Friday, October 09, 2009
Vote suggests deep division at paper mill
If next week's vote yields a resolution, the prevailing union will try to bring the two sides together.
The latest from The Ticker blog
Neither union local prevailed last week during an election at the MeadWestvaco paper mill in Covington. As a result, the National Labor Relations Board has scheduled a follow-up vote for Wednesday.
This latest election could finally determine whether United Steelworkers Local 8-675 or Covington Paperworkers Union Local 675 is the contract bargaining unit for about 900 union members at the mill.
Or not.
The two elections to date have failed to yield resolution.
After the Sept. 30 election, only three votes separated the two sides. USW received 415 votes and CPU received 412. USW was just two votes shy of a majority.
Wednesday's ballot will not include a third option offered Sept. 30, which was "neither." Its elimination could help render a majority.
Roy Hall, president of CPU, expressed concern after last week's election that the thin margin suggested a deep divide among union members at the mill. He worried that no matter which local ultimately prevailed, it could be a struggle to form a strong, united union.
If past practice holds, NLRB agents will begin counting ballots late Wednesday and results should be announced to the unions early Thursday.
Earlier this week, Hall noted that, as it turns out, Oct. 15 is International Conflict Resolution Day, declared as such by the Association for Conflict Resolution.
Bobby Harrison, president of USW Local 8-675, agreed that bringing the two sides together will be a challenge.
"I guess that will be the uphill battle for either side that wins the election," Harrison said.
Both Hall and Harrison said they are using the time until the vote to take their messages to union members.
CPU formed about two years ago when Hall and other former members of the USW local expressed dissatisfaction with contract negotiators from Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers International.
The split came after more than a year of failed contract negotiations between USW Local 8-675 and MeadWestvaco.
During the first election, in March 2008, CPU won by a narrow margin. But USW alleged misconduct by CPU in the run-up to the ballot casting and the labor board found enough evidence to void the election and call for another vote. CPU appealed that decision and the issue had remained in limbo until the Sept. 30 vote.
In the interim, USW had remained the bargaining unit. In July, a majority of union members voted to approve a new six-year contract negotiated with MeadWestvaco by USW. The former contract had expired in December 2006, and its terms had remained in effect until July.
Now, uncertainty about representation lingers still.
Both sides hope that will change next week.
MeadWestvaco, which is the largest employer and taxpayer for both Covington and Alleghany County, has steadfastly declined comment about the union squabble, saying it is a union issue and not a mill issue.
