Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Vote looms for paper mill union
A secret ballot will take place today over which union will represent Covington workers.
The latest from The Ticker blog
A renegade union local in Covington squares off today for a second time against Local 8-675 of United Steelworkers International in an election that could determine, once and for all, which local represents about 900 union members at the sprawling MeadWestvaco paper mill.
Agents from the National Labor Relations Board will conduct the secret ballot election inside the plant, count the ballots and announce the results -- probably well after midnight. If no protests are lodged after the vote, the board could certify the election in less than two weeks.
The MeadWestvaco paper mill is the largest employer and taxpayer for Covington and Alleghany County, and its operations affect the larger region's economy in many ways, including the company's purchase of pulpwood from small suppliers.
Nearly two years ago, several former officers and members of USW Local 8-675 split off to form Covington Paperworkers Union Local 675. Founders, including CPU President Roy Hall, complained that negotiators from USW International were pushing a national agenda during contract negotiations with MeadWestvaco and not representing the best interests of workers in Covington.
On Tuesday, Hall said CPU is "cautiously optimistic" about the outcome of today's election.
"We've got a good feeling going into the election," he said.
Bobby Harrison, president of USW Local 8-675, declined to comment Tuesday about today's election, saying he was tied up in a pre-election meeting with officials from the labor relations board.
Hall suggested that the vote will serve more as a referendum on the merits of the six-year contract negotiated in July between MeadWestvaco and USW than an explicit selection of one union local over another. CPU has said the contract abandoned "hard-won gains" achieved in previous negotiations.
In turn, USW Local 8-675 officers have said the contract benefited workers, providing wage increases, pension increases for eligible workers and provisions for a union-created health care plan and health care clinic that could help control medical costs.
In March 2008, during an earlier vote, CPU prevailed over USW by a narrow margin and seemed poised to become the contract bargaining unit at the Covington plant.
But the labor relations board subsequently found evidence to support USW allegations of electioneering misconduct by CPU. An administrative law judge for the board ordered another election. CPU appealed and the issue remained in limbo until CPU decided to drop the appeal and agree to another election.
In the interim, USW Local 8-675 has remained the bargaining unit.
