyout artists and savings-and-loan swindlers. We've also
seen the family-supporting jobs that used to sustain our middle class rapidly disappear as
corporate greed has plundered hundreds of communities like Spokane, Tacoma, Gramercy and
Newark.
But America doesn't have to be a playground for the super rich. If people of conscience
speak out in a loud and clear voice against these kinds of abuses, they can and will stop.
We've taken our stand, and we ask you to join us. But it won't be easy.
Kaiser has spent more than $8 million preparing for its strike hiring strikebreakers and
paramilitary "security guards," building fences, erecting trailers, and paying
lawyers and consultants. By all indications, they want this strike to last for a long
time.
One thing that can help end the strike is if Kaiser and its parent corporation, MAXXAM,
Inc., know that our communities support our fight for fairness.
You can help by:
•Posting a support sign in your yard, or in the window of your business or home.
•Writing a letter to the editor expressing your views. •Calling in to radio talk
shows to let listeners know how you feel. •Signing our support petition that will be
sent directly to Kaiser's corporate headquarters in Pleasanton, California, and Houston,
Texas. •Writing your elected officials and asking them to take a stand against
Kaiser's strikebreaking.
Together we can make a difference.