Ahlstrom Paper Workers Join USW

In his 20 years of work as a union roofer, Hamlet Hernandez learned the difference that a union makes, not only through improved wages and benefits, but also in scheduling, health and safety, and other issues.

That’s why, after a career change landed him at the Ahlstrom paper facility in Windsor Locks, Conn., Hernandez started talking to his co-workers about joining a union. He knew that his factory was one of the few Ahlstrom locations in the United States where workers did not have a voice on the job.

When management began altering workers’ regular schedules with little warning, forcing them to alternate between daylight, night shifts and weekends, many decided they had seen enough.

“That was the start of it, right there,” said Bernie Petrone, a 25-year employee. “We had to stand up for ourselves.”

The unpredictable schedules took their toll on the work force, Hernandez said.

“I was always tired, and I was missing out on a lot of family events. It took me away from my family,” he said. “Somewhere along the way, we had to draw a line in the sand and fight for what we deserved.”

It wasn’t long before Hernandez, Petrone and other workers drew that line, with an all-out effort to become Steelworkers. Over the winter, workers began collecting union cards and, this past May, held a vote in which they decided to join USW-represented employees at four Ahlstrom mills in Wisconsin and one in Pennsylvania.

“They like to say, ‘This is what’s best for the company,’” Hernandez said. “But the employees are the company. The people on the floor doing the work – that is the company.”

Now, the workers are in the early stages of bargaining their first contract, hoping to address some of the lingering issues that led them down the path to USW membership.

Petrone, who admits he was initially skeptical of the idea of unionization when discussions first began, is now all-in on the idea. “Now I get it,” he said. “Now I know why we have unions.”