Monday Morning Minute – USW Paper Sector
Monday, April 11, 2016
Union Work – Collective Bargaining, Organizing, Arbitration, Worker Rights, Community Work, Political Work, Labor History
2016 National Paper Bargaining Conference – Over 550 USW paperworkers attended the conference last week to update safety and bargaining policies that will be enacted for the next two years. The Conference reaffirmed the mandatory foundational bargaining priorities around contract length and health care. The top priority included developing a bargaining agenda around Making & Converting Paper Safely – a 10-point plan that was developed and adopted unanimously by the Conference after a study of fatalities at USW Paper Sector facilities from 2012-2014 inclusive. The plan addresses the fact that the USW paper sector has the highest fatality rate of any other industrial sector. The plan recognizes the common areas and trends among US Paper Industry Fatalities and puts forth a plan to address them. The USW Paper Sector is committed to working with OSHA and companies in the industry to implement the plan to make and convert paper safely and prevent more fatalities in our industry. A final copy of Making & Converting Paper Safely will be circulated after final inputs from the Conference are incorporated.
The Conference added three additional key bargaining priorities to the agenda: staffing, achieving rational overtime restrictions, and protecting our core work from outsourcing. All of these three key priorities are interrelated and impact safety. The Conference continued the primary goals and objectives to confront trends, adding new employee orientation to the objectives.
To view photos from the conference, copy and paste the following link into your browser: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unitedsteelworkers/albums/72157666691117352
Union Plus Wireless Discount Program – AT&T is the only fully unionized wireless carrier and offers a 15% discount to union members. There are currently more than 620,000 union members and staff participating in the Union Plus Wireless Discount program with AT&T, but that constitutes only 5% of the 12.5 million members of all AFL-CIO unions, while AT&T has approximately a 30% share of the wireless market. You may also qualify for other savings offers from AT&T and up to $250 cash back from Union Plus.
By standing with the unionized workers at AT&T, you send a strong message to non-union wireless companies that union money will not support them.
Safety
Don Blankenship, Former Massey Energy CEO, Sentenced to One Year in Prison – On April 6, 2016, Blankenship was sentenced to serve one year of prison time for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards. The verdict came 6 years after an underground accident killed 29 workers at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. Massey was convicted of a single misdemeanor charge that carries a maximum of one year in prison.
United mine Workers of America International President, Cecil E. Roberts, stated “I am gratified that Don Blankenship was found guilty of violating mine safety laws and that he received the maximum sentence available for that crime. However, it is outrageous that the most time in prison he can receive as a punishment is one year. “There were 52 people killed at Massey mines while he was CEO of that company. The penalty he has received means he will get one week per death. That’s a travesty. He orchestrated a scheme to evade mine safety laws, impede enforcement of those laws, provide false information to federal safety inspectors and more, all of which put every miner who worked on any Massey property at risk of losing their lives every day they went to work. “
Industry Update
The Importance of Paper in Tax Season – The International Revenue Service continues moves to deny paper-based information and services. The IRS no longer mails tax forms to U.S. taxpayers, has discontinued sending the Tax Instruction Guide for individuals through the mail, and stopped equipping libraries or post offices with the booklet for distribution. The only place to find the instructions on paper is through Government Printing Office, where a hard copy version can be ordered for $23. Our country expects its citizens to fulfill their obligation of filing annual taxes. In turn, our government has a responsibility to supply the necessary information in a manner that people can access, including paper. Unfortunately, the citizens of our country are not given the option of getting tax instructions in paper form from the IRS. The USW is committed to working with the industry and our government on this issue.
Weyerhaeuser – The Company’s Cellulose Specialties business has been re-valued at $2.5billion; which is down from previously reviewed value of $2.9-3.0B due to concerns about increases in global pulp capacity (including fluff pulp). Analysts suspect that the company may end up with 2-3 buyers. The downside to multiple buyers is that it may preclude the use of a tax-free Reverse Morris Trust spin/sale of the assets. Weyerhaeuser’s low tax basis could trigger major tax leakage on a cash sale. The Company’s fluff pulp mills could be of interest to existing fluff pulp producers like Georgia-Pacific, International Paper, Domtar, Resolute, and Rayonier Advanced Materials. However, Domtar is regarded as the most probable buyer of at least some of the fluff assets.
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