The following article was published in the Fall 2024 issue of USW@Work.
As president of Local 1327, Jennifer Beard represents the production workers at Domtar’s paper facility in Ashdown, Ark.
This August, she got her first opportunity to join her USW siblings from across the industry at the union’s paper bargaining policy conference, where they set a new agenda for their industry and prepared to meet those goals with a schedule packed with training sessions and discussions on the future of their craft.
“We have to continue to produce quality products in a sustainable way,” Beard said. “And we must continue to be innovative by finding ways to produce products or ways to use our products that will set us up for a positive future.”
Those items were on the agenda for Beard and her colleagues at the four-day conference, which included 500 members from across North America. The union’s 10th paper bargaining conference, with the theme “The Power of Paper: We Matter,” brought together a diverse group of workers from one of the union’s largest sectors.
For Beard, the conference offered a chance to network with union leaders from across the USW who, despite working in other states or for other companies, shared many of the same issues on the shop floor.
“The conference is a way for us to share commonalities and learn from one another,” she said.
Aside from kitchen table issues like wages, benefits and retirement security, the conference included presentations and panel discussions on legislative issues, the sector’s efforts on “Raising the Bar for Women’s Health and Safety,” the importance of adding domestic violence leave language to union contracts, and updates from the union’s global allies in the paper industry.
In his role as USW international vice president, Luis Mendoza oversees bargaining for about 80,000 members across 550 paper locals and 30 bargaining councils. Fighting for safer and healthier workplaces for each of those members is the most essential aspect of union leadership, he said.
“There’s nothing more important than making sure workers get home safely at the end of their day,” Mendoza said. “Fighting for safer workplaces is our most important mission as union leaders.”
In addition to Mendoza, the conference included remarks from International President David McCall, International Vice Presidents Emil Ramirez, Kevin Mapp and Roxanne Brown, and Directors Larry Burchfield of District 13, Donnie Blatt of District 1, Cathy Drummond of District 11 and Daniel Flippo of District 9.
Randall Child, president of 9-738 at the International Paper mill in Riegelwood, N.C., was attending his fourth paper conference as a union leader.
Child, who represents about 380 members at his mill, said it was important for all members to support the union’s national paper bargaining policy and its 10-point safety action plan for making and converting paper.
That plan updated the safety priorities for the sector, such as green-on-green training and mental health awareness, and added more focus items, including developing a program for safe work conversations based on critical hazards and underlying factors.
“All of those things are critical to making the paper industry safer,” said Child. “This has historically been a very dangerous industry to work in.”
Also critical, Child said, is making sure local leaders employ the USW’s “Raising the Bar” document, an action guide with sample contract language aimed at helping workers experiencing intimate partner abuse, as well as other issues including harassment, gender identity, ergonomics, work-life balance, restrooms and change rooms, uniforms, personal protective equipment and reproductive health.
Beard agreed that focusing on those issues would improve the environment for all paper workers.
“Working in a male-dominated industry, awareness around women’s health and safety is something we all could use,” said Beard.
Having a safety and health program in every shop, with buy-in from both rank-and-file members and plant managers, is critical, Child said. That doesn’t happen without USW leaders who advocate on behalf of their members.
“That’s the only way you’re going to be safer is to get the workers engaged and bring it down to the workers’ level,” he said. “It doesn’t happen overnight, but things like the conference, where you get to hear from the entire membership, are essential.”
Participants also took part in multiple workshops on relevant topics including health and safety, mental health in the workplace, organizing, collective bargaining, Women of Steel, and the USW’s legislative efforts.
The union’s legislative work on the federal, state and local levels can be a key factor in building a strong, sustainable future for the industry, Beard said.
“We must be active and pressure our legislators to work with us,” she said, “to advocate and produce reasonable solutions when making policy and regular decisions concerning the paper industry.”
In one of the key pieces of business at the conference, delegates voted to adopt the 2024-2026 Paper Bargaining Policy as recommended by the elected policy committee. The new policy amends the previous document that members put in place at their 2021 conference, including updates on retirement security language, successorship language and benefit administration, and improvements in vacation at all levels of seniority.
“I hope that all of the conference attendees go back to their locals energized to take what they have learned in the plenary sessions and workshops,” Mendoza said. “I hope that through networking and discussions with other local leaders, they can continue the work they do for their members fighting for the economic security, safety and benefits for all workers in the paper sector.”