Talks between Kennecott Utah Copper and unions representing more than 1,200 of its workers ground to a halt late Monday, as the company declared the parties could not agree on an acceptable working contract.
After 41 days of bargaining, the company stated the two parties had reached an impasse. The midnight deadline passed without an agreement on a new contract.
Kennecott filed six charges with the National Labor Relations Board Monday morning, alleging the unions were not bargaining in good faith, according to company spokesman Louie Cononelos.
On Tuesday, union representatives pledged that they, too, will file charges with the NLRB, claiming the company's declaration of impasse was illegal. The unions already had filed charges that the company failed to provide information during the bargaining process that the unions needed to effectively negotiate.
"The company has presented us with what they consider their final offer, that they feel we are at impasse," said union representative Sam Thomas. "We believe we are not at impasse, and that their contention that we are is an illegal one."
While the Kennecott matter is in the hands of the NLRB, Thomas said that employees will continue to report to work, though under the terms of the old contract.
"We are not going to have any type of work stoppage," he said. "Our members will report to their jobs as scheduled.
"Our hope is that we will return to the bargaining table. If that means constantly badgering them to get them back, that's what we'll do. We take the position that we are not at impasse. There are still a number of issues left open, a number of issues to be bargained."
The NLRB is an independent federal agency that enforces laws governing relations between unions and employees. When a charge is filed, the NLRB conducts an investigation. If investigators find reasonable cause to believe a violation of labor laws has occurred, it first encourages voluntary settlements or remedies.
If that fails, a formal complaint is issued and the matter goes before an administrative law judge. The judge makes a judicial ruling, which takes the matter into the legal realm. About 35,000 complaints are filed each year, the bulk of which are settled, according to the NLRB.
The process could be as brief as a couple of months or as long as a few years, depending on whether the parties appeal.
Cononelos said Kennecott bargained in good faith without result, so the company had little choice but to implement the terms of its final offer, which went into play at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
Cononelos declined to detail the specifics of the final offer.
"It became very apparent to us after we had bargained for 41 days that we had reached an impasse, that we could not agree on a number of key economic and noneconomic issues," he said. "We're hopeful that the union can reconsider and accept the final offer."
Kennecott maintains the old contract ended at midnight, though Cononelos declined to speculate on what would happen if workers insisted the company uphold the terms of the old deal, which had been in effect for the last six years.
For now, the company expressed some relief that workers elected not to strike.
"I don't think a strike is in anyone's interest, whether that be management, union or employees," Cononelos said. "We're hopeful that the whole issue will get resolved."
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