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JANUARY 17, 2003--Last month, Professor of Politics Chris Howell took his interest in labor movements out of the classroom and into the field when he helped moderate a community justice panel for steelworkers in Lorain. Howell, a member of the Cleveland-area Worker Rights Board, participated in the hearing with U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown and the Reverend David Lane.
"The idea behind a community hearing is that labor conflicts affect the community in general, not just the parties involved in the dispute," Howell says. "Therefore, community members should be allowed to hear both sides of the story and voice their opinions publicly. Unfortunately, a hearing of this sort doesn't have the legal grounds to redress grievances. But the opportunity to increase the visibility of such problems is invaluable."
Members of Local 1104 called for a public hearing after more than 350 steelworkers lost their jobs at Republic Engineer Products (REP) this summer. The employees also lost their medical and pension benefits after the company terminated them.
According to a press release issued by REP, the company did not orchestrate mass lay-offs. Instead, REP claims that buying the steel mills from Republic Technologies International (RTI) during bankruptcy proceeding this past summer saved jobs. "To staff the facilities it purchased, Republic hired about 2400 individuals that had been terminated by RTI. To clarify, Republic did not terminate anyone. It hired former RTI employees, and its hiring decisions were based on the labor agreements that governed those decisions."
"Although our hiring process was in full compliance with our labor agreement, we are aware of complaints," says John A. Willoughby, vice president of human resources and corporate relations. "We take these complaints very seriously. They are being addressed in the grievance procedure, as required in our union contract."
Despite REP's public statement, steelworkers remained concerned with the number of employees not rehired by the company.
"The steelworkers knew that the situation would have an impact on members of the Lorain community in general," says Howell. "They approached me and asked if I could find individuals willing to implement a Labor/Community Justice Panel that would address their concerns publicly."
The December panel sought to address community concerns by exposing--to members of the community and to the media--the human cost that such layoffs ultimately incur.
"An example of human cost would be how these layoffs are affecting families," says Howell. "What happens when an individual can't support his family, and in turn, can't support local businesses if he can't afford to buy amenities? In the course of several steelworkers' personal testimonies, the suicides of three laid-off employees were attributed to the trauma of their experiences."
Howell hopes that taking the steelworkers' grievances to "the court of public opinion" will force REP to rehire employees, and reinstate the medical and pension benefits for those who remain laid off.
"The hearing has raised the steelworkers' profiles in the media, and gotten a lot of attention in the media," he says. "I hope our efforts to make the community more aware of this problem have a positive outcome."
Editor's Note: The January 14 edition of The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram announced that REP would reimburse 45 former hourly employees for medical premiums they paid and for payments they were due under their labor contract. REP will also establish a temporary health care plan for the former employees, based on the number of years they worked at the mill and the length of time they were off work before the company changed hands.
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