Monday Morning Minute for Week of March 17, 2014 Safety Update – Incident Alert - On August 27, 2013, one contractor was killed and two others were injured at RockTenn in Hodge, LA. The plant is represented by USW Local Union 1505, but the contractors were not USW members. The fatality occurred in the C-Line black liquor tank where the workers were performing cleaning and maintenance inside the vessel. On 02/26/2014 OSHA issued a citation and notification of penalty. Under the Permit-Required Confined Space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not review the permit-required confined space program, using the canceled permits retained under 29 CFR 1910.146(e)(6) within one year after each entry and revise the program as necessary to ensure that employees participating in entry operations are protected from permit space hazards. Date by which violation must be abated: 03/13/2014. Proposed penalty: $7,000.00.. Union Work – Collective Bargaining, Organizing, Arbitration, Community Work, Political Work, Labor History International Paper Mill Locals Reach Master Agreement– Kudos to our IP Mill Locals. Late last evening (March 6) we successfully concluded negotiations for a new MILL Master Agreement covering 7,500 workers across the USA. These negotiations preserved and improved the defined benefit plan: eliminated a second tiered pension by giving 1,800 workers a $10 per month per year of service increase; while giving those on the 1st tier a $5 increase, creating parity once again for all. The agreement contains wage increases that range from 2-2.5%, improving the average annual W-2 by more than $8,000 over the life of the agreement. While it was a long busy week-our locals should be proud of their work. Well done! Members will be voting on the contract and details will be revealed post ratification. Local 7-662 – Ivex Specialty Paper –Peoria, IL – Past Practice Arbitration – The employer failed to offer the grievant overtime. An employee with less seniority was given the overtime opportunity in the Beater Room and Paper Machine departments. The CBA had specific language covering this overtime and how it was to be given out, giving it on a split basis to the person performing the work and to the other person on shift. The employer claimed that this was an emergency, and therefore fell into one of the exceptions. There was a past practice of paying employees for missed overtime. The employer had tried to change the practice by getting individuals to waive their right to overtime pay unless they worked for it. The arbitrator found that the CBA’s language gave the employee the right to refuse or accept overtime offered, and did not give the employer the right not to offer overtime to the senior employee even if that employee had habitually refused overtime in the past. Award: grievance sustained. ~FMCS 090923-61190~ Industry Update Great Northern Paper Co. Mill’s Future at Center of Hearing on Electricity Bill March 5 – As a state legislative committee prepared to meet Wednesday to discuss a bill allowing Great Northern Paper Co. LLC to sell electricity at its Main Street paper mill, the company’s owners and workers reiterated that the bill’s passage is critical to the mill’s restarting by May 1. The Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology is holding a public hearing on the bill, L.D. 1792, at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Augusta. Great Northern shut down the East Millinocket mill (USW Local 4-152) on Jan. 23. The company said it needed to create a new business plan to overcome high energy and production costs. On Feb. 6, the company laid off 212 of its 256 workers. The statement GNP officials released Monday through their parent company, Cate Street Capital of New Hampshire, included endorsements of the bill from local leaders and union officials. The law change would allow Cate Street to negotiate with Brookfield to resell electricity in the wholesale market at an increased price to the New England power grid — thereby creating a hefty economic boost to the mill’s ability to compete as a papermaker, officials have said. Cate Street officials have said they want Brookfield to agree to renegotiate their current agreement and strike a revenue-sharing deal. Under the new agreement, Cate Street would get a share of proceeds whenever it cuts back on paper production during periods of peak electricity demand and Brookfield instead sells that power on the wholesale market when prices are high. These types of controlled blackouts are called “load shedding.” Brookfield has been receptive to the idea, but has warned that any agreement must be financially sensible. State officials admit that Brookfield would make more money selling electricity without Cate Street’s involvement. One said that Brookfield has to be taken at its word that it wants to cooperate. Pulp Mill Looking for New Ways to Get Chips –Fulghum Fibres in Baileyville, Maine, a woodchip supplier to the Woodland Pulp LLC pulp mill (USW Local 27), has released a statement saying that a March 4 fire in the maintenance repair shop did not affect its inventory of woodchips. Fulghum supplies hardwood chips to the adjacent Woodland Pulp mill. Its manager, Scott Beal, said Fulghum supplies the majority of its chips. The fire left a building dedicated to debarking logs and processing them into chips unusable, according to the Baileyville fire chief. A spokesperson for Fulghum Fibres parent Rentech Inc. said it would find a way to provide “uninterrupted service” to the pulp mill, perhaps by using portable chipping equipment. Beal said the fire would not affect the pulp mills operations and plans are to run it full out. Woodland Pulp relies on other woodchip suppliers and the company will be seeking some alternatives to assure it has the chips it needs, he said. AF&PA Welcomes Appointment of Paper Check-off Board Members – The appointment of Paper Check-off Board members was announced March 11 via news release by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. AF&PA helped to facilitate the work of the Paper Check-Off Panel that initiated the program. “The appointment of the Paper Check-off Board is an important milestone for our industry in telling the powerful story about the benefits of paper and paper-based packaging,” said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman. “We look forward to the work of the Paper Check-off Board in developing a new promotion program for paper and paper-based packaging and congratulate the industry leaders who have been selected to serve on the board.” Industry executives appointed to serve on the Paper Check-off Board by USDA are: Michael P. Doss (Graphic Packaging International); Bernd Eikens (UPM Paper ENA); Christian Fischer (Georgia-Pacific); Rodger D. Fuller (Sonoco Products Company); Brian E. Janki (Glatfelter); Mark W. Kowlzan (Packaging Corporation of America); Jennifer L. Miller (Sappi Fine Paper North America); Julie Schertell (Neenah Paper Inc.); Steven Voorhees (RockTenn); Michael A. Weinhold (Verso Paper Corp.); John D. Williams (Domtar); and Ann B. Wrobleski (International Paper). “We appreciate the work of the Paper Check-off Panel in bringing the industry together and USDA’s work to make the Paper Check-off a reality,” added Harman. USDA published the final rule in January, which established the program and assessment calculations that began on March 1, 2014. Assessments will be invoiced on a quarterly basis beginning March 30. The first meeting of the Paper Check-off Board is scheduled to take place March 25th, 2:30-6:00 p.m. in New York. (For more information about the program, visit papercheckoff.) Remember to share Monday Morning Minute in your work place and share your stories with us. Send your information to Leeann Foster at [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 20:33:40 +0000
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