Washblog

Weyerhaeuser Grays Harbor Update

Yesterday I attended a monthly community partners' meeting (of which I am a member) at Raymond's River View campus of Grays Harbor College.

Part of our discussion included what is going on at Weyco as things move closer to the Cosmopolis plant closure.

Weyco is making the effort to reduce staff through other sorts of attrition such as offering severance and early-retirement packages intended to ease out some of the long termers with benefit then to shorter-termed employees who may receive available jobs at other Weyco sites.

Starting tonight, on-site briefings will be held to inform employees of what is coming and options available to the employees. The presentations are to include ample time for G&A.

I also learned that seniority at Weyerhaeuser does not include the ability for more senior workers to "bump" less senior workers at other Weyco sites - that each Weyco site is "fenced" and bumping from another mill cannot occur. For example, Cosmopolis workers will not be able to bump workers with less time on the job at other Weyco locations within reasonable driving distance from Cosmopolis, Aberdeen and North Pacific County.

Thus, should for example Weyco Raymond hire a Weyco worker from Cosmopolis, regardless of how many years that worker has with Weyco at Cozzy, in Raymond that worker will be at the bottom of the seniority list.

I asked about the Governor's $50,000 comittment for a feasibility study and it appears the the money primarily will be spent on gathering statistical data. I'll be asking around to see if there are more specifics on what is involved in studying "feasibility."

Weyco Cosmopolis: Keeping the Governor Engaged

According to AP Associated Press (10/30/05)

"Gov. Christine Gregoire has pledged $50,000 toward a feasibility study to see if Weyerhaeuser's Cosmopolis pulp mill can continue operations as a viable business under new ownership.

Gregoire made the announcement Saturday at a meeting at Grays Harbor Colleges Bishop Center.

Gregoire called for the meeting after the timber giant announced it would be closing the Aberdeen large log sawmill in December and the pulp mill next year."

I know that I am not fully aware of the width and breadth of gubernatorial influence and authority in terms of a response on behalf of communities impacted by plant closures and the resulting job loss.

And I was heartened by the Sierra Pacific announcement with its potential of job opportunities for at least a portion of those facing impending employment crises.

When major employers use down-sizing in an attempt to become more efficient, cut expenses, or in some cases to simply make more short-term profits, employees find themselves out on a limb, powerless to stop the sawing away of job security - and job security in this day and age is rapidly becoming only a memory.

The plant closures have our governor's attention and she has publicly responded. Her feasibility study is something citizens ought to be monitoring and looking for ways in which to participate - since government attention tends to remain focused more fully when voters are watching.

A citizen's well-being is at its strongest when supported socially, economically and politically by a nurturing environment. That immediate environment is highly influenced by social, economic and political structures which make up its infrastructure.

Whether caused by natural disaster or an economic disaster created by people, the negative impact crosses the spectrum - breadwinners, partners, children, retired people, politicians, social and health workers, spiritual leaders and community businesses.

Our best effort should go toward ensuring that state perceptions of the impact take into account more than those whose jobs will be lost - but perceptions gained through the eyes of the entire community.

Affected employees, their families, their friends, neighborhoods, local business, local health, legal and social service providers, The local labor market Unions as means of influence on workers, management and government. Those perceptions must include both qualitative and quantitative information.

A community copes with corporate abandonment

COSMOPOLIS — In light of the announced closure next year of the Weyerhaeuser Co. pulp mill, Mayor Vickie Raines, the Cosmopolis City Council and city staff gave each section of the city’s proposed 2006 budget extra scrutiny at a workshop before the regular council meeting Wednesday night.

Though Raines says she doesn’t expect the greatest impacts of the pending closure to hit the city until 2007, no one really knows what will happen when, and the city can’t afford to wait to address the situation.

During the work on the budget, which is not completed yet, the council looked at proposed cuts of some $100,000. But those reductions have some painfully high prices in other ways, the most grievous being the Summer Recreation Program for children, in which kids receive free lunches.

There was discussion of offering the program on a limited basis. “It would be sad to see that go,” Raines said.

“The kids come first,” said Councilman Frank Majeski.

After celebrating a highly successful Festival in the Park just weeks ago, the cherished annual event is also on the budget chopping block. Other suggested slashes include the yearly World City Picnic, spring cleanup and the compost program.

Many other possible reductions of various sizes were looked at.

“I would be willing to decrease my salary by half,” Mayor Raines offered. The mayor’s annual salary is $6,000.

“I’ll (give) half of mine, or even all of it,” Councilman Frank Majeski said. Councilmembers make $1,800 per year for serving on the council.

Once the budget is passed, the mayor and council plan to meet quarterly to review the spending plan. Not knowing exactly when the impacts will begin to be felt and at what levels, “it’s something we’re going to have to monitor pretty closely,” Raines said.

At the council’s previous meeting, just days before the Weyerhaeuser announcement, the council voted to go ahead with a $20,000 feasibility study on construction of a new police department/municipal court building on city-owned property vs. fixing up the old building. There was no move last night to put off the study.

For one thing, “if Weyerhaeuser closes and we come to a point where we mitigate with them the impact on our community, that we go in to ask for something, … we (need to) know what it’s going to cost,” Raines said.

“I think we have to do our homework.”

Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin, a Daily World writer, can be reached at 532-4000, ext. 142, or by e-mail at tgatlin@thedailyworld.com

Vote-By-Mail: efficient

Grays Harbor Auditor Vern Spatz took Vote-By-Mail by the horns and ran with it.

When Grays Harbor County switched to an all vote-by-mail system over the summer, many voters expressed concern that the county might lose their ballots in the mail.

But new technology is addressing those concerns. It allows voters to track their ballots over a Web site, using encrypted identification codes and FedEx-like tracking technology that was developed by Bellevue-based VoteHere Inc.

You can track your ballot online just like you can track that piece of crap you bought from QVC; virtually eliminating opportunities for ballots to be stolen/lost in the mail.

“It will affirm the fact all the ballots are counted, and for the first time ever we’re going to make sure voters are empowered to not just make sure their vote was just cast, but that it was, indeed, counted,” says Bryan D. Finney, director of government affairs for the company.

For an added layer of security:

It takes two members of the Canvassing Board to release the names online and ensure the voter privacy rights are protected, according to Andrew Berg, VoteHere’s chief architect. He invented the ballot tracking technology.

“Internally, we’re going to take the voter’s registration number and take a unique number and put it on each ballot,” Berg explained to the Canvassing Board last week. “Then we’re going to connect those … in a database. But we don’t want to just connect it together because then it would be obvious how each unique voter voted.

“So, instead, we’re going to take their voter ID, encrypt that and tie the encrypted voter ID with the ballot number. That has the advantage that they’re still tied together … But the ballot isn’t open for anybody to look at.”

Berg added, “Everybody decrypts it together — sort of like a nuclear submarine … like how it takes two keys to fire the missile. You both will have done a shuffle to make sure there is no relation between the ballot and the voter.”

The ability to track your ballot allows for the voter to have piece of mind, knowing that their ballot has been counted, and their signature verification process is streamlined to the point that the Auditor can contact individual voters who don't match up with the county records.

Grays Harbor, Pacific and San Juan counties are the only ones in the state participating in the new tracking system. All three tested the system during the primary election.

Here is to a smooth general election!

Hope for displaced millworkers

Governor Gregoire was in Aberdeen this weekend, listening and learning the situation regarding the soon to be layed off Weyerhaeuser mill workers in Cosmopolis and Aberdeen.

Most mill workers will tell you that they are running a profitable business, and are dumbfounded as to why Weyerhaeuser would want to shut down a business that has only one other pulp mill in the US as competition (in Florida).

“I’m trying to answer two questions,” Gregoire said. “How did this happen without me knowing, in advance, and how did this happen when we thought things were going so well? I’m the first to tell you that I don’t understand why the pulp mill is closing when we’ve got customers, and we’re making a profit. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s certainly the impression the workers have.”

Another impression the workers have is that Weyerhaeuser isn’t being entirely truthful about their reasons for closing the mills, said Don Lyons, a power recovery operator who currently works at the Cosmopolis facility.

Lyons, who spoke near the end of the meeting, said that if the Cosi mill is shuttered, it will be the third Weyerhaeuser pulp mill he’s worked in that has closed down.

“They’re not being straight about why they want to close the mill,” Lyons said. “They’re getting some advantage somewhere else by shutting that (Cosmopolis) mill down. Instead of all these feasibility studies, we should be looking for what it will take for Weyerhaeuser to keep that mill open. That’s the path of least resistance.”

There is definitely more to the story than what Weyerhaeuser has said, which is why the Governor was not warned beforehand. The motivation to close down a profitable facility is simply greed. Greed for a more profitable facility located in another country, one that has no labor or environmental regulations. Weyerhaeuser has divested its interest in the logged-out US in favor of countries (i.e. Russia) that still have old-growth timber and are allowing for it to be clear-cut.

It is good to see the Governor come down to Aberdeen, hanging out with the people that will be affected by these job cuts, and being sympathetic to their concerns. These jobs will devastate the local economy and lead to an exodus of young people and talent for larger cities, turning Grays Harbor into a Washington version of a desolated Ohio manufacturing town. She shows a concern for the blue collar workers and is willing to go to the mat for them and their families, and at this point hope means alot.

Weyerhaeuser in Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties: Please Give Us Your Input

WashBlog believes that the Weyco closures are not only of paramount important to Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, but have statewide implications that should be addressed in a timely manner- while Governor Greguire is currently committed to direct involvement. (See Brian's most recent post) Can we have immediate input as a means of forestalling future corporate reactionary moves that place an arbitrary bottom line above the common sense social implications to communities where Weyco is a prominent or dominant employer.

If you work at or have loved ones working at either of the Weyco plants in Cosmopolis or Aberdeen and are willing to discuss, express or even give voice to a rant, contact Brian or Arthur. (I live in north Pacific County and would be happy to speak via telephone or in person)

Governor Gregoire in Aberdeen tomorrow

Following in the wake of Weyerhaeuser's impending mill closings in Aberdeen and Cosmopolis, Governor Gregoire is taking the lead and heading to Aberdeen tomorrow to talk with the people affected:

Gov. Christine Gregoire will host a town hall meeting in Aberdeen Saturday to hear concerns from workers, their families and labor and community leaders in the wake of Weyerhaeuser’s announcement that it plans to close two mills on the Harbor.

The meeting is set for 1 p.m. at the Bishop Center on the Grays Harbor College campus.

“We are all affected when a major employer announces it may not continue operation,” Gregoire said. “I want the people of Grays Harbor to know that they are not alone. I am committed to working with everyone to find the best possible answers for them and their families.”

While a “safety net” of unemployment insurance, training, and job search assistance exists for affected workers, the governor said she wants to explore every option to keep the plants in operation.

The fight has only just begun, stay tuned.

“We will continue to take the actions necessary to make Weyerhaeuser a more competitive company and generate greater returns while returning cash to our shareholders. "

“Today’s announcement is part of the ongoing effort to strengthen Weyerhaeuser’s overall portfolio to enhance shareholder value,” said Steven R. Rogel, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Weyerhaeuser Co.

I have some experience with job loss. I've lost seven of them.

I remember the night I heard for the first time that I had lost my job. It was late 1979 in Portland and I was called in from the unloading dock at Garrett Freightlines to sit with the friends who had helped me get hired 2 months earlier. I was 32, making $10 an hour, married and with 4 children in our home. My wife was not working and the six of us were totally dependent on my job.

Garrett had just suffered through a ten-day-long decline in shipping orders and had decided to lay off 200 workers system wide based on seniority (and that meant I was 2nd from the bottom of the seniority list). I don't remember how many in Portland were laid off that night, but at least 2 of my friends who'd been working there for several years got their notices also. They were never called back to work.

Having moved to Portland 7 months earlier and aware that I would get unemployment, it would not be enough to pay the bills. Trying to suppress any sense of panic, I told myself that I lived in a city economy where things were busy and bustling - and was grateful not to be stuck in the rural area in Idaho where I grew up - an area that had been in economic decline for decades.

I promptly sat down and typed up the classiest resume I could create and mailed 300 to every employer advertising in the help-wanted section of the Oregonian and to every employer in the yellow pages with a business I felt could use someone of my experience.
I stopped at 300 because I could not part with any more unemployment income for postage purposes.

I worked at job-networking, made cold calls in person and out of the yellow pages and considered self employment. I tried selling on a straight commission basis, looked for part time jobs I could bundle into adequate monthly income, considered joining the Reserve for a monthly weekend paycheck, and took several civil service exams.

Still no adequate employment.

After 3 months, nearly crazy in a personal financial panic, resigned to losing my mortgage, and having lost my car to repossession, I received two offers the first week in January, 1980.

The first offer was from Standard Insurance Company as a contract draft specialist. They offered $12k per year to start. The second was from a local trucking company offering me 17k as a dispatcher. Needing money more than job security I became a dispatcher. I would come to regret making that choice.

I was to enter the world of cut-throat small time trucking and suffer through 6 companies laying me off or going out of business in the next seven years (I spent enough time there to create my own network for replacing lost jobs - always afraid to go back into that terrifying nightmare of 1979).

My nightmare eventually ended and today I am theoretically within 7 years of retirement with the Washington State DSHS. When the opportunity to move back to rural living came up, I took it and moved to Pacific County where I administer the federal TANF program under its state-designed WorkFirst program. I see first hand what it means to do job-searching in a rural area that has been in economic decline for decades.

Job-seeking in North Pacific County amounts to a potential of contacting every employer within 30 miles.

That might take three weeks.

In the fourth week, you start over again.

Market conditions forcing companies like Weyerhaeuser to close plants and let people go is an unfortunate circumstance that emphasizes above all else two significant priorities: the bottom line and its relationship to stockholders.

"Nobody likes it. I wish we didn't have to do it that way," a Weyco official declared.

"The Weyerhaeuser closures mark yet another hardship for Grays Harbor County, which has been suffering since 1980 from timber-industry woes." regional economist Dick Conway said.

"Metropolitan areas elsewhere in the state have benefited from the growing technology industry, but rural, blue-collar Grays Harbor County has been too far away from cities to share in those fortunes." [Conway]

Apparently Weyerhaeuser reported - the same day it announced the Grays Harbor closures - third-quarter net earnings of $285 million on net sales of $5.6 billion. The third-quarter 2004 numbers were $594 million and $5.7 billion, respectively.

I could find no information at this point and probably need to be enlightened as to whether or not Weyco's quarterly report means they operated in the black or the red. But if they are still in the black with only quarterly earnings of $285 million, does that not suggest that  "returning cash to the shareholders" and the standard of "shareholder value" has some arbitrarily fixed standard of profit measurement under which Weyco management dares not go out of fear of stockholder dissatisfaction?

Weyerhaeuser cannot be singled out as an exception to an overall pattern of corporate social consciousness, sensitivity and awareness - because there is no strong overall pattern of corporate social consciousness, sensitivity and awareness in this country. Furthermore, to my knowledge, Weyco should not be compared to corporations like Walmart in terms of how employees have been respected and valued nor in any way to economic harm done to small towns by bottom-line Walmarts.

Perhaps the bottom line IS the bottom line. Perhaps a way of integrating social consciousness into the monetary agreement between stockholders, the corporations, the employees and the communities where business is done needs to be found.

Perhaps what needs to be integrated is an understanding that stockholding with an eye single to the bottom line has not proven to be the best and most uniform means of spreading prosperity across a broader range of society. We live in a time when talking heads (primarily Republican) bray about the economy "growing" but have no answer or justification for why the middle class is shrinking - and why a shrinking middle class  is a good thing overall for an economy or society.

WashBlog is going to spend some time exploring the Weyerhaeuser closings, their impact on the community and the response from state government.

Weyerhaeuser needs a new slogan

instead of the 'tree-growing company', how about 'The employee screwing multinational'? If you are an employee in one of Weyerhaeuser's mills or other production facilities in the US, you are next to go.

The Weyerhaeuser Co.’s specialty pulp mill in Cosmopolis wasn’t losing money. And, shutting it down will cost $22 million, company officials say. So, why shut it and Aberdeen’s large log sawmill down now?

Blame hurricanes and high fuel prices, Weyerhaeuser officials told investors at the company’s third quarter earnings report Friday morning.

Why would Weyerhaeuser shut down a profitable operation? Why has Weyerhaeuser shut down other operations that have been money-makers in the US?

• In 1992, Weyerhaeuser closed its Everett, Washington paper mill, costing nearly 300 workers their jobs. Weyerhaeuser blamed the closure on low pulp prices due to overcapacity, high woodchip prices due to the shortage of federal timber, and the need to upgrade pollution control equipment. The paper mill was the last of four saw mills and two pulp mills in Everett.
• In 1995, Weyerhaeuser's mill in North Bend was shut down, and Weyerhaeuser spokesman Paul Barnum said "The mill [shut down in North Bend, Oregon in 1995] wasn't losing money, but if we're going to maximize shareholder value, we need to make that mill more competitive." In 1989, 60 people at Weyerhaeuser's North Bend, Washington, sawmill permanently lost their jobs when the mill was closed for lack of big trees.

Weyerhaeuser cut at least 1,804 jobs in 1997 and 1998, including:

• 330 jobs in recycling operations.
• 29 jobs in corrugated paper operations at Longview, Washington.
• 240 plywood manufacturing jobs in Plymouth, North Carolina.
• 165 plywood jobs in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
• 200 jobs at the Coos Bay, Oregon export sawmill.
• 200 jobs in Lumby, Merritt, and other British Columbia lumber mills.
• 460 jobs at various pulp & paper operations.
• 80 corporate operations jobs.
• 100 jobs at the Longview Washington chlor-alki plant.

Since 2002, after Weyerhaeuser Co. took over Portland-based Willamette Industries Inc., the company has closed down 28 plants across North America. Some of the Washington State job cuts:

• 150 jobs at the Enumclaw Lumber mill
• 110 jobs at the Snoqualmie lumber finishing plant

In 1999, Weyerhaeuser CEO Steven Rogel said:

"In the future, we will continue to focus our investment activities on these low-cost regions of the world... We must eliminate redundancy... We must look for future growth opportunities" and "if we are going to prosper in our second hundred years, we're going to have to be--and we intend to be--a 'consolidator.'"

A consolidator, indeed. Their business-speak of why they are closing plants is the false claim that:

Weyerhaeuser officials began reviewing the company’s assets in May looking to “address underperforming businesses operating in structurally challenged markets”.

In other words, the US has too many environmental regulations keeping Weyerhaeuser from clear-cutting the last of what is left of our old-growth timber, so Weyerhaeuser shuts down profitable domestic mills in favor of more profitable mills overseas in China, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines, and Uruguay.