The United Steelworkers (USW) union announces that it has reached an agreement with the Sherwin Alumina management regarding preseravtion of pension plan and gains severance pay and other benefits for the USW members after the comapny's alumina refinery in Gregory shuts down officially on Friday, November 4. The agreement marks an end to the several months of bargaining that USW has been doing with Sherwin Alumina since it made clear that it would close its operations at the Gregory plant.
The court approved the settlement in Sherwin's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case today after a short hearing.
Commenting on the development, USW District 13 Director Ruben Garza said, "While the USW ultimately is deeply troubled by the company's decision to shut down the plant, we are proud of the way these brave workers stood up to a greedy corporate giant and fought as hard as they could to achieve the best possible result for themselves, their families and the entire community. From the beginning, this has been a story of corporate greed, which led to the company's unnecessary and disastrous lockout and, ultimately, the bankruptcy of a once-thriving facility."
"Throughout the past two years, through repeated attempts to reach an agreement at the bargaining table, through NLRB cases and appeals, through bankruptcy, and of course in the face of the company's relentless concessionary demands and intimidation tactics, the members of Local 235A stood strong," Garza said..jpg)
"That's not to say we didn't have help – the solidarity of our allies around the world, the strength of the USW's strike and defense fund and emergency health benefits, as well as the support of the entire South Texas community, all played a role in keeping this fight alive."
The USW had repeatedly approached Sherwin with the proposal to keep the plant open. But Sherwin filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and notified the USW in August that it planned to close the facility. Now that the employee settlement agreement has been signed, it remains to be seen how the workers react to the process of eligibility assessment before disbursement of shutdown pension benefits begins.
Under the closure agreement, the company will permanently lay off the USW work force, which will allow workers to preserve certain pension rights, as well as assist with pursuing Trade Adjustment Assistance and other benefits.
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"This situation was exacerbated by the flood of unfairly traded Chinese aluminum into the United States. But in the end, it was the strength and solidarity of the 235A membership that was instrumental in preserving the benefits we were able to secure through this agreement," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.
"While we are disappointed by this outcome, we should all be proud of the way we stood up for each other," President Gerard concluded.
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