USW Tells Compass Minerals to End Illegal Practices

Company Fires Worker for going to Veterans Administration Appointment

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A United Steelworkers (USW) delegation told Compass Minerals shareholders today that the company's abusive, illegal practices must end and that its treatment of decorated veteran Derrick Forestier could reflect poorly on the company's business.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080131/DC12982LOGO )

"Compass Minerals needs to heed our message and ensure that its subsidiary, North American Salt, obeys labor law and reinstates Derrick Forestier with back pay," said Local 14425 President Mark Migues. "The longer this dispute goes, the greater the damage to the company's reputation and business."

Migues' statement to Compass Minerals shareholders can be found HERE.

North American Salt owns a salt mine in Cote Blanche, La., that employs about 100 workers who are represented by the USW. In 2010 the company illegally implemented new employment terms without its workers' approval. After a brief strike the USW filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

An administrative law judge for the NLRB ruled that the company acted illegally and ordered the terms and conditions of employment under the expired collective bargaining agreement be reinstated and that the employees be made whole for any losses they suffered under the illegally imposed employment conditions. The judge also ordered the company to bargain in good faith with the union over the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement. Bargaining is continuing.

Last fall North American Salt fired Forestier for going to a mandatory Veterans Administration appointment, even though he told the company in advance of his hiring that he was required to attend such appointments. Forestier was in combat three times and deployed five times. He earned a Bronze Star for his bravery and service to our country.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-25th Dist.) introduced the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act to protect veterans like Forestier from discrimination in the workplace for time spent receiving treatment for injuries and disabilities caused by their service.

In a letter to USW District 13 Director Mickey Breaux, Rep. Doggett wrote: "No veteran should have to stand in front of their employer after suffering an injury while serving the red, white and blue and be given a pink slip. Workers and veterans like Derrick Forestier, an Army Sergeant First Class who served 24 years on active duty, including three combat tours of duty and five deployments, should not be forced to choose between keeping a job or receiving the veteran's benefits he rightfully earned."

Rep. Doggett's letter can be accessed HERE.

Another labor leader from a North American Salt plant in Lyons, Kan., told the shareholders of problems with veterans being terminated at his facility.

"Compass Minerals can turn this situation around," Migues said. "It's time for them to order North American Salt to bargain fairly and do right by veterans."

Twenty-five people from the USW, the Chemical Workers Union and Jobs With Justice attended the rally and stockholders meeting.

North American Salt is a subsidiary of Compass Minerals, a mining and materials company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., with operations in the U.S., Canada and the UK. The company had 2011 sales of $1.1 billion.

The USW represents about 100 workers at the Cote Blanche, La., mine and about a dozen workers at a Duluth, Minn., packaging plant owned by Compass Minerals.

The USW is the largest industrial union in North America and has 850,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. It represents workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, energy and the health care and service sectors.    

Contact: Lynne Hancock, 615-828-6169, [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)