WestRock Paper Mill preparing for lockout

RUSSELL COUNTY, Ala. (WTVM) - A strike could be on the horizon for workers at one of Russell County’s largest employers. The employees say their issue is not wanting more money but keeping what they already get, as outlined in the following:

Westrock Paper Mill — Westrock Paper Mill(WTVM)

A labor dispute is brewing at the WestRock Paper mill in Russell County, which could soon lead to a strike or a lockout. Valuable family time outside of work is what Bobby Watson says the union workers he represents are unwilling to give up for less money. As a result, WestRock will no longer be paying a lot extra to work, for instance, on a day off or a Sunday.

“They ask our people to work all these hours and give away all that time for their profits. We don’t get that time back. They want to start squeezing, taking away from us.” said Watson. “They take away these labor protections so they can work you even longer and not have to pay that penalty, which reduces your wages, so not only are you losing time with your family, you’re losing the money as well. They’ve offered them $10,000 to buy that language, that protection that says if you work me over 16, if you work me over seven days a week, if you work me over 24, there’s a penalty. They want to buy that penalty. They’re just throwing a bunch of money at them.”

We reached out to Westrock about the union’s concerns. We received the following responses;

WestRock presented an official (last, best and final) contract offer to the USW unions at our Mahrt mill in Cottonton, Alabama, and the union did not approve the contract. So, on September 26, the union gave the mill notice that it was terminating the contract in 10 days. That means the current union contract will terminate on October 6, and the union will have the right to strike.
The mill is currently operating. If we do not reach an agreement before the contract termination, the union has the right to strike at that time. WestRock intends to continue to run the mill and will proceed with a lockout if deemed necessary to ensure the facility’s safe operation. A paper mill is a complex operation, and safe management requires that we not leave any equipment unattended. Therefore, we would proceed with a lockout if we determine that a strike is going to occur. We want to ensure that the mill remains a safe and operative facility for the workers to return to.
On the contract details - the union has expressed concern about the elimination of premium pay – which for this contract is double pay on Sundays. This pay structure is no longer common practice in our industry, and WestRock has eliminated this from all other union facilities that we operate. The other key issue is the pyramiding of overtime – which is essentially overtime on top of overtime. In both of these instances, we have offered to pay the employees compensation for the removal of these out-of-date pay practices.
For background – the average straight-time wage at the mill is $29.77 per hour. The average maintenance wage is $40.91 per hour, and the average production wage is $29.18. We are offering nearly $20,000 per employee for the buyout of premium pay and an additional $8,000 for the elimination of pyramid pay with the ratification of the contract.
We hope we can resolve this issue before a strike or lockout occurs, and I’m happy to keep you informed of our progress. We truly value our team members at the Mahrt mill, and hope that this will be resolved quickly. My contact information is below if you have any questions.

Copyright 2022 WTVM. All rights reserved.