Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers

Culture and symbolism

The AWPPW places a premium on democracy and independence. This is not surprising, given the conditions under which it was founded. For instance, its newsletter, in publication since 1964 is called The Rebel. Its seal is a gavel surrounded by the slogan "Guard Well the Democratic Rights of Your Members." The seal and slogan were created by Bill and Lucille Riggs, inspired by Bill's study of Robert's Rules of Order. Bill "saw the chairman's gavel as a tangible symbol of a member's rights."

Governance

The AWPPW was born out of the perceived dictatorial practices of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers and the United Papermakers and Paperworkers unions. Consequently, it proclaims itself to be "the most democratic union in the world."

The structure of union governance according to the 2006 AWPPW constitution is as follows:

Elections and conventions

The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers use a directly democratic process for election of their officers. Nominations for association officers are done at the convention by seated delegates. Once nominations are accepted, voting for officers is done on a local level by each member in good standing. Every member in good standing is eligible to vote and run for all offices.

Conventions happen every five years, the length of the officers' terms. Special conventions can be called by a 40% call from members in good standing. The members of the executive board (President, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, and four elected Trustees) do not have power to overrule votes by delegates at convention.

Local contracts are bargained by local officers. Strike votes and contract ratification votes are of a simple majority by the local members in good standing.

The number of delegates from each local is based on the number of members of that local. Delegates, along with all other local officials, are elected locally by members in good standing at that local.

Provisions exist in the constitution for recall of all elected officials.

The split

On April 23, 1964, a majority of 21,000 workers from forty-nine paper mills, owned by eighteen companies, rebelled against the two oldest established unions that had been representing them. The International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers (IBPS&PMW) and the United Papermakers and Paperworkers (UPP), along with affiliate Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association (PCPPMEA), bargained collectively with twenty-nine manufacturers.

The PCPPMEA had always negotiated with a certain amount of autonomy. Various issues had arisen over the years that created dissension. Significantly, it was the matter of secrecy and lack of democratic rule that was most chafing. The International unions elected their VPs by a majority of votes cast at the convention. Even 100% of the PCPPMEA delegates were not enough to choose their own representation. Rank and file members of the PCPPMEA didn't believe the Internationals were giving sufficient effort to settle their grievances.

During pre-wage negotiations the Internationals were seen to have thrown out thirty years of negotiating practice when they replaced PCPPMEA delegates with International VPs. It was this act that prompted Bill Perrin, acknowledged leader of the PCPPMEA, to walk out. He said he just planned "to go do a little fishing." He was astonished to find that he had been followed by seventy-three of the 138 delegates.

The two International unions appointed replacement delegates and continued to negotiate without the PCPPMEA. Pacific Coast delegates were denied admittance when they attempted to return. Legal action before the Oregon Circuit Court sought to reinstate Pacific Coast delegates. The court ruled against the PCPPMEA and a peace committee was proposed but not well received by any of the parties. An attorney for the International unions argued before the court that NLRB action, rather than a court hearing, was the appropriate venue to decide the issue. It was this statement that sparked the idea to establish a new union.

On May 9, 1964, several leaders of the rebellion met in Olympia, Washington to form the AWPPW. Bargaining between the International unions and the companies had concluded on May 5. They had received an offer of about $0.16¾ an hour. This represented the best offer labor had ever received. The fledgling union was faced with two tasks simultaneously: it had to convince the membership to reject this offer and get enough cards signed to demand NLRB recognition. 9,500 northwest pulp and paper workers, well above the 30% necessary, signed cards requesting representation by the AWPPW. The contract was rejected and nearly 15,000 members had refused to vote. These vote totals represented a serious embarrassment and threat to the International unions.

The International unions moved quickly to issue a second referendum offering members an opportunity to reconsider the offer. They asked Pacific Coast mill owners to implement the contract. The employers refused, citing the pending NLRB ruling on the representation petition by the AWPPW. On July 12 the NLRB's Regional Director granted the AWPPW request for a bargaining rights election. The election was held during the week of September 14 and forty-nine mills gave the AWPPW a victory over the Internationals 10,653 to 8,130. The AWPPW was certified as the exclusive bargaining agent for Pacific Coast pulp and paper workers on October 1, 1964.

The first contract

The first order of business for the new union was to negotiate a contract with the manufacturers' association. The untested, inexperienced AWPPW faced an array of forces. They were unsure how vigorously their membership would back them. Taking the membership out on a strike would not be the most auspicious beginning. President William Burnell of the IBPS&PMW and President Paul L. Phillips of the UPP issued a joint statement declaring the intention of their unions to fight to regain bargaining rights for all the mills they had lost. George Meany of the AFL-CIO denounced the AWPPW and gave his support to the Internationals.

However, the new union had support as well. The national AFL-CIO may not have supported them but the Oregon State AFL-CIO named Bill Perrin, President of the AWPPW, Oregon Labor Leader of the Year. The AWPPW received support and pledges of financial assistance from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the Teamsters, the International Woodworkers of America, and the Lumber and Sawmill Workers.

On October 25, 1964 the AWPPW engaged in its first pre-wage conference. They elected a bargaining board, established procedures, and drafted the demands they would present at the joint wage conference. Present were 140 delegates from fifty-eight locals in Washington, Oregon and California. It was important to bring back a contract competitive with those signed by the International unions. The AWPPW felt it was important to settle a contract quickly.

Negotiations began on October 28, 1964. They followed procedures that had been established in the past. The first critical issue to be negotiated was language stipulating that all employees would be represented by the AWPPW. The manufacturers' association resisted this demand. The bargain reached an impasse on the very first issue. On November 3, the management called for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS).

On November 11 the AWPPW called for the first strike pacific coast mills had seen in thirty years. Some employees who remained loyal to the old International unions crossed the picket lines. Employers claimed that thirty-three of the mills continued to operate. Emotions ran high and there was some violence. Contempt of court proceedings were started. Restraining orders were issued and charges of unfair labor practices were lodged. The FMCS in Washington D.C. monitored continued negotiations. With their aid, an agreement was reached on November 23 and the strike came to an end.

The Constitution

February, 1965 saw the first constitutional convention of the AWPPW. The primary constitutional consideration was democratic rule. History of democracy in unions made it clear that a certain amount of authority needed to be vested in the AWPPW to make decisions in the best interest of the membership. The balance fashioned into the Constitution presented concerns to both rank and file and officers of the AWPPW.

The balance that was struck provided that all representatives and officers had to stand for election. Officers would be permitted to attend and give voice at committee meetings but only the elected regional representatives were allowed to vote. Addressing the issue of equal voice for small locals, it was decided that locals would be provided elected representation that balanced all locals. Thus, smaller unions would be granted more delegates to be given equal voice.

Bill Perrin, who had led the original rebellion, became the first constitutionally elected president of the AWPPW.

Regional representatives had to be re-elected by the membership of their region. The Constitution provided for recall of any elected official. Each region elected a trustee plus one trustee at large whose job it was to monitor the Secretary-Treasurers reports and to make certain that the elected officials were fulfilling their obligations.

A ten person executive board, consisting of the trustees, the President, two Vice Presidents and the Secretary-Treasurer was formed. Rank and file members comprised a majority of the board so they were able to control board action. They acted as a trial and appeals board. They oversaw charges brought against members under rules of the Constitution. Therefore, a member charged with an infraction could appeal to a board that was made of by a majority of rank and file members. This was a distinctly democratic feature of the AWPPW. A member had one more step beyond this board. The decision of the executive board could be appealed to a three member board called the Public Review Board. It was composed of people not associated with the AWPPW. The Public Review Board had the power to reverse, modify or uphold executive board decisions.

The AWPPW created another distinctly unique, democratic constitutional regulation concerning dues. A modest $2 a month per capita was charged to each local to maintain the management of the union and pay legal bills incurred by the union. If the local, for any reason lost its charter, even by voluntary resignation, all funds and properties would remain with the local. This represented a significant difference from the 'reverter' clauses by which the international unions punished locals if they considered withdrawing. The AWPPW viewed these reverter clauses as blackmail.

Numerous problems faced the new union. The authors of The Pulp and Paper Rebellion: A New Pacific Coast Union offer the opinion that there is little doubt that the AWPPW will continue to operate in a democratic manner. The major concern facing the AWPPW is that it might be too democratic.

Women in the AWPPW

The 1968 agreement between the AWPPW and west coast pulp and paper mills was historic according to Clifford Alexander, Jr., Chairman of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC). The union had been pressing since 1966 for equal pay for women performing the same jobs as men. This language represented the first time equal pay language was included in a major contract in the paper industry.

Locals 183 and 644 had won this concession in a thirty-six-day strike of the Scott Paper mills in Everett, Washington. It brought women's pay up by 7% and set the standard for the equal pay demand throughout the industry. The membership approved this one issue resolution with a vote of 5,568 to 1,150. It represented an increase in the base rate of $0.13½ per hour for 2,000 women. Manufacturers would say it represented a wage increase over $500,000 per year.

This marked the beginning but certainly not the end of the crusade by AWPPW women for redress and reform of various discriminations against women. In 1969 Nancy Weber of Local 672 began an action against Kimberly-Clark that went on as a class action suit all the way to Federal District Court. The court ruling levied $66,800 plus legal fees against Kimberly-Clark. That was the largest Title VII settlement to date but, more importantly, Kimberly was forced to amend its policy.

A group of AWPPW women banded together into a group called Women Inc. to fight the pulp and paper industry on many Title VII issues. They filed thirty to thirty-five cases of discrimination with the EEOC. The manufacturers defended themselves by citing antiquated laws that permitted their discriminatory behavior. In 1969 Women, Inc., with the aid of other women's groups, struck the San Francisco fiberboard plants. They forced the management of these plants to go beyond the strict, legal language to examine all company policies in light of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The burden of proof fell upon the state. This historic legal victory by AWPPW women changed not only the shape of pulp and paper manufacturers' behavior, but set the standard for industrial adherence to Title VII of the EEOC across the country.

The AWPPW and politics

The AWPPW has two primary political interests: preserving jobs, and protecting both current and retired workers. Key issues recently have been environmental measures, international trade agreements, and the Employee Free Choice Act. In the 2008 presidential election, the union wholeheartedly endorsed Barack Obama for his stance on labor issues ranging from minimum wage to the Central American Trade Agreement.

In the early 1970s the AWPPW fought for—and won—improved safety codes for the pulp and paper industry in Washington and Oregon, but was not so successful in trying to enact log export bans.

Organizing

The Constitution mandates that the Executive Board of the Association must create an organizing plan to "maintain the strength of this organization". The President of the Association has the ability to hire one or more organizer. The local area representatives can also be utilized to do organizing work.

Wages

Listed below are current and real AWPPW wages of a journeyman mechanic from 1964 to present. The current wage information for 1964 to 1984 has been reproduced from the special 20th Anniversary edition of the Rebel, while current wage information from 1994 to present has been compiled from AWPPW contracts. The real wage (in bold) was calculated using the inflation calculator at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

1964 Wage: 3.49 -> 24.01

1974 Wage (Low): 6.43 -> 27.81
1974 Wage (High): 7.46 -> 32.27

1984 Wage (Low): 12.325 -> 25.30
1984 Wage (High): 17.205 ->35.31

1994 Wage (Low): 19.265 – > 27.72
1994 Wage (High): 21.525 -> 30.97

2004 Wage (Low): 21.83 -> 24.64
2004 Wage (High): 29.35 -> 33.13

2009 Wage (Low): 19.94
2009 Wage (High): 31.865

Historically workers in the pulp and paper industry have enjoyed relatively high wages. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is due both to "the many skilled workers in both production and maintenance occupations" and to an unusually high union density: at the time of the 1982 survey, 96% of pulp and paper production workers were employed by union mills.

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