Local union challenges Billerud contractor switch
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ESCANABA -- Two large inflatable animals and a sign outside Billerud's Escanaba mill Wednesday drew attention to a labor dispute over the mill's reported decision to switch trucking contractors.
Dan McKernan, communications director for Operating Engineers (OE) Local 324, said the mill is replacing longtime trucking contractor M.J. Van Damme Trucking of Marquette -- a union signatory -- with a nonunion company that, according to McKernan, pays lower wages and provides fewer benefits.
OE Local 324 is a labor union representing heavy equipment operators, mechanics, surveyors and stationary engineers across the state of Michigan. As a union signatory, M.J. Van Damme Trucking pays area standard wages and benefits to union employees.
According to the Laborers' International Union of North America, area standard wages -- commonly known as prevailing wages -- for a given labor category in different areas are determined by the U.S. Department of Labor through local wage surveys.
"(The mill is) tending to their bottom line by cutting worker wages and hiring a company that doesn't pay its workers what the area standards are," McKernan said. "This is not a union, non-union issue for us… we don’t just represent our actual members. We represent the industry as a whole."
McKernan noted that the mill plays an important role in the community, and "how they treat their employees is how they're treating the community."
"The folks that have been working there for years now -- doing this service -- are the same ones that are shopping at the grocery stores and paying utilities and owning homes in the area. These are residents," McKernan added. "And unfortunately, the ones that work for Van Damme that are no longer being used, that's work they've lost. For the workers who are working there now, they deserve to know that they're not being paid like that work deserves, like that work commands."
McKernan noted that traditionally, employees are not aware that they're being paid substandard wages, which is part of the union's motivation towards increasing awareness around the local issue.
"It's nothing against that worker, themselves. We want every worker to get paid what they're worth and what the standards dictate," McKernan added. "We're sure that the work they're doing isn't less than, so why would they be paid less than?"
While the transition is reportedly taking place, McKernan said it is never too late for the mill "to do the right thing by workers."
McKernan concluded, "The time is always right to treat your employees or vendors appropriately. This is something that can be remedied at any time, and we certainly hope that Billerud would see this and realize that they made a mistake and that working people deserve to be paid what they're worth."
Shawn Hall, Billerud’s director of communications for North America, provided the following statement on the recent events:
“Billerud continues to be the largest union employer in the area and regularly works with both union and nonunion contractors and suppliers to safely and efficiently operate the Escanaba Mill. Because this matter involves outside parties, we are unable to provide any further comment.”
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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.