Labor-management bargaining in 1992

Monthly Labor Review, Jan, 1993 by Michael H. Cimini, Susan L. Behrmann, Eric M. Johnson

The new 4-year agreement provided increases over its term of $1.60 in hourly wage rates, 6 percent in flat/zone rates, and up to 13 cents per mile in various mileage rates; a $42 increase (per employee) over the contract term in employers' weekly contributions to health, welfare, and pension funds, with an additional increase in June 1994 to match any 1994 increase negotiated under the Teamsters' National Master Freight Agreement; preserving work and jobs traditionally performed by Teamsters-represented carhaul employees, including prohibiting any future double breasting; limiting the number of employees of current double-breasted subsidiaries that are not represented by a union; and prohibiting parent companies and subsidiaries from "any transaction, restructuring or reorganization designed to evade" work traditionally performed by Teamsters members. (See Monthly Labor Review, July 1992, pp. 37-38, for additional details of the terms of the contract.)

The Teamsters disputed the Federal Government's request to extend and expand government authority under the 1989 consent decree that called for court-appointed monitors to oversee the union's activities and to investigate its ties to organized crime. The union alleged that the requested authority goes beyond what is contained in the consent decree, represents an unreasonable intrusion in its internal affairs, and would result in the unnecessary expenditure of millions of dollars.

Primary metal industries

The big news in the primary metal industries in 1992 was: the failure of most faltering steelmakers to persuade the Steelworkers union to revamp its master contracts; the failure of the United States to reach a new steel export-restraint agreement with other countries that would have continued limits on the amount of steel foreign countries could export to the United States; and various settlements in the aluminum industry, including one that ended a 19-month dispute at Ravenswood Aluminum.

In 1991, the steel industry lost $1 billion and production fell to its lowest level since 1986. In 1992, the industry continued to suffer from depressed market conditions, overcapacity, and sustained losses, with several companies on the ropes, either operating under bankruptcy protection or shedding unprofitable operations in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.

The genesis of the current labor problems stems from the 1989-90 round of bargaining which basically restored major pay and benefit cuts agreed to in the early 1980's. Although the industry had just experienced a 2-year boom, many market analysts thought at the time that most steelmakers were still in too precarious a financial condition to warrant such costly contracts.

Late in 1991, Inland Steel Co. and USX Corp. requested the Steelworkers to renegotiate their contracts--which do not expire until July 31, 1993, and January 31, 1994 -given the depressed condition of the industry. The union rejected the overtures, but agreed to meet with management representatives in early 1992 to discuss "issues of mutual concern." However, no substantive movement was made in revamping the agreements.