Kaiser, steelworkers settle dispute |
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| By CHRIS GAUTREAU Advocate business writer Kaiser Aluminum and the United Steelworkers of America settled their 2-year-old dispute Monday, agreeing to a new five-year contract that calls for modest wage increases and a smaller work force at its five U.S. plants. Meanwhile, Kaiser said it had delayed to the fourth quarter the projected startup of its Gramercy plant, which is one of the plants where more than 300 workers went on strike. The plant was damaged in a July 1999 explosion, which federal regulators attributed to excessive pressure in several large tanks. The new contract announced Monday came after both labor and management leaders agreed to enter binding arbitration. "I am grateful this dispute is over, as I'm sure everyone is," said Kaiser President and Chief Executive Officer Raymond J. Milchovich. "The gains from the new contract that resulted from negotiation and the arbitrator's decisions will ensure that these operations will remain competitive for years to come." Union leaders vowed, however, to continue pursuing their claim that Kaiser owes millions in back pay for an illegal lockout of workers. "While we still have a significant legal proceeding before us with a $337 million potential back-pay liability, we hope that our members can quickly restore Kaiser to its former state of profitability," said David Foster, lead negotiator for United Steelworkers of America. "We are, of course, hopeful that discussions with Kaiser could lead to an out-of-court settlement of the back-pay claim," he said. Kaiser officials did not immediately respond to the back-pay issue. The labor dispute began Sept. 30, 1998, with a strike by nearly 3,000 over Kaiser's contract offer, which included a demand to reduce its work force by 400. In addition to the Gramercy plant, the strike affected plants in Washington and Ohio. Kaiser hired replacement workers and locked out the Steelworkers in January 1999. The union claims the lockout was illegal. A hearing on that issue is scheduled for Nov. 13 in Oakland, Calif. The new contract includes wage increases of $3.42 an hour, including across-the-board raises of $1.44. The contract extends retiree health insurance to 12 years and eliminates a company cap on contributions for retiree health care. It grants improved protections against subcontracting of work and includes $12 million in severance and other benefits for workers affected by the agreed-upon job cuts. Kaiser also said Monday that it had delayed the first of a two-part process to restart its Gramercy refinery. An explosion at the plant in July 1999 injured 24 workers. The company had said the first phase of the restart would take place in the third quarter, but now says it won't take place until the middle of the fourth quarter. Milchovich, the Kaiser CEO, said the delay would not affect the second phase and that the plant was expected to be operating at full capacity by the first quarter of 2001. "Our employees and contractors have done an extraordinary job on what has been a very fast-track project to get Gramercy back online," he said. "We are confident of hitting our target and returning this key asset to operation." |
Kaiser
strike timeline
Sept. 1, 1998 -- Negotiations between
Kaiser and the Steelworkers begin in San Francisco over the length of a new contract and
issues such as wages, job security, mandatory overtime, health and safety and outside
contracting. The company asks for 400 job cuts. |
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