CONCESSION BARGAINING IN STEEL
Bensman, David
WORK AND WORKERS IN THE 1980s David Bensman Concession Bargaining in Steel A Weakened Union Faces Corporate Blackmail Things are grim in South Chicago. Two years ago, Wisconsin Steel went...
...The other would have destroyed the traditional prohibition against skilled workers doing production...
...In desperation, the opposition turned to the press...
...Recognizing that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be eliminated in auto plants no matter what scenario is played out, the UAW established a joint training program with Ford...
...And management still orders people to work mandatory overtime with just an hour's notice—even when thousands are on lay-off...
...Their fundamental motivation was anger at their bosses, and a sense of honor...
...Instead, Local 65 members united in rejection of U.S...
...Just in case the devastation of South Chicago was not sufficient to force Local 65's acceptance, U.S...
...At the same time, iron manufacturers developed the Bessemer process and other improvements...
...Our steel industry lost one major cost advantage when the Mesabi iron range became depleted...
...Sadlowski, like the union he's been associated with for almost 30 years, was in a difficult position...
...Steel's demands...
...And so Local 65 bargainers dropped their resistance to a manning agreement for the rail mill...
...Alessi argued that operating technicians would do only minor repairs...
...Why did Local 65 approve concessions...
...No wonder steelworkers grew so suspicious that anti-concession sentiments overwhelmed the bargaining process...
...Two years ago, Wisconsin Steel went bankrupt, leaving 4,000 steelworkers without jobs, pension plans, and their last paycheck...
...Recent concession bargaining in South Chicago makes clear that the United Steelworkers of America possesses a valuable resource—a membership dedicated to unionism...
...As the reinforced union pursued its label boycotts with the help of other AFL unions, hatters drew ever closer to workers in other crafts, until their "craft pride" began to give way to "class consciousness...
...Furthermore, the new job classifications would produce a speed-up so bad some men couldn't keep up...
...And they maintain a seniority system that subordinates the interests of the strongest worker to the needs of the group...
...Steel would build the mill if there was a demand for rails...
...Next, it shut down its mill in Alabama, where a new tube mill had been planned...
...The message seemed clear: South Works was in jeopardy...
...When Stazak surrendered the floor to Joe Kransdorf, a leading plant radical, he set the stage for a wild evening...
...And the actual ballot read, "Advisory Ballot...
...Steve Alexander, a black production worker, explains: "No one wants to back down against the company...
...He explained to a hushed audience that the bargaining committee had been trying to preserve union principles in the negotiations and had won expanded seniority rights, but he conceded that "this agreement ain't nothing to write home about...
...The loading docks on the banks of the Calumet River are quiet as a graveyard...
...Assignments are made from week to week, leaving workers and their families unable to plan their lives more than a week in advance...
...But I don't believe that you have to be a slave to your job...
...But the company insisted on four points...
...In Roy Hollis's words, "A big company like that, they just take the money and do what they want...
...Those who are still working vote "yes" to keep the mill open...
...They fix a machine, then rest until needed...
...Joe Kransdorf comments: "How could the International expect a local with 6,000 of its members on layoff to make a rational decision...
...And (4), management insisted on eliminating welders...
...And the Republic Steel mill, scene of the Memorial Day Massacre of 1937, is down from 5,300 to 4,000 employes...
...even their international union will have little success in the absence of a national political movement committed to social controls on corporate decision-making...
...As long as steelworkers remain committed to unionism, concession bargaining can be transformed into a struggle for the future of the labor movement...
...There would be no debate in the union newspaper, and only Stazak would have access to the mailing list...
...He announced that the vote would be "advisory," and the campaign would be unusual...
...The conservative habits of U.S...
...They can threaten to strike...
...Steelworkers put up with an authority that pervades their life on the job and at home...
...Workers' anger at their bosses and commitment to unionism enabled them to resist in the face of severe unemployment and corporate blackmail...
...Our steel industry faces a competition it has not known since U.S...
...In short, here the leadership of the International and of Local 65 combined their effort to enable the calculations of self-interest to overwhelm sentiments of solidarity...
...And he had to admit that most members of Local 65 would remain jobless even if the mill were built...
...Steel's betrayal has produced a radical response: "How come the company can't be fair to the workers after all the years we put in and built that company up...
...Reluctantly, hatters made these concessions to management, but the institutions they created in the process proved successful in defending the journeymen's "culture of work" for many years...
...Alessi was saying that you will only be used on small maintenance jobs," Ike Mezo commented...
...Should Local 65 Rail Mill Negotiating Committee sign the Rail Mill Manning Agreement in a joint effort to reestablish South Works as a viable competitive facility...
...1) "Operating technicians" were essential...
...Suddenly, iron workers were caught up in a competitive flood that washed away old institutions and work practices...
...More difficult choices will follow, because the underlying problem steelworkers face has not yet been resolved...
...On August 27, 1,100 steelworkers packed the union hall to discuss the manning proposal...
...Alice Peruala, Local 65's militant president until Stazak defeated her last fall, now took the floor...
...U.S...
...One would have created "supercrafts," combining the tasks of millwrights, electricians, and welders...
...Camens's approval gave President Stazak what he wanted, support for reaching agreement with U.S...
...The hatters' path, of course, was just one of those taken by unionists in the late 19th century, but all activists discovered that the growth of national markets necessitated more collective strategies for labor...
...The steel industry's internationalization poses a challenge to the union...
...instead, he conveyed the employers' request to begin discussions...
...Everyone in the union hall could see that the agreement would be defeated overwhelmingly...
...Today imports account for more than 30 percent of the value of all steel sold in this country...
...they'd be under pressure to patch things up hurriedly...
...Even if they followed Reagan's advice to leave for Houston, how could they sell their homes...
...It's that macho toughness of workers who have a fairly strong union: you don't give in...
...But against President Stazak's power to orchestrate the election, the opposition was of no avail...
...they saw no alternative...
...Although many demands were painful, the hardest to swallow would have abolished craft lines...
...The internal steel market grew so rapidly that employers and workers could share "the growth dividend," even if unequally...
...Steel's demands threatened union principles...
...To insure the pact's ratification, President Stazak organized a strange election...
...Had the union accepted company demands, workers at the rail mill would have had to work harder, in less safe conditions, for lower rates of pay...
...And they united with allied craftspeople in 1896 to form a larger, more powerful organization...
...Yet militancy is not enough...
...In the auto industry, concession bargaining was a relatively open process in which President Fraser played the role of passionate advocate, while thousands of union activists participated in shaping events...
...After all the concessions hatters made in the 1880s, their national union's "label boycotts" succeeded in organizing more workers after 1895 than had ever been organized before...
...Kransdorf charged that it would be unsafe to have workers bent on meeting their production quotas doing maintenance work as well...
...They even called a press conference, where President Frank Guzzo of Local 1033 at nearby Republic Steel expressed concern that concessions at South Works could hurt his local...
...He cares about the next generation...
...They're in the driver's seat, so you just have to ride...
...But everyone that's been in the mill knows how the boss operates...
...Steel was organized in 1901...
...Things have changed...
...The International should make sure that locals are not picked off one by one...
...The decision by South Chicago unionists to make concessions to save their mill is but the opening scene of a long drama...
...to 11 P.M., then 11 P.M...
...Local 65, it seemed, had to make concessions...
...here they were the bulk of the voters...
...Ike Mezo, one of the local's ten elected grievers, explained: "The guy who's been around any length of time doesn't want to go against tradition...
...Can American workers gain a handle on decisions that have for so long been in the corporations' domain...
...After the Civil War, American industry outgrew local boundaries, as the railroads stretched across the continent...
...Then Pullman Standard closed, after United Steelworkers of America District Director Jack Parton's frantic efforts to save the plant failed...
...With unemployment rampant, where else could members find work...
...To deal with foreign labor-cost advantages, the union proposed legislation requiring all auto companies selling cars in this country to buy or produce most of the parts here...
...But their decision to defy U.S...
...companies...
...The corporations' needs give unions leverage...
...The union rests upon principles to which members adhere regardless of their individual interest...
...Cooperative labor relations will not help unionists if corporations install robots and computers without input from their employees, or if they flee American taxes and labor laws for low-wage havens abroad...
...Then the members' anger at U.S...
...By contrast, steelworkers are uninformed about what's happening to them and divided amongst themselves...
...And McBride made no effort to involve the union's secondary leaders in the bargaining...
...to 7 A.M...
...and national officers struggled to gain the power to prohibit locals from striking in hopeless situations...
...Lowseniority men, who cannot hope for reemployment, have been laid off so long they can't vote...
...markets, American firms responded slowly...
...1,795 members approved concessions, only 305 opposed...
...The authoritarian environment breeds conflict over foremen's favoritism, disputed piece rates, excessive absenteeism, and so on...
...Local 65 could not accept the destruction of craft traditions...
...The company halted repair work at the big #8 blast furnace and announced plans to give greater importance to the Gary Works at the expense of South Works...
...Stazak and Mike Ally, the grievance committee chair, read the proposal and asked for questions...
...Local 65 negotiators resisted these proposals, but the tide turned when Camens—who has considerable prestige in the union—said the company was not bluffing...
...They work rotating shifts, first 7 A.M...
...Steel purchased Marathon Oil, then threatened to shut down South Works, tension turned to anger...
...they can also offer to help boost production...
...At the same time, they began moving capital to more profitable sectors...
...To gain leverage, skilled workers had to establish national unions strong enough to ensure that the various locals followed the same policy...
...workers whose preferential status is abolished by the manning agreement vote "no...
...The internationalization of markets will transform the contemporary labor movement just as profoundly...
...Bitter conflicts that had divided the union for a decade were laid aside on July 16, when the officers agreed to face down the company's ultimatum...
...As a signer of the manning agreement he couldn't very well speak against it...
...Since production workers would help out with repairs, this provision could mean that management will select mostly skilled workers for the new facility...
...Here the USW seems weak...
...The mail ballot included a letter urging members to vote "yes...
...And in Monte Meauhead, U.S...
...Torrence Avenue, alongside the rusting hulk that was Wisconsin Steel, is full of boarded-up groceries and saloons...
...It has a program for stabilizing employment...
...I just have to sacrifice...
...For the past 40 years, American steelworkers have gained decent living standards by sharing in the profits of employers sheltered from foreign competitors...
...Roy Hollis's resignation, though understandable, was not typical...
...Clearly, the South Works story was part of President McBride's quest to establish cooperative relations in the steel industry in the face of concerted corporate attacks...
...2) The union would have to waive its right to grieve the job classifications spelled out in the manning agreement...
...Peruala's denunciation of the manning proposal gave legitimacy to the opposition...
...In return, management agreed to strengthen seniority rights...
...As the mills slump, many of the little "bucket shops" that service the mills have closed...
...And in Irondale, wooden frame houses that withstood a hundred Chicago winters and the Great Depression are crumbling...
...The UAW has also taken steps to gain "job security" for members through experimental "lifetime employment" projects at two Ford plants and through limited bans on plant closings at General Motors...
...Finally, boats began picking up ore in South Chicago for delivery to Gary...
...When I asked Steve Alexander why steelworkers were concerned with principles in the face of economic calamity, he answered that "even the conservative people like to think of themselves as good trade unionists...
...now Japanese steelmakers can buy Venezuelan and Brazilian ore as cheaply as can U.S...
...today Japanese manufacturers can ship steel coils to South Chicago cheaper than American firms can transport coal from Pennsylvania mines to Calumet harbor...
...When international competitors gained the ability to produce steel for sale in U.S...
...They upgraded their mills piecemeal, kept prices high, delayed introducing new technology...
...But Local 65 members felt it would be dishonorable to jeopardize the interests of thousands of their contemporaries and descendants to get a few hundred jobs in South Chicago...
...These proposals were aimed at a problem about which the company has long complained: maintenance workers don't work continuously...
...For a hundred years, the American steel industry produced for domestic consumers without worrying about foreign competition...
...This conflict is part of the mill, a familiar, chronic, controlled tension...
...It fell to Carl Alessi, from the District office, to defend the agreement...
...The company dropped many demands, including the proposal to create "supercraftsmen...
...Steel and their sense of honor might have prevailed, as it had at the August 27 meeting...
...Monte Meauhead, a millwright, believes this is unjust: "We have to work through lunch, through our breaks, and a lot of times it's voluntary, because we want to see the mill run too...
...And so, even though Local 65's concessions could be used as precedents to force other plants to weaken their work rules and even though the new rail mill in South Chicago would displace workers at the other rail mills, the International gave Local 65 permission to bargain...
...to 3 P.M., then 3 P.M...
...Their decision needs no explanation...
...manufacturers, their high-price strategy, their slowness to introduce new technology, their shortterm profit orientation, and their managerial inefficiency are all no longer viable...
...In the course of bargaining, the UAW developed a political dialogue that informed members about the issues, enabling them to make a decision they're willing to back up...
...You could see steelworkers calculating that, with only 3,000 people in the mill, they'd still be on the street...
...They struck up a chant, "vote now...
...Kransdorf sat down to an ovation...
...In spring 1982, U.S...
...It's this feeling that it's like working in a plantation atmosphere...
...The UAW has another advantage...
...But when U.S...
...You can see the pain of America's industrial contraction on the streets...
...It will take leadership to forge a new relationship between steelworkers and their employers...
...By combining three crafts and merging production and maintenance jobs, the company hoped to eliminate "nonproductive" time...
...But Local 65's decision might have been different had the vote been conducted at a meeting where Kransdorf, Peruala, and Mezo could explain their opposition...
...Turning to the key question, he argued that U.S...
...To gain perspective on what this means, let us look back a hundred years, when trade unionists faced another wrenching change...
...Still, when all is said and done, 1,795 steelworkers voted to approve concessions...
...Manufacturers need cooperative relations if they're to become competitive...
...Certainly, workers in South Chicago alone cannot do it...
...Steel changed its tune...
...Laid-off men with 10 to 20 years seniority vote "yes...
...Steel delivered an ultimatum: South Works would not get a new rail mill that would employ 450 workers and make it possible to keep 3,000 hands working— unless Local 65 agreed to a change of work rules...
...And Steve Alexander charged the agreement might make it hard for minorities to get hired on the rail mill...
...Since few people are working in the mill, that arena for campaigning was out too...
...Job classifications, craft identities, and work rules all mark the limits of the bosses' power...
...Nor is it only industrial workers that are suffering from the international economic upheaval...
...Steel was more than a refusal to make material sacrifices...
...When the companies asked to run slide shows describing American industry's problems in international marketplaces, McBride agreed...
...And now they want to get into oil...
...The company's most radical proposals—the creation of "operating technicians" to do both production and maintenance work, for example—would have directly affected only a few dozen men in the rail mill...
...Steel's South Works plant itself is down to a crew of 950, one-seventh its size of two years ago...
...Changes in transportation costs are also significant...
...But the transformation of most industries proceeded gradually...
...As a result, Japanese and other steel producers steadily increased their share of domestic sales, first selling lowgrade steel, then switching to high-grade alloys that were the big money-makers...
...Members of the Hat Finishers' National Association, for example, debated for five years whether to give up the right to strike for wage advances, whether to give up the right to call shop meetings whenever grievances arose, and whether to shorten the apprenticeship term...
...Roy Hollis, a crane operator unemployed for 14 months, expressed the steelworkers' desperation: "How can we say we ain't going to accept it when we don't have anything...
...The proud cooper, who had controlled his skill as his union controlled the workplace, passed into oblivion...
...Workers used their skill and concerted power as levers to gain a voice in determining how employers would organize the new factories...
...Cooperage, one of America's leading industries in 1860, producing barrels for shipping food, beer, liquor, and manufactured goods, was transformed in less than two decades...
...He had to agree that the company might still cancel the rail mill...
...Concessions would not guarantee them jobs and would worsen working conditions...
...If workers are to benefit from concession bargaining, they must gain some control over decisions about capital investment and new technology...
...Steelworkers have also developed a pride in resisting management that enables them to survive an authoritarian environment...
...Fundamentally, the unions' dilemma is that the world economy has changed...
...But the story at South Works was not to end here, for neither Donald Stazak nor United Steelworkers President Lloyd McBride was willing to risk losing the rail mill After national concession bargaining broke down on July 30, Local 65 President Stazak asked Mc-Bride to send his assistant, Sam Camens, to South Chicago...
...But when members at home face the choice alone, cut off from the feelings of solidarity that prevail at a union meeting, they consider mostly their own interest...
...During that struggle, unionists debated concessions with an intensity Local 65 members would find familiar...
...The chill winds of international trade have penetrated union halls in Pittsburgh and South Chicago...
...The workers had heard enough...
...Foreign manufacturers have penetrated the domestic market...
...Even recently elected President Donald Stazak, a self-described "company man," went along...
...Spencer Redd, who's been out of work for a year, explained the seniority principle: "I think an older man should be able to work...
...If Alessi's defense of the operating technician idea failed to impress, neither did his forecast for South Works' future...
...To black workers, it's more...
...You start with one little thing, and then they've got you doing everything...
...Then it was Ed Sadlowski's turn...
...As soon as Camens entered the picture, U.S...
...In negotiations between eight companies and the union last summer, President McBride never took a position on whether steelworkers should reopen their contract...
...They booed Alessi off the stage...
...The deepest source of resistance is the workers' sense of obligation to uphold the union...
...In other words, "They don't make investment decisions at the bargaining table...
...It might hurt me now, but eventually it will benefit me...
...but steelworkers never saw an analysis by their own union...
...Anger at the boss is rooted in the experience of working in the mill...
...That shelter is gone...
...Workers could not shape the industrial world solely on the basis of their local unions and work rules...
...For example, steelworkers insist that the company pay the lowest rated workers not much less than the highest rated...
...But the limits of the UAW's program have become painfully evident, as Chrysler places newspaper ads boosting its cars' "Japanese craftsmanship" and General Motors turns to Japanese manufacturers to produce subcompacts for GM to sell...
...Compare the Steelworkers' approach to that taken by the United Automobile Workers...
...3) The company would consider "ability" as well as seniority in filling production jobs in the rail mill...
...Steel heaped on other pressures...
...WORK AND WORKERS IN THE 1980s David Bensman Concession Bargaining in Steel A Weakened Union Faces Corporate Blackmail Things are grim in South Chicago...
Vol. 30 • January 1983 • No. 1
