1986 USX steel strike

Last updated
1986 USX Steel Strike
Part of Labor Unions
DateAugust 1, 1986 – January 31, 1987 (37 years ago)
Location
United States
Parties
Steel Industry
Number
22,000

About 22,000 employees of major American steel manufacturer USX stopped work from August 1, 1986 to January 31, 1987 after the United Steelworkers of America and the company failed to agree on new employee contract terms. The event was characterized by the company as a strike and by the union as a lockout. It surpassed the steel strike of 1959 as the longest steel industry work stoppage in US history.

Contents

The stoppage resulted in most USX facilities becoming idle until February 1, 1987, seriously degrading the steel division's market share. A compromise was brokered and accepted by the union membership on January 31, 1987. [1]

Background

The United States steel industry had been in decline since the late 1970s. Unions blamed management for underinvestment in capital improvements, and management blamed unions for demanding exorbitant pay, benefits, and strict limits on non-union subcontracting. [1]

A previous collective bargaining agreement expired at the end of July 1986. The union and management were unable to agree on terms, and over 99% of the USWA membership voted to go on strike when the current contract expired. [1]

Work stoppage

The USW delivered a letter to USX on July 31, one day before the contract expired, offering to continue work under the terms of the previous contract until a deal could be reached if the union maintained the right to go on strike at any time with 48 hours' notice. [1] USX rejected the offer, as it had already begun lengthy and expensive plant shutdown procedures in anticipation of a strike; furthermore, the ability to stop work on two days' notice would have given the union the ability to cost USX even more money, by disrupting deliveries and requiring another expensive and unplanned plant-idling operation. [1] USX maintained that the offer was never meant to be taken seriously and was a "legal fiction," designed to permit striking workers to collect unemployment benefits, as most US states allowed payment of unemployment during a management lockout but not a worker-initiated strike. [1]

Negotiations were at an impasse, and most USX facilities remained idle for months. Management-level employees began loading trucks and trains with previously-produced steel kept in inventory themselves and shipping it to customers, which led to violent clashes with striking workers. [1]

Corporate raider Carl Icahn announced his intention to take over USX on October 6, 1986 by friendly means if possible or by hostile means if necessary. He began separate negotiations with both the union and management, increasing the pressure on both sides to come to an agreement. Icahn discussed various potential concessions that he might agree to with union leadership.

Management feared that an Icahn deal with the union would leads losing control of the company. The union remained publicly neutral but internally came to believe that Icahn merely wanted to extract short-term cash from USX and was not really interested in the long-term health of the steel industry. [1]

Management and the union resumed direct negotiations on October 21, 1986, but talks had broken down by November 21. [1]

Return to work

By January 1987, USX was about to miss major orders for car manufacturers, and union members had reached the end of their unemployment benefits. The sides agreed to a compromise in which unions received their desired restrictions on subcontracting and expanded early retirement benefits, and management received wage concessions and the elimination of about 1,300 union jobs. The union members voted to accept the proposed agreement on January 31, 1987. Both sides claimed victory. [1]

On February 4, 1987, three days after the agreement had been reached to end the work stoppage, USX announced that four USX plants would remain closed permanently, eliminating about 3,500 union jobs. [1] At a press conference, USX declared that the plants had been closed since December 31 and were not included in the agreement. However, union members were unaware of that fact when they had voted to accept the deal and would surely have voted otherwise if they had known. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The interests of the employees are commonly presented by representatives of a trade union to which the employees belong. A collective agreement reached by these negotiations functions as a labour contract between an employer and one or more unions, and typically establishes terms regarding wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms, and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs. Such agreements can also include 'productivity bargaining' in which workers agree to changes to working practices in return for higher pay or greater job security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Steel</span> American steel-producing company

United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, including flat-rolled and tubular products for customers in industries across automotive, construction, consumer, electrical, industrial equipment, distribution, and energy. Operations also include iron ore and coke production facilities.

A lockout is a work stoppage or denial of employment initiated by the management of a company during a labour dispute. In contrast to a strike, in which employees refuse to work, a lockout is initiated by employers or industry owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Football League Players Association</span> American labor union

The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is the labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director Lloyd Howell. Founded in 1956, the NFLPA is the second-oldest labor union of the four major North American professional sports leagues; it was established to provide players with formal representation to negotiate compensation and the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The NFLPA is a member of the AFL–CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Mediation Board</span>

The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries.

The Federation of Hospital And University Employees is a coalition of labor unions in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, which represents thousands of workers at Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital. The federation currently includes recognized unions UNITE HERE Locals 34 and 35, which represent university food service, maintenance, and custodial workers, and clerical and technical workers, respectively. UNITE HERE has also, for the last fifteen years, supported the organizing efforts of graduate student teachers and researchers in the Graduate Employees and Students Organization. Finally, the Federation also includes the 150 dietary workers at Yale New Haven Hospital who are members of Local 1199NE of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Since 1998, this union has conducted an organizing campaign of about 1,800 other blue-collar service workers at the hospital. On March 22, 2006, the union and hospital agreed to an agreement governing the conduct of both parties in a neutral election process by which hospital employees will be able to vote on whether to unionize.

Owen Frederick Bieber was an American labor union activist. He was president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) from 1983 to 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stelco Lake Erie Works</span>

Stelco Lake Erie Works is a greenfield steel mill located in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada.

The steel strike of 1959 was a 116-day labor union strike by members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) that idled the steel industry throughout the United States. The strike occurred over management's demand that the union give up a contract clause which limited management's ability to change the number of workers assigned to a task or to introduce new work rules or machinery which would result in reduced hours or numbers of employees. The strike's effects persuaded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to invoke the back-to-work provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act. The union sued to have the Act declared unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court upheld the law.

See Wayne Horvitz for the musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MLS Players Association</span>

The MLS Players Association (MLSPA) is the union of professional Major League Soccer players. The MLS Players Association serves as the exclusive collective bargaining agreements representative for all current players in MLS.

The NFL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a labor agreement which reflects the results of collective bargaining negotiations between the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and National Football League (NFL). The labor agreement classifies distribution of league revenues, sets health and safety standards and establishes benefits, including pensions and medical benefits, for all players in the NFL. The first collective bargaining agreement was reached in 1968 after player members of the NFLPA voted to go on strike to increase salaries, pensions and benefits for all players in the league. Later negotiations of the collective bargaining agreement called for injury grievances, a guaranteed percentage of revenues for players, an expansion of free agency and other issues impacting the business of the NFL. The NFLPA and team owners have negotiated seven different agreements since 1968.

The 1985–1986 Hormel strike was a labor strike that involved approximately 1,500 workers of the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota in the United States. The strike, beginning August 17, 1985 and lasting until September 13 of the following year, is considered one of the longest strikes in Minnesota history and ended in failure for the striking workers.

The 2021 St. Paul Park refinery strike was a labor dispute in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, United States. The strike, involving approximately 200 workers, took place at an oil refinery owned by Marathon Petroleum and began on January 21, 2021, with members of Local 120 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters alleging unfair labor practices and unsafe working conditions. According to union representatives, the strike was originally intended to last for one day, but that the company performed a lockout on the workers. While the company denies that the dispute is a lockout, multiple sources, including the Star Tribune and the news agency Reuters, describe the dispute as a lockout.

The 2021 Allegheny Technologies strike was a labor strike involving about 1,300 workers for metals manufacturing company Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI), all unionized with the United Steelworkers (USW). The strike began on March 30 and ended on July 13 with the ratification of a new labor contract. Strikers returned to work by July 19. According to the Northwest Labor Press, the strike was among the country's largest for 2021 by number of strikers involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Kellogg's strike</span> 2021 labor strike by employees of the food manufacturer Kelloggs

The 2021 Kellogg's strike was a labor strike started on October 5, 2021 and ended December 21, 2021 involving about 1,400 workers for food manufacturer Kellogg's, unionized as members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM). The strike was caused due to disagreements between the union and company concerning the terms of a new labor contract, with particular points of contention concerning the current two-tier wage system, health care, holidays, retirement benefits, cost-of-living adjustments, and vacation time. The strike affected all of Kellogg's cereal-producing plants in the United States, consisting of plants in Battle Creek, Michigan; Omaha, Nebraska; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee. It is one of several strikes conducted by the BCTGM in 2021, including strike action against Frito-Lay and Nabisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 John Deere strike</span> Nationwide labor strike in the United States

The 2021 John Deere strike was a labor strike in the United States that began on October 14 and ended on November 17, and involved about 10,000 employees for John Deere, a manufacturer of agricultural and heavy machinery. These employees are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union, which had been negotiating a new contract with John Deere for several months. On November 17 the workers approved a new 6-year contract officially putting an end to the strike. The strike was John Deere's first in over three decades.

The 1986–1987 John Deere labor dispute, a.k.a. the 1986 John Deere strike and lockout, was a conflict between Deere & Company, more commonly known as John Deere, and its employees. The workers, unionized as part of the United Auto Workers, began selective strikes at three Deere facilities on August 23, 1986. The selective strikes prompted Deere to close the rest of the facilities under the same labor contract as three striking locales, which the UAW, and later The New York Times, called a lockout. On February 1, 1987, workers ratified a tentative agreement which provided stronger benefits to Deere production employees. The conflict was the longest strike ever against Deere, lasting 163 days, or more than five months.

The 1985–1987 Watsonville Cannery strike was a labor strike that involved over 1,000 workers at two food processing facilities in Watsonville, California, United States. The facilities were owned by Watsonville Canning and Richard A. Shaw Inc., two of the largest frozen food processors in the United States, while the workers were all union members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 912. The strike began on September 9, 1985, and completely ended about 18 months later, on March 11, 1987.

Workers for the Scripto company in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, held a labor strike from November 27, 1964, to January 9, 1965. It ended when the company and union agreed to a three-year contract that included wage increases and improved employee benefits. The strike was an important event in the history of the civil rights movement, as both civil rights leaders and organized labor activists worked together to support the strike.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Nash Jr., Bradley (2000-04-19). "Labor Law and the State: The Crises of Unions in the 1980s, chapter 6. PhD thesis in sociology". hdl:10919/27339.