BY CHRIS RAYSON AND SCOTT BREEN
SPOKANE, Washington - Hundreds of Steelworkers and
supporters marched down Hawthorne Road to the main gate of
Kaiser Aluminum's Mead plant near here July 17. The 600
enthusiastic marchers kept up a steady chorus of "No justice,
No peace," "What do we want? - Contract Now," "One day
longer," and several other chants -some with harsh words
directed at Kaiser and its scab workforce.
Many workers were angered by a ruling of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the day before the march. The NLRB dismissed all but one of the unfair labor practice charges against Kaiser filed by the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). James Scott, regional director of the NLRB's Oakland office, declared Kaiser's January 14 lockout of 3,100 union members legal.
The ruling "didn't faze me," Joe Ernest, a locked-out Steelworker, told the Militant. "It comes down to holding our ground on the picket lines. Our power is in our numbers."
Some workers took the ruling harder. Jon Gilliam, who has worked for Kaiser for 11 years, since he was 19 years old, said, "It knocked the wind out of me."
At a July 15 meeting near Spokane, 1,500 workers and family members showed up on 24 hours notice to discuss the impending ruling and its impact with David Foster, chairman of the USWA negotiating committee, and Paul Whitehead, assistant general counsel for the USWA near Spokane. The USWA has appealed the ruling.
Gilliam and Ernest were part of a busload of Steelworkers who made the five-hour trip to the march from Kaiser's Tacoma, Washington, plant. There was also a bus of Steelworkers from Reynolds Aluminum in Troutdale, Oregon, who brought a donation of $2,500.
Washington State police and Spokane County sheriff's deputies had a large and visible presence during the march, blocking off the ends of the mile-long route.
Scabs, who work a 12-hour shift, were forced to remain in the plant past their shift change, evoking the taunting chant of "Overtime! Overtime! Overtime!" from the marchers. Other scab workers were held up from entering for their evening work assignments. Kaiser is trying to keep the plants going with supervisors, office personnel, and workers hired off the street. According to union officials, very few union workers crossed the picket lines.
When the march arrived at the Mead plant, the front gate was wide open and Kaiser's security guards were videotaping the marchers. USWA marshals stood across the gate entrance with their backs to the security guards to prevent the marchers from being provoked by the company. Across the road from the gate, several sheriff's deputies stood by in watchful silence.
Kaiser Aluminum has locked out USWA members at five facilities in Newark, Ohio; Gramercy, Louisiana; and Tacoma, Mead, and Trentwood, Washington. The workers had gone on strike at the end of September 1998 when their contract expired and Kaiser demanded job cuts, the gutting of seniority rights, and paltry retirement benefits. When the USWA offered to return to work January 14 under the terms of the old contract, Kaiser refused, locking the union members out.
Kaiser is currently trying to keep up production, but is running into increasing difficulties. Its aluminum refining plant in Gramercy exploded July 5, injuring 24 employees. Its profits have declined dramatically with financial losses of $38.2 million in the last quarter and another $38.9 million during the previous quarter.
Although most attending the march were Steelworkers and their families, there were also Teamsters and a few Machinists from the Boeing plant in Spokane. Boeing worker Kevin Winans said he was there "to right the wrong done to the Kaiser workers."
Another group of workers that had been invited and planned to attend were meatpackers from IBP in Pasco, who went on strike a month earlier. The workers, who ended their strike the week before the march, were on mandatory overtime for this Saturday, and unable to make the trip.
There were also rallies at both the assembly point before the march began and in front of the Mead factory. A featured speaker was Gregory Bridges, Jr., a worker at Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana. Avondale workers, he said, have waged a hard-fought, six-year fight for union representation by the USWA.
Also speaking were the USWA presidents from the Tacoma, Trentwood, Mead, and Newark locals; a few politicians; Jon Youngdahl representing the USWA's Corporate Campaign against Kaiser; and several other union officials.
Carol Ford - a crane operator at the Trentwood Kaiser plant, and a leader of Women of Steel, an organization of women in the USWA - also spoke. There are about 125 production workers who are women among the locked-out USWA members at Kaiser. "I hired in here when I was 18. I'm going back in there," declared Ford. "Not for me. Not for you. But for the next generation."
Women of Steel and Spouses of Steel, a support group initially organized by wives of the locked-out Steelworkers in Spokane, played very visible, vocal, and much appreciated parts in the march, rallies, and the barbecue afterwards.
Spouses of Steel has been very active in support of the struggle of the Steelworkers since it was started, on May 1 of this year. (See box.)
Many workers said the July 17 action was an important answer to Kaiser, which is hoping that the combination of the NLRB ruling and the end of unemployment benefits in August will undermine their solidarity.
On July 19 Kaiser faxed a letter to the USWA requesting a two-week negotiating session to start August 9, at the end of which, Kaiser said, it would make its best offer for a new contract. The company demanded one condition from the USWA - that its offer, no matter what, be submitted to the membership for a vote on September 3. The USWA rejected that condition.
On July 22 the USWA and Kaiser agreed to resume negotiations starting the first week of August.
Chris Rayson is the Socialist Workers candidate for Seattle Port Commissioner. Scott Breen is a member of International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 751A.