Mill union rejects offer

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, September 22, 2005

EVERETT – The union representing employees at Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s pulp and paper mill said Thursday the company’s latest offer was unacceptable, but members still haven’t set a strike date.

Instead, the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers “continues to explore other methods of resolving the negotiations if possible,” according to a statement released Thursday.

Those methods include filing unfair labor practice charges against the company and pressuring retail stores that buy Kimberly-Clark products, said Frank Prochaska, the union’s area representative.

On Monday, Kimberly-Clark unveiled what it called its final offer to the 700 unionized workers at the Everett mill. The proposed six-year contract includes raises totaling 11 percent and pension boosts of about 20 percent.

But Prochaska and other union members said the offer wasn’t an improvement from the company’s earlier proposals. Proposed changes to workers’ health insurance coverage and the use of contracted help in some departments are among their biggest complaints.

While union members have griped about the latest offer, they have yet to vote on it. No vote has been scheduled, Prochaska said.

The previous contract for the workers, who make $36,000 to more than $59,000 annually, expired in June. Though 94 percent of voting union members authorized a strike earlier this month, no walkout was planned.

Last week, the union filed its first batch of unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging unfair behavior by the company during the contract talks.

Scott Helker, manager of the Everett mill, said the most serious of the complaints alleges that Kimberly-Clark is only “surface bargaining” and not negotiating seriously with the union.

“After 55 days of negotiations after five months and a final offer that represents a significant improvement over the old contract, nothing could be further from the truth,” Helker said.

The union also began notifying stores that sell Kimberly-Clark products that it may distribute information to customers during the dispute.

Like Prochaska, Helker repeated his hope that the dispute will be resolved without a strike.

Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.