GP Union News September 9, 2008

GP Health Care Issues in Spotlight

The USW continues to monitor the health care situation at GP and met with management in August to review renewal rates for 2009. Technicians from the USW Pension & Insurance Dept. were in attendance and will follow up with GP as we move forward. The network issues were also discussed with the following issues reported on:

Regarding the networks, the group reviewed some UHC recruitment issues, including: Albany GA, -- 2 hospitals that are not in UHC network will be treated as in-network; Mt. Olive, IL -- Litchfield family practice, now in-network; Plattsburgh, NY – one hospital at issue now fully in network; Bradford, PA – primary hospital there now in network; Fort Dodge, IA – Trimark primary physicians – negotiations ongoing with UHC to bring them into network; Big Island, VA – lack of specialists and pediatricians in network, some are joining using network gap exception if there are no similar providers within 30 miles.

The company committed to work with UHC for proactive notification of network coverage issues before yearly renewal so that work can be done at the local level if issues arise.

Preventive care was also discussed and how use of the plan benefits in this area might be maximized along with ways to identify health issues and address them before they arise. Also, many doctors are charging some preventive care as surgery rather than preventive care so the 100% coverage for preventive care is not being applied. Members should work with their providers to make sure they bill such procedures as preventive care.

The USW has asked for regular meetings on the health care issues and the company has expressed interest in that as well. Please advise your staff representative of any issues as they arise with the health care and they can be in touch with Leeann Anderson, who is assigned to the GP Conference in this regard.

No Labor Agreement Yet for Wheatfield GP Workers

USW-represented workers at Georgia Pacific’s Wheatfield, Indiana wallboard plant continue to get the runaround from management as they struggle for their first union contract.

A large majority of the men and women at the Wheatfield plant voted in the Spring of 2007 to join fellow GP workers as members of the United Steelworkers. They particularly wanted to eliminate favoritism in the workplace and have the added security of a collective bargaining agreement, as do thousands of other USW members at GP.

Workers there have had more than 14 months of negotiations with the GP management, and still no deal. Instead, the USW members rallying for Wheatfield workerscompany wants wage cuts, fewer vacation days for workers, cuts in funeral leave and other give-backs.

Steelworkers District 7 members are steadily picking up the pace of public demonstrations in support of the Wheatfield GP workers, and will continue to do so until a fair agreement is achieved. Members of the GP Union Conference, representing thousands of GP workers around the country, want the workers in Wheatfield to know that you’re not alone. If progress is not made at the negotiating table soon, we will be looking at more ways to urge GP to do right by the workers in Wheatfield, get off the concessions in contract talks and offer workers a deal they can live with.

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!

Pulp Truth -- Issue 16

Unsafe Working Conditions Caught Up to Workers in July

In Pulp Truth issue 15, we reported that Peter Conley of Local 449 in Waterville, Maine, suffered a massive stroke at the Huhtamaki plant where he worked. Brother Conley, 44, died July 23 at Maine Medical Center and left behind three children ages 19, 12 and 5.

In addition to the three July accidents reported in Pulp Truth issue 15, four more incidents occurred in July.

Shortly before midnight on July 18, Local 1017 member Shawn Sharrow was injured when his arm and shoulder were caught in a winder machine at Dunn Paper in Port Huron, Mich.

Sharrow, who was 20 at the time of the incident, was airlifted to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, where he was listed as critical but stable for four days. He suffered broken bones in his shoulder and neck, cracked ribs, internal injuries and corneal abrasions in both eyes. There was concern about permanent nerve damage to his arm and neck.

Sharrow’s mother, Kim, said doctors at the medical center called his survival a miracle and attributed it to his age and general condition. Sharrow is now back home in Port Huron.

USW Emergency Response Team (ERT) representative Hilary Chiz assisted the family and those who helped with Sharrow’s rescue. USW Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Assistant Director Dave Ortlieb conducted the investigation and provided the company with changes that could be done to prevent a repeat of the incident.

At the NewPage facility in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, Local Union 2-94 member Kurt Resheske, 33, was severely burned July 29 while working near a washer inspection door. He sustained second and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body. ERT representative Duronda Pope assisted the family and HSE representative Steve Sallman responded to the incident.

On July 29, 2008 a high density recycling fiber storage tank explosion at Packaging Corporation of America’s paper mill in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, fatally injured three employees. The tank that exploded was used to store recycled fiber storage, and the three individuals were engaged in maintenance activities which included welding on the top of the tank’s high density spreader when the explosion occurred. A fourth employee, who was standing on the tank’s catwalk was also injured, but he was treated and released and is recovering from his injuries.

Two of the employees fatally injured in the explosion, Steven C. Voermans, 52, and Randy J. Hoegger, 55, were local union members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1713. The third fatally injured employee was Don Snyder, 46, a salaried employee. The fourth injured employee was a college student and member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1713. ERT representative Duronda Popeand HSE representative Steve Sallman responded to the incident.

After reportedly having a dispute with a supervisor, Edmund Giasson of Local 900 at the NewPage mill in Rumford, Maine, died from a heart attack July 28. Giasson, 53, had worked at the mill close to 30 years and was known to be “very, very serious about his job,” according to local president Gary Hemingway. Giasson had a history of heart problems.

These incidents point to the need for paper mill locals (and later those with converting operations) to fill out the Paper RAP survey they received in mid-August. See story on the next page.

Contracts that Reopened in August

If the re-opener date for your local contract is not listed here, please contact PT editor Lynne Baker at lbaker@usw.org to have your contract listed. Not listed last month was the Temple-Inland Orange, TX contract that expired July 31.

Georgia-Pacific, Monticello, MS, Aug. 1
Georgia-Pacific, Akron, OH, Aug. 1
Georgia-Pacific, Monticello, GA, Aug. 1
International Paper, Geneva, NY, Aug. 1
Corrugated Carton, Newark, NJ, Aug. 1
Schiffenhause Pkg. Corp. North, Suffern, NY, Aug. 1
Pactiv Corporation, Red Bluff, CA, Aug. 1
Schiffenhause Pkg. Corp. South, Newark, NJ, Aug. 1
Schweitzer-Maudit, Ancram, NY, Aug. 1
RTS Packaging, Merced, CA, Aug. 1
Smurfit-Stone Cont., St. Cloud, MN, Aug. 1
Temple-Inland, Gilroy, CA, Aug. 1
Weyerhaeuser Co., Anaheim, CA, Aug. 1
Precision Products, College Park, MD, Aug. 6
Sonoco, Hutchinson, KS, Aug. 6
Shelby Co., Westlake, OH, Aug. 6
International Paper/Shorewood Pkg., Waterbury, CT, Aug. 7
International Paper (div), Pineville, LA, Aug. 10
Rand Whitney, Worcester, MA, Aug. 11
Georgia-Pacific, Memphis, TN, Aug. 15

Mill Leaders Must Complete Paper RAP Health & Safety Survey

“The time for after-the-fact investigation is over. We must take a proactive approach to ensure paper workers don’t lose their life or get injured when they go to work,” said International Vice President Jon Geenen.

Around August 19, each local union president of a mill received the Paper RAP health and safety survey that VP Geenen’s comment refers to. The survey’s success depends on a very high response rate. So:

• If you are paper mill leadership, please prioritize completing the survey.
• If you work in a paper mill, please offer to assist the local leadership to accomplish this important task.
• If you work in a converter within a council that has mills, encourage mill leadership to get this done. (FYI: We’ll later focus on converters.)

A few things about the survey:

• Complete one survey per mill
• Get input from key members as needed
•Make the September 12, 2008 deadline
• For another copy, contact Joyce Russotto (920-722-1085; jrussotto@usw.org) or your international representative.

Together, we will use the survey’s results to leverage change at the local, industry and national policy levels to protect our brothers and sisters.

A Model in Coordinated Bargaining: U.S. Steel Agreement

The new tentative, four-year agreement at U.S. Steel shows what is possible when collective bargaining evolves and we coordinate our strength.

Workers obtained very significant wage hikes and substantial bonus and pension increases. Benefit programs were improved for active and retired employees, and health care premiums were reduced for retirees.

Job security was improved by a requirement in the tentative agreement that U.S. Steel make capital investments in its plants so that they can compete in the world economy. The contract also looks toward the future by creating an “Energy Efficiency and Carbon Emissions Task Force” to address the threat of global warming and its impact on the steel industry.

Another job security provision in the agreement is that the outsourcing of work will return to the jurisdiction of USW members.

The tentative agreement covers some 16,000 workers employed at 14 U.S. Steel locations.

PCA Mill Global Agreement Secures Workers’ Future

A new five-year global agreement negotiated with Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) contains wage increases totaling 13.75 percent, increases pension and other benefits, maintains existing health care plans and premiums, offers job security and makes it easier to organize nonunion PCA facilities.

The agreement covers about 1,200 workers at four PCA mills in Valdosta, Ga., Counce, Tenn., Filer City, Mich., and Tomahawk, Wisc. USW members at the four mills overwhelmingly approved the contract in a vote on Aug. 14.

Items not covered in the master agreement are negotiated at local union bargaining tables upon renewal of the local union’s contract. If an agreement is not reached on these items, the renewal contract remains unchanged. This prevents management from imposing contract terms on the local union. The local union renewal contracts are also five years in length.

Health care benefits and employees’ 20 percent contribution toward health care premiums were locked in immediately after ratification of the global agreement for the period of the local union contract. Also enacted upon ratification was a contract and job protection clause in case a PCA facility is sold; a restriction to work force reductions unless a facility is partially or completely shut down; and a ban on negative attacks during organizing campaigns.

Increases in wages, pensions, short-term disability benefits, life/accidental death and dismemberment benefits and retiree life insurance benefits will occur the day after the expiration of the current local union agreements. The monthly service multiplier for mill workers’ pensions will be increased by $6 to $46.62, which is one of the highest flat dollar pension benefits in the industry. Short-term disability benefits will be increased $70 over the term of the renewal contracts. Life/accidental death and dismemberment benefits will increase a total of $9,000. Retiree life insurance benefits will be secured at $10,250.