USW Paper Workers Conference Focuses on Bargaining Policy, Member Activism

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The United Steelworkers (USW), Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, reports that its recent paper sector conference in Pittsburg drew more than 400 delegates. The focus of the conference, USW notes, was strengthening bargaining policy and member activism to support it, improving health and safety, playing an active role in policy issues that affect the industry, while building stronger international ties.

The delegates met separately with their company councils to devise action plans to increase communication between the locals and to mobilize the membership around collective bargaining and other industry issues. Each council also elected a delegate to a standing policy committee that will meet periodically to discuss progress and ideas and suggest course adjustments if necessary.

Strengthening health and safety provisions in agreements that lead to a more active role for workers in improving health and safety systems in the industry was the number one bargaining priority. This initiative was spurred by a union-led Paper Industry Health and Safety Survey conducted over an 18-month period that showed many serious shortcomings in current safety programs. The study's recommendations focus on greater union involvement in health and safety, training, work design issues, use of inherently safer chemicals, and the elimination of programs that suppress injury and incident reporting.

Delegates agreed to maintain three-year contracts unless master agreements are negotiated or other strategic objectives are obtained that move paper bargaining and paper workers forward. They want to maintain the 80/20 split on premium sharing and innovate and improve their healthcare plans without waiving the right to negotiate over the plan design changes.

Strengthening retirement security remains a key goal for the delegates. The crash of the stock market two years ago has devastated many retirement plans. Pensions have to provide a secure retirement and provide a significant percentage of replacement income for workers, based on company contributions.
Since bargaining policy was last developed two years ago, many paper contracts now contain successorship language, which protects workers and the agreed terms of labor agreements in the event of a sale of a facility or company. Delegates committed to add this language where it doesn't exist and work to strengthen it where it does.

Other bargaining issues discussed included resisting two-tier wage and benefit systems, maintaining vacation time, bargaining 401(k) administration, achieving wage retention in layoff and downsizing situations, developing and achieving severance packages for profitable mills that are shutdown, and strengthening outsourcing language.