KapStone Workers on Strike in Longview, Contingency Plan Announced

According to a recent report by Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland, Ore., USA, about 800 union employees at the KapStone pulp and paper mill in Longview, Wash., went on strike this past Thursday.

This had followed actions (as previously covered by OTW during the past month) such as KapStone declaring an impasse, followed by the company imposing a previously agreed upon contract, though that contract had not been curretly ratified with a majority of union worker support. This was believed to create a potential condition for a strike among a majority of workers, some interviewed wondering why a strike had not yet been called. A considerable number of other workers, though not a voting majority, had preferred avoiding a strike after accepting a contract including significant pay raises to offset a contentious reform in the company's employee healthcare plan.

Greg Pallesen, VP for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, which represents the employees, confirmed the strike. "The entire plant site is shut down," he said. "Part of it was already down for maintenance, but the entire plant site is shut down. We’re on an unfair labor practice strike."

This week, a judge issued a temporary restraining order in hopes of keeping the peace along picket lines outside the plant. The Daily News (Longview, Wash.) reported that on Tuesday (September 1) a judge granted KapStone a three-day restraining order imposing a 10 mph speed limit on the roads entering the plant. On Friday the judge will hold a hearing on KapStone's request to limit the union to two pickets on either side of the mill-employee gate. KapStone has accused strikers of smashing picket signs into vehicles entering the plant and taunting workers.

The company declined to comment to OPB about the strike, choosing releasing an independent statement about contingency plans to maintain production as best as possible at the Wash. facility.

The statement, released August 27, three days after the strike was first announced, said:

"KapStone has been preparing for a potential strike since the Union voted down its prior offers. KapStone is conducting a cold mill outage to perform necessary maintenance to its machines and has full contingency plans in place to continue to service its customers during the strike. After the maintenance outage, KapStone plans to run its largest machine early next week, with subsequent machine operation to follow. KapStone does not expect any interruption of service or products to its customers".