STEELWORKERS AND AIRLINE TRAVELERS
SAY NO TO BOEING AND KAISER

SEATTLE - David Foster, District 11 Director for the United Steelworkers of America, will personally deliver more than 15,000 postcards to Boeing headquarters on Wednesday, April 26, 2000 at a 1:00 p.m. rally at Boeing Headquarters in South Seattle (7755 E. Marginal Way). 

These postcards were collected from union members and airline travelers telling Boeing to stop using Kaiser metal in their planes until a fair contract is reached with the 2,900 locked-out Kaiser Steelworkers. David Foster will be joined at the rally by several hundred locked-out Steelworkers and supporters, including United Airlines pilots. The pilot's union recently approved a resolution supporting the Steelworkers and their campaign against Boeing.

"The response from our campaign has been overwhelming. We now know that the public is very interested and wants Boeing to stop using Kaiser metal until the lockout ends and a fair contract is negotiated," said Foster.

The cards were collected and sent from people throughout the country concerned about Boeing's continued use of metal manufactured by inexperienced "replacement" workers at Kaiser Aluminum. They are also protesting Boeing's support of Kaiser's unnecessary lockout that continues to hurt thousands of Steelworker families in Washington, Ohio and Louisiana. The Union has charged that the 15-month lockout is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act, and a decision whether to pursue those charges is expected soon from the office of the NLRB General Counsel.

The Steelworkers started their Right-To-Know Campaign about Boeing last August. They want the public to know that Boeing continues to use Kaiser metal even though a far less experienced work force now manufactures it. The Steelworkers believe the flying public should know which planes are built with the Kaiser metal.

Steelworkers teams have been visiting Kaiser customers informing them about Kaiser's lockout and asking them to support Kaiser Steelworkers until the lockout ends and a fair contracted is negotiated. In October 1999, the Pepsi Bottling Group announced it would stop buying can sheet from Kaiser as a result of a campaign organized by the Steelworkers. Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola Enterprises and other purchasers of Kaiser metal have taken similar stands. 

The Kaiser lockout has even gotten the attention of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which recently made an initial recommendation to include a Good Corporate Citizenship Clause (GCCC) in its 2001 - 2006 contracts for Direct Service Industries that purchase BPA power. The GCCC would require the Direct Service Industries (primarily aluminum smelters) to demonstrate a law-abiding record in their conduct of labor, environmental, safety and health, and other commercial affairs in order to receive cost-based electric power from the BPA.

If such a policy is adopted and Kaiser fails to comply with the GCCC, Kaiser's electric power rates could increase 50% above current levels, leaving Kaiser's smelters in the Northwest with some of the highest power costs in the world.

"Given the widespread public support for a Good Corporate Citizenship Clause, it's hard to imagine that the company would not want to have its loyal, skilled workforce in its plants," said Foster. "Instead of working with its union and loyal employees, Kaiser has illegally locked out and replaced its dedicated work force. It's time for Kaiser to stop its confrontational tactics and finally bring back its veteran work force."

More than 2,900 Steelworkers were locked-out of their jobs at five Kaiser Aluminum plants in Washington, Louisiana, and Ohio in January 1999 after Kaiser rejected their unconditional offer to return to work.

When the labor dispute began as a strike in October 1998, Steelworkers with decades of experience in plant operations, procedures and safety were replaced by quickly trained temporary workers.

An explosion at a Kaiser facility in Gramercy, Louisiana, on July 5, 1999 destroyed a major portion of the plant and caused numerous injuries. An investigation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) resulted in 23 serious violations of mandatory safety standards and other regulations. MSHA said that these violations constituted "more than ordinary negligence." MSHA has begun a criminal investigation into the explosion and has levied $533,000 in fines against Kaiser.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FOR MORE INFORMATION:
April 24, 2000 Jon Youngdahl, (253) 351-0511