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Steelworkers Approve Oregon Steel Mills Settlement
03/16/2004 -
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Steelworkers Approve
Oregon Steel Mills Settlement
March 16, 2004 — Rank-and-file Steelworkers decisively approved a settlement with Oregon Steel Mills, Inc. and its majority-owned Rocky Mountain Steel Mills (formerly CF&I Steel) subsidiary, ending a six-year old labor dispute — the longest running labor dispute in the Union's history.
As part of the Settlement, RMSM has offered certain bargaining unit employees an early retirement opportunity based on seniority until a maximum of 200 employees have accepted the offer. Oregon Steel Mills expects the early retirement option will be finalized during the second quarter of 2004 and at that time, the company will record an additional charge of approximately $7 million related to the Settlement. |
More than 80% of those voting in the mail ballot referendum cast their
votes in favor of the agreement. "Pueblo Steelworkers have won a
tremendous victory against overwhelming odds," said Terry Bonds,
Director of USWA District 12 and chair of the Union's bargaining committee,
announcing the 334-80 vote that ends the longest labor dispute in the
Union's history, pending approval of the settlement by the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB).
In addition to new collective bargaining agreements, the settlement includes:
- Remedies for outstanding Unfair Labor Practices, including substantial back pay and amnesty.
- Returning workers to their "rightful place" in the mill, the positions they held before the strike.
- Pension improvements, including pension credit for the entire period of the labor dispute and for service with predecessor companies.
Oregon Steel Mills had announced the tentative agreement on January 15, 2004. The company recorded a pretax charge of $31.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2003. The charge consisted of (1) $23.2 million for the value of four million shares Oregon Steel Mills common stock at $5.81 per share to be issued as part of the Settlement; (2) a cash payment of $2.5 million; and (3) other accruals of $5.4 million. The company will adjust the amount of the $31.1 million charge in fiscal year 2004 for the change in the price of the company's common stock between December 31, 2003 and the effective date of the Settlement.
The Settlement is conditioned on, among other things:
- Approval by the shareholders of RMSM.
- Ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement being executed between RMSM and the Union.
- Approval of the Settlement by the National Labor Relations Board and dismissal of cases pending before the Board related to the labor dispute.
- Various pending legal actions between Oregon Steel Mills and RMSM and the Union being dismissed.
"We look forward to developing the Company's stated commitment to a lasting relationship with our Union," Bonds said, "and to another century of profitable steelmaking in Pueblo."
