Ravenswood Aluminum Lockout

When union contract negotiations broke down at Ravenswood Aluminum in

Ravenswood, West Virginia, supervisors turned away workers reporting for the midnight shift
on October 31, 1990. A bitter struggle ensued with members of Local 5668 of the United
Steelworkers of America, lasting until June 29, 1992, and becoming one of the most widely
reported labor disputes of the late 20th century. While commonly perceived as a strike, the
union considered the dispute a company lockout.

Ravenswood Aluminum, located in Jackson County, began as a plant of Kaiser

Aluminum as the giant metals company expanded in the aftermath of World War II. From its
opening in 1954 until Kaiser sold its aluminum plants in 1988, Ravenswood workers had never
been on strike. But with the globalization of the industry in the 1980s, manufacturers sought
cost-cutting measures that workers said jeopardized their safety and health. Indeed, during the
summer before the lockout, four workers had died on the job at Ravenswood.Local 5668 made
safety and health a prime bargaining issue when negotiations began in the fall. The union
confronted new owners with different ideas. The current owners had acquired the plant
through a leveraged buyout with a determination to cut production costs. Management
demanded concessions and refused to budge on safety issues.

The next 20 months nearly tore the town of Ravenswood apart. The plant owners
decided to operate with replacement workers, known as scabs to the strikers. The practice was
illegal if the company had in fact locked out the workers, but the states panel from the
DES(Department of Employment Security) ruled that Ravenswood Aluminum had not engaged
in a lockout. The union appealed to the National Labor Relations Board, where hearings and a
decision would take months. Local 5668 worked to maintain morale through rallies, pickets,
support groups, and a pooling of resources led by strikers and their families. Both the company
and the union claimed that the other side engaged in violence and intimidation, and there were
shootings, destruction of property, and other incidents in the community and around the plant
and picket lines.

Meanwhile, the union began a corporate campaign, charging illegal activities by the
ownership group, which included the international fugitive Marc Rich. Union members found
themselves in demonstrations at corporate headquarters and government meetings in such
places as Switzerland and the Netherlands. This campaign attracted such attention that
negotiations finally reopened in April 1992. With an NLRB decision near, negotiators reached
an agreement that allowed all union members to return to the plant, in 1992. June 29,1992 thay
walked back through the gates.
Ravenswood Aluminum Lockout