Associated Press
SPOKANE — Kaiser Aluminum &Chemical Corp.’s 20-month lockout of Steelworkers was illegal, an administrative law judge has ruled, ordering the company to "make employees whole for any loss of earnings."
It was not clear Tuesday whether the decision by Administrative Law Judge Michael Stevenson of San Francisco means Kaiser will be forced to pay as much as $200 million in back wages and benefits.
Kaiser spokesman Scott Lamb in Houston said the company disagrees with Stevenson’s ruling and will "vigorously appeal" the decision.
Stevenson’s order did not fix an amount of wages and benefits owed locked out workers, or say how many workers would be eligible, said Veronica Clements, an attorney at the NLRB regional office in Oakland, Calif.
The 66-page decision is a recommended order for the full National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., which could reject, modify, or accept it, she said.
"The judge found the lockout was unlawful and has ordered a remedy," she said. "It calls for Kaiser to make the employees whole for any loss of earnings."
A complaint filed by the labor relations board in July 2000 contended Kaiser failed to bargain in good faith with the United Steelworkers of America, which represented more than 2,900 workers locked out of Kaiser plants in three states on Jan. 14, 1999.
Kaiser locked out union employees at five plants in Washington, Louisiana and Ohio after a September 1998 walkout. The labor dispute ended in November 2000, when a new five-year agreement was signed.
Shortly after the employees went back to work, Kaiser shut down much of its Northwest aluminum production and sold surplus electricity in a tight energy market.
The union expects the eventual award to be between $180 million and $200 million, the largest award in the history of the NLRB, Steelworkers official David Foster said in a statement Tuesday.
"I hope this decision will serve as a powerful deterrent to other corporations and their legal advisers who seek to destroy the collective bargaining process in America through lockouts and the hiring of replacement workers," said Foster, director of the union’s District 11 and chairman of the Kaiser negotiating committee.
"While I am gratified that the union’s position has been upheld, I remain saddened by the enormous sacrifices borne by the families of Kaiser Steelworkers, many of whom are today laid off and have not worked in over three years," Foster said.
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