Union Says GP Camas Mill Workers Reject Contract Offer

Union workers at Georgia-Pacific’s (G-P) Camas, WA, tissue and uncoated freesheet paper mill rejected a contract offer from GP, the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) Local 5 said in August. The company and mill workers’ labor agreement expired on May 31, 2014, according to the AWPPW.

Two paper machines run at Camas, one with capacity to make 237,000 tons/yr of uncoated freesheet (UFS) paper and one with 47,000 tons/yr of capacity to make tissue paper, according to RISI Mill Intelligence. The tissue PM is a through-air-dried unit. About 70 percent of the UFS capacity is for making paper for cutsize office/copy uses. The other 30 percent is for making printing and converting UFS paper. At Camas, GP also operates two sheeters for cutsize paper and seven Away-from-Home (AfH) commercial tissue converting lines. The PMs 11 and 20 are fully pulp integrated on-site.

"These are very competitive markets, as anyone who follows the paper business knows. The growth of digital communications – email, social media and the internet – have had a dramatic effect on copy paper demand for the past 10-20 years," said GP official Kelly Ferguson.

"We have been bargaining in good faith and have been straightforward with the union negotiating committee about the competitive challenges the mill faces," he said. "We are offering improved wage rates for existing employees over the time of the proposed contracts and a tiered wage structure that would mean lower starting wages for many jobs in operations, primarily those requiring less technical skills, but that is only for new employees," Ferguson added. "The healthcare and pension plan changes that are proposed are consistent with plans already in place at other GP union mills."