Stillwater Shake-up
Action involving the Stillwater Mining Company and USW International Union Local 11-0001 kicked up a notch Monday.
In a press release issued Monday that addressed two separate but related issues, the company announced that due to a continued decline in the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) market it was moving forward with reorganizational plans that include reducing its workforce by 119 people. Those positions are a combination of hourly and salaried employees who work at the Nye mine site and the processing facility in Columbus.
Union President Scott McGinnis said SMC was in the process Monday evening of notifying the workers who will be laid off and expected that process to be complete within a few days.
SMC also stated in Monday’s press release that it has “modified its mine plan to focus on the most profitable mining areas within the Stillwater Mine and will continue efforts to maximize production from the East Boulder Mine” and will continue to closely monitor market conditions in order to continually make appropriate adjustments.
The ongoing organizational restructuring aimed at knocking down the workforce number has been in motion since 2013 At the end of the first quarter the workforce numbered 1,609. Prior to Monday there had been 11 lay-offs in recent weeks. With the additional 119, that workforce number drops to approximately 1,479.
On the labor contract front, the company addressed contract negotiations, disclosing what it called “material points” of the twice failed proposed contract, which are as follows:
•No increase in base wages for each of the first two years of the agreement.
•Simplification of the incentive program and the introduction of metrics that better align employee and shareholder outcomes.
McGinnis said the union will be filing an ULP charge (Unfair Labor Practice) against the SMC regarding the third -- and final -- proposed contract that has already been rejected twice.
That charge will be filed in federal court and McGinnis said “like anything in federal court system” could take a year or longer to be resolved.
Negotiations have been underway since March with union members twice failing to ratify proposed contracts that had been recommended by the union negotiating committee. Following the latest rejection, SMC CEO Mick McMullen said he believed the process had reached an “impasse,” allowing the company to offer “its last, best and final contract offer,” which is the same agreement previously rejected. That agreement will begin on Sept. 1, 2015.
McGinnis declined to discuss the terms of the proposed contract Monday night, saying the two sides had agreed to not disclose such information to the media unless they jointly agreed to do so.
About SMC
SMC is the sole producer of palladium in the United States. Mines in South Africa, Russia and Canada are operating in less than favorable political, labor and operating conditions. The Stillwater and East Boulder mine sites sit on the JM Reef, which is the world’s highest grade PGM deposit. There is more than 22 million “proven and probable” ore reserves with only 11 miles of a 28-mile strike developed to this point. Exploration suggests a possible 100 million tons of undeveloped material.
Top taxpayers in the county
The Stillwater Mining Company is by far the biggest tax payer in Stillwater County, eclipsing the second place holder by approximately $5 million.
According to the Stillwater County Treasurer’s Office, the following amounts were paid in 2014 for real and personal property and gross proceeds:
•Stillwater Mining Co. $7,648,461
•Northwestern Energy $1,526,812
•Express Pipeline LLC $1,072,111
•Montana Rail Link $291,660
•Front Range Pipeline LLC $188,331
•Puget Sound Energy Inc. $124,193
•PPL Montana LLC $121,852
•Portland General Electric Co. $93,983
•Beartooth Electric Cooperative Inc. $92,863
•Yellowstone Pipeline Co. $90,151
•Montana Silversmiths Inc. $87,381
•Verizon Wireless $72,962
•CenturyLink Inc. $71,414
•PacificCorp $68,749
•Triangle Telephone Cooperative Assoc. Inc. $60,971
•GE Capital Commercial Inc. $56,316
•Avista Corporation $55,958
•Project Telephone Co. $50,512
•Kent B. Williams $47,761
•Spring High Ranch LLC $29,627
•Fiddler Creek LLC $25,670
•Thomas F. and Jennifer S. Hanly $25,501
•Beartooth Ranch LLC $25,098