Aluminum workers, BPA clash over jobs
A proposal to idle smelters for two years draws hundreds of people to a rally outside the agency's Portland offices
Saturday, May 5, 2001
By Gail Kinsey Hill of The Oregonian staff
Hundreds of aluminum workers from throughout the Northwest rallied outside Bonneville Power Administration headquarters Friday in a stepped-up effort to block electricity rate increases and protect their jobs.
Piling out of buses and cars, they crowded into the courtyard of the federal agency's Portland offices near Lloyd Center, chanting slogans and demanding withdrawal of a BPA plan to close the region's 10 smelters for the next two years.
"There's no way we can stay down for two years," said Mike Keith, a worker at Northwest Aluminum in The Dalles and president of United Steelworkers of America, Local 9170.
BPA, which markets almost half of the Northwest's electricity, contracts directly with the energy-intensive aluminum industry. In the past, electric rates have been low, reflecting the costs of power generated at 29 federal dams in the Columbia-Snake River Basin and one nuclear plant.
But BPA also buys on the wholesale electricity market to meet growing demand, and huge price jumps have forced the agency to consider triple-digit rate increases. The increases would take effect Oct. 1, the beginning of a new five-year contract period.
To buffer the size of the increase, BPA has asked aluminum smelters to close for as long as two years. The closures would reduce the agency's need to buy on the wholesale market.
BPA, the steelworkers union and aluminum company officials are negotiating the terms of the contracts. A final plan, subject to federal approval, is expected by the end of June.
Steelworkers argue that a prolonged shutdown would allow foreign competition to grab market share now held by Northwest operations.
"They're asking the impossible," said Mark Mellem, a worker at Columbia Falls Aluminum in Columbia Falls, Mont.
Already most of the region's smelters have curtailed operations or shut down. Industry officials have said they intend to restart in October, if rates are reasonable.
As the rally progressed and marchers waved placards up toward BPA's fifth-floor executive offices, Acting Administrator Steven Wright came outside to address the crowd. In starched white shirt and red tie, he stood out against the more casually dressed steelworkers, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "Wright is Wrong."
Wright admitted that the agency is asking for "a huge sacrifice from you." But "it is not my goal or the goal of this agency to put the industry out of business." Instead, he said, "We're trying to put something in place that protects you."
BPA is willing to pay aluminum workers full wages and benefits during a shutdown, Wright said.
Some workers applauded Wright for facing his detractors. Others remained angry.
"We want our jobs; we don't want charity," said Tim DeShazo, a crane operator at Alcoa Aluminum in Wenatchee, Wash.
Until a few weeks ago, union leaders had been pushing for a two-tiered rate structure under which smelters would receive about 70 percent of their BPA power for a low price and the remainder at market rates. The plan would have allowed smelters to operate, at least on a limited basis, they maintained.
Now, union leaders say they may be willing to wait six months into the contract period before receiving the low-cost power. The delay would be linked to conditions including wage and benefit guarantees.
"Additional curtailments of our plants after October may be inevitable," said David Foster, a union leader from Minneapolis.
News of the concession sent rumbles through the crowd.
"It sounds like he just sold us out," said Stan Welch, a worker for Alcoa Intalco in Ferndale, Wash.