Thursday, July 02, 2009
Rival union critical of newly OK’d MeadWestvaco contract
If the Covington Paperworkers Union Local 675 prevails in its dispute with the United Steelworkers before the National Labor Relations Board, the contract may be void.
Bobby Harrison, president of United Steelworkers Local 8-675, reported that union members at the MeadWestvaco paper mill in Covington voted yesterday to approve a new six-year contract between the company and the union.
A previous contract expired in December 2006. Union members have continued to work under the terms of that agreement. Until last month, no contract negotiations had occurred since August 2007.
In an e-mail early today, Harrison said that among the union members who voted, 84 percent approved the contract. Union official Luis Mendoza said Local 8-675 will not release the actual vote count.
Roy Hall, president of rival Covington Paperworkers Union Local 675, said a key source informed him that the count was 327 for the new contract and 63 opposed. Hall said the low turnout means that the majority of the 950 union workers who are members either of USW or CPU did not vote Wednesday. He said he estimates about 66 percent of union members at the plant are loyal to CPU.
Mendoza said the new contract is a good agreement. Among other things, he said, it provides for a wage increase of 16.1 percent over six years, an increase in pension payments to upcoming retirees and the establishment of a union-run health care clinic in the Covington area.
“These folks haven’t had a wage increase in about three years,” Mendoza said. “They are due for an increase and the community is due for an increase too.”
He said the union-run health care clinic will help control costs for members.
But Hall said he feels sick about the agreement, which he says granted key concessions to MeadWestvaco. They include, he said, provisions for a new attendance policy, a new approach to seniority in the plant and acceptance of a “multi-craft structure” that will require separate maintenance trades in the mill to cross train to perform additional tasks. He expressed skepticism about the ability to establish a new, USW-run health care clinic in the region.
Hall said the new attendance policy and the multi-craft provision are destined to “put people out on the street.”
“This marks a devastating day in the history of the union in Covington,” Hall said. “It’s almost like you have a company union now.”
CPU broke away from the USW local in October 2007 after charging that negotiators from United Steelworkers International were not looking out for workers’ best interests.
In March 2008, CPU won an election and appeared to have earned the right to represent the workers. But the National Labor Relations Board subsequently ordered a new vote based on finding evidence to support USW allegations that the new union indulged in unfair labor practices when encouraging workers to support it.
A new vote never occurred.
Hall said he is confident that the NLRB will grant CPU’s appeal of its earlier ruling and make CPU the workers’ bargaining unit. If that happens, he said, the new contract will be null and void.
The MeadWestvaco paper mill in Covington and Alleghany County is the largest employer and taxpayer for both the city and county.
About 1,500 people work in mill operations in Covington and Alleghany County.
A previous contract expired in December 2006. Union members have continued to work under the terms of that agreement. Until last month, no contract negotiations had occurred since August 2007.
In an e-mail early today, Harrison said that among the union members who voted, 84 percent approved the contract. Union official Luis Mendoza said Local 8-675 will not release the actual vote count.
Roy Hall, president of rival Covington Paperworkers Union Local 675, said a key source informed him that the count was 327 for the new contract and 63 opposed. Hall said the low turnout means that the majority of the 950 union workers who are members either of USW or CPU did not vote Wednesday. He said he estimates about 66 percent of union members at the plant are loyal to CPU.
Mendoza said the new contract is a good agreement. Among other things, he said, it provides for a wage increase of 16.1 percent over six years, an increase in pension payments to upcoming retirees and the establishment of a union-run health care clinic in the Covington area.
“These folks haven’t had a wage increase in about three years,” Mendoza said. “They are due for an increase and the community is due for an increase too.”
He said the union-run health care clinic will help control costs for members.
But Hall said he feels sick about the agreement, which he says granted key concessions to MeadWestvaco. They include, he said, provisions for a new attendance policy, a new approach to seniority in the plant and acceptance of a “multi-craft structure” that will require separate maintenance trades in the mill to cross train to perform additional tasks. He expressed skepticism about the ability to establish a new, USW-run health care clinic in the region.
Hall said the new attendance policy and the multi-craft provision are destined to “put people out on the street.”
“This marks a devastating day in the history of the union in Covington,” Hall said. “It’s almost like you have a company union now.”
CPU broke away from the USW local in October 2007 after charging that negotiators from United Steelworkers International were not looking out for workers’ best interests.
In March 2008, CPU won an election and appeared to have earned the right to represent the workers. But the National Labor Relations Board subsequently ordered a new vote based on finding evidence to support USW allegations that the new union indulged in unfair labor practices when encouraging workers to support it.
A new vote never occurred.
Hall said he is confident that the NLRB will grant CPU’s appeal of its earlier ruling and make CPU the workers’ bargaining unit. If that happens, he said, the new contract will be null and void.
The MeadWestvaco paper mill in Covington and Alleghany County is the largest employer and taxpayer for both the city and county.
About 1,500 people work in mill operations in Covington and Alleghany County.
