The 345 members of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 5702 here are among 2,900 locked out in three states. They will be voting July 12–13 on an Interest Arbitration Agreement that could mean a rapid end to the lockout. Everyone in attendance received handouts that included a 22-page sum-mary of the points where agreement has been reached with the bosses and those still in dispute.

If approved, all unresolved issues will be sent before a federal mediator if a negotiated settlement is-n't reached before July 29. The arbitration case would be heard in late August, with a ruling issued no later than 21 days afterward.

Similar presentations have been made to the other affected locals. Kaiser's largest operations are in Spokane, Washington, where more than 2,000 workers are locked out of the Mead smelter and Trentwood rolling mill. Three hundred are locked out in Tacoma, Washington, and 230 at the extrusion plant in New-ark, Ohio.

Sam Thomas, vice president of the local here, viewed the recent developments positively. "We have won," he said. "We can now really see an end to this labor dispute. Kaiser has withdrawn some of its worst demands like random drug testing and annual certification testing." These would mean termination if a worker failed either test. Thomas said he thought the gap between the issues that are left is small.

Numerous others, while expressing optimism, reserved their opinions until after the vote. Several workers though did express reservations about the settlement, but didn't want their names to be used. One said, "These proposals look like what the company has been proposing all along."

The initial demands of the company that forced the Steelworkers on strike on Sept. 30, 1998, were the permanent elimination of more than 400 jobs, the contracting out of several hundred additional jobs, substandard pay and pension increases, the gutting of seniority agreements, and a cap on health insurance benefits for retirees, who would be forced to pay the additional cost. If the new agreement is ratified, a total of 456 union jobs will be lost despite the Steelworkers' fight.

While failing to back Kaiser down on the elimination of jobs, a significant number of workers see this as a victory over company attempts to bust the union outright. The company has reportedly agreed to drop 237 out of 264 proposed jobs lost to contracting out, preserve the use of seniority in promotions and layoffs, give an amnesty in all cases of workers discharged for alleged strike-related misconduct, terminate all scabs before the Steelworkers return to work, and provide new language on guaranteeing training on all changed or restructured jobs, as well as limiting the role of testing in job selection.

Health insurance benefits for locked-out workers and their dependents will be immediately rein-stated upon ratification of the agreement. Issues still in dispute have to do with the Supplementary Unem-ployment Benefits plan, retirement benefits, and wage increases.

The pressure of round-the-clock picket lines has been maintained throughout the lockout--including during the Boat Club meeting--despite the challenge posed by nearly all local members finding other jobs. These efforts, plus the support won through numerous solidarity actions, have forced Kaiser to falter as its losses mount and stock value plummets.

The tentative agreement doesn't affect the USWA's current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) case. The General Counsel of the NLRB formally charged Kaiser June 30 with illegally locking out the 2,900 USWA members "to pressure and coerce" them into accepting the company's proposal.

According to a USWA news release, it also charged Kaiser with "unlawfully discriminating against employees to discourage membership in a labor organization, and with failing and refusing to bargain in good faith with the Union as required by federal law."

As part of the remedy sought, the NLRB will seek full back pay and benefits from Jan. 14, 1999, the date the company began its lockout, and has set a hearing for Nov. 13, 2000.  
 
 
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