Steelworkers
“Turn Up the Heat” on Kaiser Aluminum for Failure
to Comply With BPA Power Contract
Minneapolis
-- The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) announced today the
kick-off of a new grassroots campaign targeting Kaiser Aluminum’s failure
to live up to its contractual obligations in the resale of cost-based power
purchased from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).
David Foster, USWA District
11 Director, stated, “Unlike the other aluminum companies in the Pacific
Northwest, Kaiser Aluminum has chosen to pocket the entire windfall it
receives from reselling BPA power. Rather than using part of its enormous
profit to continue paying full wages and benefits to all laid-off workers at
its aluminum smelters, to benefit area ratepayers, and to reinvest in its
Pacific Northwest plants, once again Kaiser Aluminum is operating in
isolation and demonstrating bad corporate citizenship.”
The Steelworkers will begin
to circulate today tens of thousands of postcards in the Pacific Northwest
calling upon US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham to hold Kaiser Aluminum
accountable to its BPA power contract.
“Today we will begin to
distribute to local unions, community groups, churches and synagogues, and
public officials a postcard that asks people to write and call Secretary
Abraham and urge him to make Kaiser live up to its contract,” said Dan
Russell, President of USWA Local 329. “Folks who are familiar with our
two-year struggle against Kaiser’s illegal lockout understand that we have
a sea of supporters throughout the region who will mobilize on our behalf.
Kaiser should not underestimate the power of the public when it comes to
holding corporations accountable for their actions.”
BPA officials have publicly
acknowledged that Kaiser has an obligation to keep much of the profits of
BPA power sales in the community—by continuing to pay full wages and
benefits for the workers laid-off as a result of the company's decision to
sell its BPA power allocation and by investing the windfall to improve its
plants.
The terms of the
Remarketing Addendum of Kaiser's 1996-2001 BPA contract require Kaiser
Aluminum to use remarketing proceeds for only the following purposes (quoted
verbatim):
“(1)
To purchase power in the October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2006,
period to help maintain smelter operations at Kaiser's Pacific Northwest
plant(s);
(2)
To mitigate the impact on employees affected by reduced smelter
operating levels;
(3)
To offset cancellation penalties and other costs of reducing
obligations for alumina and other materials; and
(4)
To cover fixed operating costs the company demonstrates cannot be
reduced as operating levels are reduced.”
“Kaiser
hereby agrees that if it uses revenue from remarketing for any other purpose
other than those listed above, BPA may reduce the amount of power specified
in section 4 of this Agreement. The amount of such reduction shall be
commensurate in value with the amount of revenues used for purposes other
than those listed above.”
In a February 6, 2001,
letter to the Pacific Northwest Congressional Delegation (attached), Foster
wrote:
Most
aluminum companies have attempted to react in a responsible fashion to the
power needs of the region, ratepayers, their employees and their own
long-term business needs.
Such
companies include Golden Northwest Aluminum, ALCOA, Reynolds, Michigan
Avenue Partners, and Columbia Falls Aluminum Company. Each of these
companies has reached an agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration
and its employee representative, the United Steelworkers of America, to: 1)
share the economic benefits of remarketing federal BPA-produced power with
ratepayers, 2) keep laid-off employees’ whole, and 3) reinvest their share
of power proceeds in building new generating sources or purchasing future
power.
In contrast, Kaiser
Aluminum has made no provision to share its windfall profit with ratepayers,
announced no plans to reinvest in new generating capacity, and largely
abandoned its work force.
Although it will bank huge
gains from its power sales, Kaiser refuses to pay workers laid-off as a
result of the power sales their full wages and benefits. Under agreements
bargained years ago between Kaiser and the USWA, some senior laid-off
employees at Kaiser’s Mead and Tacoma, Washington smelters will receive
Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB) but in no case more than 28
hours’ worth per week,
well short of full pay. Kaiser insists that almost 300 laid-off
Steelworkers receive no additional protection from Kaiser’s
record-breaking profits.
In
addition to its legal commitment to the workers, the Steelworkers are also
calling on Kaiser Aluminum to invest in future power generation and to give
something back to the ratepayers. Jim
Woodward, USWA Sub-District Director in Auburn, WA, declared, “Because BPA
is a publicly owned asset, Kaiser needs to follow the lead of the other
aluminum companies and commit to investing in a new power generating
capacity that is environmentally sound. Otherwise, we will continue to face
in the future the same kind of power catastrophes that have devastated our
region during the last year.”